The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 13

14 THE COURIER-JOURNAL LOUISVILLE, KY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1992. The whole package Contradictions have meshed to make Mashburn Travel-weary Cards to test No. 4 Kansas By RUSS BROWN, Staff Writer LAWRENCE, Kan. It figures.

Up bright and early in Richmond, yesterday morning to catch a flight to Atlanta and then on to Kansas City, the already besieged University of Louisville basketball team ran into more adversity. In the what-else-can-go-wrong category, the bleary-eyed Cardinals arrived at the airport only to learn their flight had been canceled because of weather. They finally trudged in here late yesterday afternoon, shortly before a workout and following a delay in Richmond, a shift in airlines, a rerouting through Chicago, a change of planes and an hour bus ride from Kansas City. All of this trouble for the privilege of meeting undefeated Kansas, the nation's No. 4-ranked team, in Allen Fieldhouse, one of the most intimidating arenas in the country, at 8:05 tonight.

The Jayhawks (11-0), who own a 24-game home-court victory streak, would be a daunting assignment even if the Cards (7-3) were playing well, which, of course, they aren't. In fact, the way things are going, they might have See TRAVEL-WEARY Page 6, col. 1, this section Wildcats hope to pull plug on Florida's Poole name down in Baton Rouge. Certainly, Mashburn will be no sleeper when it comes time for him to move to the next level, the National Basketball Association, whether that time comes after three or four years at UK. "I think about it somewhat, but I want to stay my four years," he said.

"I think it would mean a lot to my mother and father. If it's going to be there now, it's going to be there later. Maybe more later. I don't want to make any stupid mistakes by leaving early when I'm not ready. "I want to have a Senior Night." "We want to give him one," Wildcats coach Rick Pitino said.

For now, Mashburn is handling life as UK's marked man with characteristic ease. Seemingly lacking an ego makes that somewhat easier. In fact, he finds his basketball ability somewhat constricting. "Sometimes I feel that's the only gift I have, really," he said. "I wish I could write music or play music or something like that.

I think that's something unique. I really appreciate people, like my closest friend (Russell Glover, who has lived in the same Bronx housing project as Mashburn since they were infants), who do that. He taught himself how to play the piano. "Basketball's not a real big thing. I think he has the real talent, really.

Doing things beside sports, I think, is a real talent, a gift God gave you. A sport, you can work at it and become good with hard work and talent, too." While Mashburn was becoming See MASHBURN Page 6, col. 1, this section By PAT FORDE Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ky. There is a glaring gap in Jamal Mashburn a gulf wider than his shoulders between the easy stereotype of what he should be and what he really is. His body is an Arnold Schwarzenegger starter kit, but his personality is strictly Alan Alda.

He's the son of a heavyweight boxer, but he's a mama's boy. He's a shy and retiring New Yorker. He's from a city where the saying goes that a guy would give up his gold and his girl before he'd give up his dribble, but he's a supremely unselfish basketball player. In short, he's one of those men that the women on "Oprah" always talk about but you weren't sure existed: thoughtful but muscular, sensitive but rugged, articulate but street-smart. "He's a thinker," said his father, Bobby Mashburn.

"He's quiet," said his mother, Helen Mashburn. "He can sleep for days," said his roommate and teammate, Gimel Martinez. Thinker. Strong, silent type. Sleeper.

Perhaps it's best to spare the deep analysis of the disparate parts that come together in Jamal Mashburn. Perhaps it's best to simply appreciate him as a whole. To most University of Kentucky fans, Mashburn is first and foremost a heck of a basketball player. The kid with the sheepish, gap-toothed smile also has a feathery jump shot, smooth hands and well-oiled inside moves to complement a 6-foot-8, 240-pound body. He's third in the Southeastern Conference in scoring (22.1 points per game), eighth in rebounding (7.5), fourth in field-goal shooting (55.7 percent), fifth in three-point shooting (49.1 percent), seventh in three-pointers per game (2.2) and 10th in free-throw shooting (74.1 percent).

Does anyone else in the country have the inside-outside proficiency of this Bronx native? Dick Weiss wrote in Basketball Times that Mashburn would have to be considered the SEC's Most Valuable Player at this point yes, including the fellow with the rhyming ft La- i J- 4 VO if (-! I-1 By PAT FORDE Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ky. The University of Kentucky basketball team has a message for the Florida Gators: January is not the time of year for Poole parties. Stacey Poole, Florida's standout 6-foot-6 forward, has been the life of the Gators' party so far this season, averaging 17.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He's led them in scoring nine of 11 games and has been the only player in double figures in three of those games. So if the No.

15 Wildcats (11-2, 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference) put a cover over the Poole in a 1:30 p.m. game today at Rupp Arena, it could kill whatever party hopes Florida entertains. "Certainly, we're going to pay a lot of attention to him," UK coach Rick Pitino said. "I think Stacey's the guy who has to lead the way for us," said second-year Florida coach Lon Kruger, whose team is 8-3 and 1-0. "He's the only guy who's a proven scorer on our team." The Gators as a whole are somewhat unproven.

Be- See WILDCATS Page 6, col. 3, this section UK sophomore Jamal Mashburn might be head and shoulders above most other players, but he Insists that "basketball's not a real big thing." STAFF PHOTO BY STEWART BOWMAN THE FIGURES ON JAMAL MASHBURN Season Min-Avg FG-A Pet 3FG-A Pet FT-A Pet Reb-Avg Ast To Bl St Rs-Avg High game 1990- 91 28 137-289 .474 24-82 .293 64-88 .727 42 56 15 37 31 (Georgia) 1991- 92 13 98-176 .557 28-57 .491 63-85 .741 19 36 12 20 33 (S. Carolina) I Vikings make Green NFL's second black head coach Atherton puts another notch on upset belt: No. 6 Ballard ft 1 Green said. "If I treat them all the same, they're going to treat me the same." The hiring was the first major move by club president Roger Headrick, who a year ago replaced Mike Lynn and took charge of the team's daily operations.

Green, who received a five-year contract, was selected ahead of New York Jets defensive coordinator Pete Carroll, who also was beaten out by Green to be head coach at Stanford in 1989. Headrick said that Green's past head coaching experience gave him the edge See VIKINGS Page 2, col. 4, this section Associated Press EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. The Minnesota Vikings, who until 1988 were the only National Football League team never to have had a black assistant coach, made Dennis Green the second black head coach in modern league history yesterday. Green, 42, replaces Jerry Burns, who retired after last season.

Green becomes the fifth coach in the club's 31-year history and joins Art Shell of the Los Angeles Raiders as the NFL's only black head coaches. "I don't think players are going to look at it as, 'We've got the black head Hi 1. Buccaneers sign Wyche, a fgood fit' as coach By BOB WHITE Staff Writer That giant killer Atherton has struck again. After shocking Male, the state's No. 1 high school basketball team in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, 84-76 on Tuesday, the un-ranked Rebels held off No.

6 Ballard 70-69 last night at Atherton. For Atherton seniors Dion Layfield, Ron Bailey and Laterrious Hurt, it was their first taste of victory against Ballard. "This feels great," said Layfield, a 6-foot-3 forward who had game highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds in the Rebels' 11th triumph in 13 games. "We had confidence in ourselves. We had played a couple of teams in California that were similar to Male and Ballard." Atherton returned home Sunday night after finishing second in a tournament at Ontario, where it won three of four games.

The 6-7 Bailey, playing his first season after being academically ineligible for two years, scored 19 points against Ballard, including 11 in the fourth quarter. "I couldn't hit at first, and I told Coach (Champ Ligon) my shot wasn't falling, but he said, 'Keep said Bailey, who missed his first six shots but made 9 of his last 10. Hurt, a 5-6 playmaker, hit three three-pointers en route to a 12-point effort Yet, Atherton couldn't claim a victory until Ballard's Terrance Chandler missed a 20-foot shot from the left wing at the final horn. See ATHERTON Page 3, col. 1, this section 1 i From Gannett and AP Dispatches TAMPA, Fla.

This time it's in writing. No last-minute jilting. No done deals undone. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new coach: Sam Wyche. "I signed the contract in Cincinnati before they let me on the plane, I believe," Wyche joked.

Wyche, former coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, put his signature on a five-year, $2.8 million contract yesterday, ending a wild 19-day coaching search for the fifth coach in franchise history. "Sorry, no surprises this time," Bucs Report says 49ers' Holmgren will become Packers' head coach, Page 2. owner Hugh Culverhouse said. Wyche, who will be taking over the National Football League's losingest franchise, also will hold the title of director of football operations, giving him total control over personnel decisions. "I don't like the word control; I'm not a czar," he said.

"I've said this job is a good fit because nobody's positioning See BUCS Page 2, col. 2, this section STAFF PHOTO BY MARY ANN LYONS Dion Layfield whooped It up with teammates and fans after Atherton knocked off Ballard last night. "This feels great," said the senior, who scored 20 points. INSIDE LOOKING BACK 1 9 YEARS AGO JAN. 1 1 1 973 Baseball's American League adopted the designated hitter rule 'on a three-year trial basis.

IceHawks rip Chill 8-3 to begin home stand Sports People High school sports Scorecard Van Horn loses title on second-round KO See Page 6 .2 .3 .4 .5 .8 .8 (p Pro basketball NCAA convention Thoroughbred racing See Page 2.