The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 15

Sports The Salina Journal Saturday, December 14,1985 Page 15 Valesente new Jayhawk coach By HAROLD BECHARD Sports Editor Vowing to continue the pass- oriented offense which had become the trademark of his former boss, Bob Valesente was named Friday as the 34th head football coach at the University of Kansas. i Valesente, 45, was named to the KU post one day after former KU head coach Mike Gottfried left the Jayhawk program to become the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. s. KU athletic director Monte son, who said he received a strong endorsement from Gottfried on be, half of Valesente, introduced the new Jayhawk coach to the media at an afternoon press conference at the Parrott Center in Lawrence. Valesente, the assistant head coach and quarterback coach under Gottfried for two years at Kansas, signed a four-year contract calling for $70,000 per year.

i "This is probably as fine an honor as I've ever had," said Valesente, who was flanked at the press confer;" ence by his wife, Joan, and Johnson. "I'm excited about the future. It's 7 great to be a part of Kansas Univer- sity. "I have really grown to love this place. The people I've met have been great and I have a great deal of respect for the leadership at the university." Valesente came to Kansas after two seasons on the staff of the Bal: timore Colts of the National Football League.

His career as an assistant has included stops at Cornell, sissippi State, Arizona and Cin- "This is a dream come true for said Valesente. "This is a dream come true and I don't even to move my family. It's corning true in an area I know and love." Valesente, who described Gottfried irace past jCougars By STEPHEN WHITE Sports Writer TOPEKA Topeka High coach 1 Willie Nicklin isn't often outspokenly when it comes to his basketball team, though his 'teams have won or shared every championship in the seven -years they've been a part of the 1-70 So when the 16-year head coach spoke highly of his Trojans' as he did of this season's -squad, coaches around the 1-70 took notice. So Salina South coach Mark O'Dell rknew his Cougars would be in for a experience Friday when his inexperienced squad opened its sea- SAUNA SOUTH (54) Kennedy 5-11 2-6 12, Olsson 0-0 4-6 4, Kickhaefer 0-4 4-6 4, Maring 8-13 0-0 16, Zook '4-7 0-1 8, Davis 1-5 2-2 4, Sorensen 2-4 0-1 4, Fox 0-0 0-0 0, Bingesser 1-1 0-0 2, Everhart 0-1 TOPEKA (82) Proctor 5-9 5-6 15, Hudson 9-14 1-3 19, ''Stecklein 2-5 0-04, Morgan 3-7 0-1 6, Fillyaw 3-5 H-l 7, Broodnax 4-7 2-2 10, Unrein 2-3 0-0 4, Jennings 3-5 4-6 10, Greiner 0-0 0-0 0, Moszeter 1-21, Baker 0-0 0-1 0, Brlggs 2-3 0-1 4, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley 1 -3 0-02. Totals 34-6214-23 82.

South 6 13 14 Topeka 16 19 28 19 82 TOTAL FOULS South 17, Topeko 17. -FOULED OUT none. TECHNICAL FOULS Olsson, hanging on rim (SS); Proctor, In-bounds 'violation (T). REBOUNDS 31 (Kennedy, 7), Topeka 33 (Proctor 8). TURN- COVERS South 31, Topeka 19.

son at Topeka a dungeon at which the Cougars had never won to begin with. They still haven't. Topeka, which came into Friday's j'I-70 League opener with one im' a pressive blowout under its belt, made it two with an 82-54 drubbing of the Every fear O'Dell took into Fri-, day's contest quickly became reality. "We wanted to keep it close in the Cfirst quarter," he said, recalling his initial visit to Topeka as head Cougar coach last year, when Topeka 4 jumped ahead 14-4 at the outset. Friday produced the same song, 1 second verse.

Topeka raced out to a 12-2 lead as South turned the ball over five times its backcourt against Topeka's 1 'quick press. "Press with a capital 'P'," O'DeU "They killed us in the first quarter. got ourself behind and we got And when you get behind 12-2 here, you just don't get back in it. It'd (See Trojans, Page 17) New University of Kansas football coach Bob Valesente was all smiles during Friday's press conference at Parrott Center. as "my best friend," said he will continue Kansas' pass-happy offense.

Under his guidance this past season, Kansas quarterback Mike Norseth set a Big Eight single-season record with 2,995 passing yards. "I am excited about being the head coach at Kansas and Mike's philosophy will be carried out to the best of my ability," said Valesente. "Kansas is one of the finest institutions in the country, academically and athletically." Valesente's coaching background gives nun a wide breadth of experience in both offense and defense. He promised to be involved in all phases uf the game and said he would meet immediately with others from the Gottfried staff. "I'd like to surround myself with good people because that's the only way you can be successful.

I'll be involved in every facet of our team, including special teams. But you're only as good as your assistant coaches." Even though Valesente was given the job a day after Gottfried resigned, Johnson refused to say he was the only person considered. Others mentioned as possible candidates were Long Beach State head coach and former KU assistant Mike Shephard and former KU assistant coach John Levra. "No one else was interviewed as directly as Val was," Johnson said. "Mike Gottfried did us a great favor by bringing Val to the staff.

He will continue to build on what coach Gottfried had begun. "Val was a key part in our program the last two years," he continued. "This is just a matter of good timing. We have never seen two people with the same philosophies as Gottfried and Valesente." Johnson also said he and the university followed the Affirmative Action guidelines which states that action must be taken to provide equal opportunity for hiring minorities. "I'm not sure what the guidelines were, but we complied with them all," Johnson said.

"We had total cooperation from the administra- tion." Valesente was offered the position as assistant head coach at Pittsburgh, but Gottfried recommended that Valesente stay and pursue the head coaching position at KU. "I wasn't going to pursue a head coaching job," said Valesente, a native of Seneca Falls, N.Y. "I was happy with the assistant coaching jobs under coach Gottfried. But when this opportunity arose, I couldn't pass it up." Shortly after joining the Kansas staff in April, 1984, Valesente suffered a heart attack which required bypass surgery. "I feel fine," he said, explaining that he and his wife maintain a daily exercise program.

"We walk about four miles a day and I've learned that you have to be careful of what you eat. But I feel just great." Valesente said his first priority would be recruiting and acknowledged that he and Gottfried might now compete for the same prospects. "If that happens, I'll be in for a heck of a fight," Valesente said. "And so will he." Valesente started his college coaching career in 1964 at Cornell after graduating from Ithaca (N.Y.) College where he is a member of the school's athletic hall of fame. A former minor league baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, Valesente coached at Cornell until 1974.

He joined the University of Cincinnati coaching staff in 1975 and worked alongside Gottfried for two seasons before moving on to Arizona from 1977-79. From 1980-81, Valesente was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State. In 1981, he helped direct the Bulldogs to a 10-0 victory over Kansas in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Valesente then joined the Colts for two seasons (1982-83) as the defensive backfield coach before joining Gottfried at KU. Gottfried begins duties at Pitt PITTSBURGH (AP) After concluding his first news conference as the University of Pittsburgh's football coach, Mike Gottfried was handed car keys and a list of top western Pennsylvania high school prospects.

"Go recruit," was the short but firm command from Athletic Director Edward Bozik. Gottfried said he plans to do just that this weekend. The former University of Kansas coach said he will immediately bring in four prospective recruits for campus visits. He also said he talked to several high school players even before he was officially announced Thursday as the successor to the ousted Foge Fazio. Gottfried said the main priorities in his first two weeks on the job will be to recruit not only a coaching staff but to line up players for the 26 scholarships Pitt can offer.

Four members of his Kansas staff Mike Solari (offensive coordinator and line coach), John Fox (special teams), Mike Dickens (wide receivers) and Tommy Liggins (running backs) have been invited to join Gottfried at Pitt. That could mean that veteran Pitt assistant coach Joe Moore, regarded by some as the top offensive line coach in college football, could be out of a job. "I think Mike's as good a line coach as there is," Gottfried said of University of Pittsburgh coach Mike Gottfried. Solari when asked about Moore's status. Moore has coached such current National Football League linemen as Bill Fralic, Russ Grimm and Jimbo Covert and formerly served Fazio as offensive coordinator.

"Pitt has been good to me," Moore said. "I want to see what happens before I start making my plans." In compiling a 15-18-1 record in three seasons at Kansas, Gottfried was a prime recruiter of junior college players. The Jayhawks even earned the somewhat derisive nickname of" JUCO Tech." But Gottfried said he won't have to rely on as much imported talent at Pitt, which is located in one of the prime prep recruiting areas in the country. "We brought in some junior college players in the past because when a program is down, those people can help get a program back on its feet. But I think that in this case, at the University of Pittsburgh, high school players are the way to go," he said.

Gottfried said this is a choice year for recruiting quarterbacks, which he obviously considers a Pitt priority. The Panthers graduate their starting quarterback, John Congemi, and only seldom-used sophomore Joe Felitsky and untried freshman Steve Hughes are on the roster. "I've usually had six or seven quarterbacks around," said Gottfried, who is making Pitt his llth coaching stop in 20 years. Gottfried posed for photographers at Pitt Stadium after the news conference and recalled the first and only time he has coached a team there. "On Pitt's first possession, Danny Marino threw a touchdown pass and the public address announcer said that Marino was now 10th on the all-time Pitt passing list," said Gottfried, then the coach at the University of Cincinnati.

"By halftime, he had thrown two more and he was up to eighth place. He threw two more in the second half and moved to seventh. I turned to my defensive coordinator and said, 'We'd better get out of here before he goes to No. Manhattan rips cold-shooting Mustangs By TIM HOSTETTER Sports Writer MANHATTAN There are several things Salina Central can point to as reasons for being on the short end of a 69-44 1-70 League decision to Manhattan Friday night. But Mustangs' head coach Dennis Wahlgren saw one big reason.

"It all comes down to putting the ball in the hole, and we didn't do that tonight," said Wahlgren, whose team slipped to 2-2. Wahlgren didn't believe that Manhattan's starting giant front line of 6-11 Howard Bonser, 6-6 John Mugler and 6-5 J.T. Marshall were an intimidating reason why the Mustangs hit just 18-of-60 field goal attempts. "I didn't think our kids played intimidated," Wahlgren said. "We felt like at halftime that we were in the game.

We did a good job on the boards in the first half and had a couple of chances of cutting their lead to seven in the second quarter. SALINA CENTRAL (44) Veal 7-12 2-3 16, Fink 2-12 0-0 4, Deines 2-10 2-3 6, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Armster 3-7 4-6 10, Grammer 2-8 0-0 4, Darin Brummett 1-3 0-2 2, David Brummett 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-60 8-14 44. MANHATTAN (69) Barton 0-2 0-0 0, Weis 1-5 0-0 2, Bonsor 8-12 0-0 17, Marshall 8-10 0-1 16, Mugler 2-6 2-2 6, Kandt 10-170-020, Weigel3-4 1-1 7, Johnson 00 0-0 0, Leahy 0-1 2-2 2. TOTALS 32-54 5-6 69.

Salina Central 4 15 8 17 Manhattan 14 16 20 19 69 TOTAL FOULS Salina Central 10, Manhattan 16. FOULED OUT None. REBOUNDS Salina Central 29, Manhattan 35. TURNOVERS Salina Central 11, Manhattan 14. But we just couldn't get the basket down." Actually, the Mustangs had three straight chances to chop the Indians' one-time 14-point lead to six, but Central missed two shots and turned the ball over.

Manhattan, now 2-0, then recovered to build the lead back up to 11 (30-19). Surprisingly, Bonser was scoreless and Mugler and Marshall had just 12 points between them at intermission. But all that changed in the second half. The third-ranked Tribe could do no wrong in the final two quarters. With senior Karl Kandt a game- high 20 points bombing from the outside, Manhattan's front line exploded on Central's pressure defense.

Bonsor hit 8-of-9 shots and Marshall 5-of-5 in the second half to help the Indians put Central away. "It helped to get Howard back in the picture," said Manhattan head coach Mike Leahy. "We did a good job of getting the ball to him and he started shooting the ball instead of trying to dunk every shot. He can't do that against good teams like Central because they will hold and take the charge." Bonser, who's headed to Kansas State next fall on a basketball scholarship, finished with 16 points. Marshall also finished with 16 points, hitting 8-of-10 from the field.

Manhattan hit 19-of-25 second-tialf shots and finished with 32-of-54 shooting from the field. "It was amazing the shots they were hitting," Wahlgren said. "I was beginning to wonder if they had radar on their basket. "With the type of defense we were playing, it was tough to totally cover up the inside and outside," Wahlgren said. "When a strong inside team like them is also hitting well from the outside, it just makes them more effective." James Veal led the Mustangs with 16 points.

Salina Central mustered just four points in the first quarter and never recovered. The Indians hit then- first five shots to start the second half and take a commanding 40-23 lead. They stretched the score to 50-27 on 10-of-13 shooting by the end of the third period. "Those first few minutes of the third quarter are so important in a high school basketball game," Leahy said. "If you let a team get back in the game, then you're probably going to have a dogfight the rest of the way.

I thought we did a good job of putting them a way in the third quarter." Stephen White JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER There's more to coaches, athletes than wins, losses Journalism is not unlike most professions in that from time to time employees disagree with management. However, one of the engaging aspects of the profession is that, by its very nature, journalism promotes such disagreement. Not only are conflicting opinions not suppressed, they are, in fact, encouraged. Hence, today's column. More than a few of us here, including every one of us on the sports staff, took exception to a recent Journal editorial which stated: "there is reason to be proud Salina does not have that 'winning The editorial "Football Fever," which ran Nov.

23 professed a valid point in that winning is overemphasized in many places, and that overemphasis on winning is detrimental in many ways. However, in taking that theme a step further, the editorial connoted that winning necessitates overemphasizing some things that are detrimental to the overall education of students. While this may be the case in too many instances, it is not universal. I like to think it is the exception. Fanatic parents such as those in Texas referred to in "Football Fever" are rampant in every program across the country, whether successful or not.

Likewise, overzealous coaches are more prevalent than any of us would like. But to assume that winning requires an undue emphasis on sports is an insult to people like Bob Mannebach. It is an insult to people like Andy Deckert. It is an insult to people like Larry Wiemers. Coaches like Sacred Heart's Bob Mannebach are why I cover sports for a profession.

One of the justifications a college graduate like myself has for devoting a lifetime to the reporting of high school sports events is the promotion of athletic ideals ideals imparted to generation after generation by coaches like Mannebach. For 26 years, Mannebach has been churning out not only outstanding basketball teams, but outstanding scholars, outstanding citizens. Men like Mannebach prefer discussing the outstanding citizens his program has produced rather than the state championships, though the two have gone hand in hand. Ditto for coaches like Salina South's Andy Deckert, whose cross country teams have not only been among the state's faster but among its brighter. Just as Mannebach prefers discussing the citizenship characteristics of his players, seldom an interview goes by when Deckert fails to attribute an athlete's success to academic traits such as intelligence, dedication and perseverance.

And coaches like Clay Center's Larry Wiemers bring everything into perspective when, minutes after experiencing a gut-wrenching playoff loss, he addresses the loss not as a tragedy but as a learning experience. Speaking in a sobering locker room of tearful teenagers who'd just suffered the most traumatic loss of their young football careers, Wiemers spoke of last month's last-second loss to Mulvane as a learning experience. "Sure, it hurts. It hurts real bad," he said. "But I've been through this before, and because I've been through this before I know I'm going to be all right later just like when I have problems in life, I know they'll work out.

I've been in that -kind of situation before, and I'm sure I'll be in them again. "I still think athletics is a hell of a learning experience, and some of the people who want to take it out of the schools I wish they could be in this locker room right now and feel These kids will remember this." While Wiemers' didn't constitute a typical postgame dialogue, his commentary was not unique in belief. Weimers chose an ideal time to remind us of the ideals sports are designed to, and do, teach. So, no, don't tell me men like these three of the state's more successful coaches can't win while keeping winning and education in a proper perspective. No, these men are proud to have established a winning tradition and are even prouder of the education their athletes receive.

Salina should be proud of men like Mannebach and Deckert and their winning traditions. People in north- central and northwest Kansas should be proud of men like Wiemers..