Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 17

INSIDE SCOREBOARD C2 LCC BASKETBAU C3 CLASSIFIED C3 SECTION THURSDAY FEBRUARY 4 1999 THE DAILY NEWS "1 uw to hot water with Pac-10 EOBOtableJ coaches went where they have been Jim Cour the associated press 'l know Coach Neuheisel has called some of them in their homes and has tampered a little bit GARY BARNETT COLRADO HEAD COACH Washington Huskies athletic director Barbara Hedges ho hired Neuheisel on Jan 9 upset Bayard said Said Bayard: (the NCAA) probably contact the athletes at Colorado to find out exactly what was said But it would be kind of ridiculous to get on the phone and to actually talk about coming to this institution knowing full well that if talking to somebody there's another party who knows what you Neuheisel said he had not been aware that the Sunday visits were a rules violation When a high school coach mentioned the problem Monday Neuheisel said he talked to Hedges and Bayard then called the Pac-10 headquarters to report the violation Although the rule against the Sunday visits categorically Neuheisel responded I did was say goodbye to some of my former athletes called them wished them well told them to stick together and I enjoyed my time with them It was something hoped to do to every one of the kids at Colorado ever did I ever mention anything with respect to transferring or the University of He said he had attempted to call Barnett Tuesday but Barnett did not return his call Colorado wrote a letter of protest to the Huskies last Thursday and sent copies of it to the NCAA the Pac-10 and the Big 12 UW compliance director Ralph Bayard said Neuheisel needed permission to talk to the players Bayard said Colorado accused Neuheisel of trying to get many Buffaloes players to transfer to supposed to be there That was a violation of NCAA recruiting rules because the Sunday before letter of intent day is considered a quiet period The Huskies turned themselves in to the Pac-10 Monday was illegal to be off Neuheisel said embarrassed by it Unfortunately this was an error I take full responsibility for In a separate development both a UW official and the new Colorado coach contended Neuheisel violated another NCAA rule when he telephoned some of his former Colorado players His successor in Boulder Gary Barnett calls that tampering know coach Neuheisel has called some of them in their homes and has tampered a little Barnett told the Denver Post SEATTLE Rick Neuheisel said he'd make things happen for the Washington Huskies Now the new coach finds himself in hot water with the Pac-10 and perhaps the NCAA less than a month after leaving Colorado to come to Seattle for $1 million a year On Wednesday Neuheisel acknowledged that five Washington assistant coaches were in four homes last Sunday when they categorically false What I did was say goodbye to some of my former athletes RICK NEUHEISEL WASHINGTON HEAD COACH Please see VIOLATIONS Page C3 Barnett calls for stiff penalties Huskies secure premier prep halfback Jim Cour the associaed press Price Bellotti join demand for justice John Mossman the associated press Cougars get their man cousin SPOKANE (AP) a big strong Montana kid who can throw the football a mile and will play quarterback for Washington State Its not Ryan Leaf but it is his cousin Matt Kegel was one of 15 high school seniors who signed national let-ters-of-intent Wednesday to join the Washington State football team Kegel is a 6-foot-5 205-pounder out of Havre Mont WSU Coach Mike Pnce claims he is better than Leaf now with the San Diego Chargers was as a freshman throws a better Price said in a phone interview has better fundamental quarterback technique probably because of Ryan helping him ran a more passing offense like we run than Ryan did in high school" Pnce said As a senior Kegel threw for 2004 yards 22 touchdowns and just nine interceptions The Cougars' unsettled quarterback situation may mean that Kegel could see some playing time immediately Price said Most of the freshmen who signed Wednesday will redshirt Price said Complete list of signings by the UW WSU Oregon and Oregon State PAGE C3 SEATTLE Paul Arnold made Rick day and his first Washington group of recruits And perhaps his first football season this guy was the cornerstone to our recruiting Neuheisel said of Arnold a 6-foot-l 200-pound running back from Burien's Kennedy High School Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges gave Neuheisel $1 million a season to lure him away from Colorado to become the new coach after she fired Jim Lambright She wanted a charismatic young coach who could turn around recruiting fortunes On Wednesday alumni and boosters saw the results of first recruiting job Among the 18 players who signed national letters of intent to play for the Huskies was Arnold who has been acclaimed as the state's most heavily recruited player Arnold who rushed for 1974 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior picked Neuheisel and the Huskies over UCLA and Notre Dame Neuheisel did the best with a short amount of recruiting time He took the Washington job Jan 9 take no credit in recruiting he said a matter of fact I told Paul he recruited Arnold has a chance to revive a Washington rushing attack that sputtered last season when it was led by freshmen Willie Hurst and Braxton Cleman Arnold will be given a chance to become a starter as a freshman Paul can come in and prove the best and ready to play Neuheisel said Neuheisel had recruited Arnold for Colorado before he took the Washington job change made it more difficult for Colorado to stay in the he said Of the other 17 recruits the players given the best chance to make a contribution next season were: High school kicker John Anderson junior college offensive linemen Wes Call and Adis BOULDER Colo Rick successor at Colorado was one of four coaches to ask the NCAA to hand a severe penalty to the new Washington coach for recruiting violations Gary Barnett who succeeded Neuheisel last month said he joined Colorado Sonny Lubick Washington Mike Price and Mike Bellotti in signing a letter what the punishment might be for Barnett said Wednesday the group the NCAA to make this punishment fit the crime because it get their hands slapped and be reinstated just the way done I just think Neuheisel has acknowledged that Washington assistant coaches were in the homes of four prospects Sunday in violation of an NCAA ban on in-home recruiting on Sunday The school turned itself in to the Pac-10 because of the infractions Neuheisel said he had not been aware that the Sunday visits were a rules violation When a high school coach mentioned the problem Monday Neuheisel said he talked to Hedges and Bayard then called the Pac-10 headquarters to report the violation four of us lost kids that day to Barnett said that rule is a pretty well-known rule not a new rule We lost a player that Washington contacted on Sunday (defensive back) Chris Massey (of Moreno Valley The rule has been in effect since 1995 Massey who earlier gave Colorado a verbal commitment signed instead with the Huskies called me and asked me what I thought about Barnett said asked if I would join him in writing a letter the last thing I want to do is make a big deal out of this I do not want to start a brushfire between me and Rick Neuheisel an issue phoning some of his former players Neuheisel labeled that charge as false saying he merely said goodbye to some of his former addressing it and life will go A potentially more serious charge however could result from suggestion that Neuheisel tampered with the roster by Please see UW RECRUITS Page C3 NBA PREVIEW Portland says it has mental toughness to contend Buhner wants to play left in opener The Associated Press "I BLAZERS Already the Blazers decry lack of respect Landon Hall associated press Sunday Portland at Seattle 5 pm Radio: KLOG (AM-1490) and KEDO (AM-1400) TV: KGW (Channel 8) and KSTW (Channel 26) Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics for supremacy in the West the Blazers are a year or two away from being able to beat those teams in a playoff series think basically people are picking the Lakers Utah San Antonio and rightfully Dunleavy said haven't done anything to deserve to be picked up there so really got to go out and do it first We do it and get the recognition we The Blazers enter Sunday opening game at Seattle with essentially the same lineup that finished the 1997-98 season: Arvydas Sabonis at center Damon Stoudamire at point guard Brian Grant at power forward and Rider at shooting guard Dunleavy has experimented with using outside shooter Walt Williams at small forward and bringing Rasheed Wallace off the bench to spell either Grant or Williams Despite all that athleticism Portland managed just a 46-36 record three fewer victories than 1996-97 PJ last season Stagnation on offense was a problem as Stoudamire struggled through an ankle injury and adjusted to the Blazers after coming to the team in a trade last February Portland went just 15-17 after arrival and for the second straight season ASSOCIATED PRESS upside: A young athletic Trail Blazer team returns virtually the same lineup from last season plus guard Jim Jackson was added to the mix SEATTLE Jay Buhner who is coming off ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow wants to be in the Seattle starting lineup on opening day The ex-Gold Glove right fielder will make one concession because of his elbow operation on Sept 9 goal is to play left field in that first Buhner said I'm not saying I may not hit a wall after a week and have to go to first for a time but totally obvious our best team has David (Segui) at first and I think be ready to have him play Because of the longer throws from right Buhner be ready to play there when the Mariners open their season April 5 in the Kingdome against the White Sox If Buhner can't play the outfield have to play first base Edgar Martinez is the designated hitter If Buhner plays first Segui would have to move to left field in order to stay in the lineup a move he looki forward to Segui committed one error last season ti PORTLAND It take long for the Portland Trail Blazers to start complaining about not getting any respect Training camp had just opened two weeks ago when Damon Stoudamire talked about the perceived lack of to win big games And earlier this week ESPN analyst Jack Ramsay the coach who guided the Blazers to their only NBA title in 1977 left out his old team when discussing the contenders in the Western Conference hard to believe that people are not mentioning this team with all this talent that we have on the said guard Isaiah Rider should probably take it as a motivation to try to shock the The Trail Blazers shock anyone if they exceed last sixth-place finish in the Western Conference Portland looked great at both ends df the court in its two exhibition games running the floor and playing the kind of pressure defense coach Mike Dunleavy likes Damon Stoudamire is ready to lead the Blazers now that he has a six-year deal for $81 million And Stoudamire after signing a six-year $81 million contract appears eager to fulfill his potential as one of the best point guards The Blazers added a proven scorer with the signing of free agent shooting guard Jim Jackson and improvement of other role players make the team deeper at every position Portland definitely is strong enough to extend its NBA-record playoff streak to 17 seasons But even though they will push the Los Angeles Lakers Utah Jazz San Antonio Spurs Houston downside: With an average age erf 26 (not counting center Arvydas Sabonis) Portland must mature quickly and eliminate the wildly erratic brand of ball the Blazers played last season PleSe see BLAZERS Page C3.