Springfield News-Sun from Springfield, Ohio • 6

I ii SPRINGFIELD (O) NEWS-SUN Wednesday March 20 1995 News-Sun Sports section calls 328-0363 Score Line Pag6 i i Big Ten been able to fill talent gap ANALYSI Sweet Sixteen shutout could just be cyclical 1993 after leading the Wolverines to two straight NCAA runner-up spots Glenn Robinson and Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose left as juniors in '94 and Wisconsin center Rashard Griffith moved on in '93 after his sophomore year at the teams that are still around in the tournament Ray Allen decided to stay in school and that dearly Times feels the talent drop-off mirrors the descent in Midwestern high school talent Tt brr" as strong as it was five yean said Wetzel whose publication is based in Troy Mich test great player to come out of Chicago wu Juwan Howard The last great player to come out of Detroit was Cams Webber Hie test great Ohio player wu Jimmy Jackson Hie last great Indiana players were Glenn Robinson and Aten Henderson By Hark Ambrogi Kaight-Ritider New helped his said Clark Kellogg college basketball analyst analyst fa CBS and ESPN and then there hasn't been a peat player of those places and (the Big former Ohio State standout same is true with Tim Duncan at Wake Forest' and Marcus Camby at UMass" Hie Big Ten been able to replenish it as criteria But next year if we have eight great teams in the Big Ten I hope they would evaluate it on what dung that year not on the Although league commissioner Jim Delany is disappointed with the showing he isn't panicking don't think there's any simple he said from the Big Ten office in Park Ridge 111 think we got here in six months I think going to move from here in six months but I be surprised in the near-term if we can turn it around pretty well I have faith in our Davis said he has ideas on how to reverse the Big Ten fortunes but he expand Delany welcomes any thoughts and plans to meet with all the coaches cares about having five teams in die ten 23 and being at the top of the competitive Delany said a big stay when the Big Ten compete well because competed pretty well over the years had a two-year hiatus from competitiveness in the NCAA I think part of it is Jim national college basketball writer for The Associated Press agreed couple of yean ago everybody wanted to run the Big East out of town because they dropped down to die fourth-best conference in the said based in New Yak City the Big East is back on top just a matter of having the players to do it It doesn't matter how good the coaches O'Connell also dismissed the theory that the Big Ten needs a postseason tournament to tune up for the NCAA was saying that when Michigan and Indiana were going to those Final Fours" said who also pointed out UCLA won the national title last season and die Pac-10 doesn't have a tournament Everyone agreed that the Big Ten's slide accelerated when some prominent underclass- men opted for the NBA early Chris Webber departed as a sophomore in that talent loss The only league player first expected to be taken in this NBA I INDIANAPOLIS The Big black eye in the NCAA tournament the past two seasons has caught the nation's eye we make a quick turnaround there will be less of us invited" Iowa Coach Tran Davis said after losing to Arizona and becoming the last of the five conference basketball teams to exit the tournament on Sunday Top-seeded Purdue and Iowa were the only teams of five invited to make it to second round this season In 1993 die Boilermakers got the only victory as the six teams were 1-6 The combined record for '93 and is 3-11 (Big Ten) backed ourselves into the Purdue Coach Gene Keady said imagine going to judge that and use round is Indiana's Brian Evans a fifth-year out bread and butter The talent wasn't there and there were a group of coaches who really prepared to shift gears and recruit Wetzel feels leaving ESPN's Monday game telecasts in the 1991-92 season hurt the conference's recruiting efforts Delany said the amount of television exposure is not the problem have two nights a week on ESPN and a game of the week on Delany said think it's exposure The negative part of exposure is when you play senior conference is only good as your Kellogg said go back seven to nine years the Big Ten wu perennially a top two a three conference because there were a number of great players at that Dan Wetzel associate editor of Basketball Coaches tend to put a lot of pressure on themselves anyway Jeff Shaw makes pitch for the Reds By Hal McCoy Cm Nam fcwto PORT ST LUCIE Fla Ray Knight certain how use Jeff Shaw but the Cincinnati Reds manager is certain he will use him because the 29-year-old right-hander is like a Swiu Army knife He has many suable blades Shot relief? Long relief? Closer? Setup? Pour the coffee? Rub the baseballs? matter what I uy to him Jeff says fine with said Knight a negative word You ask some guys to throw two games in a row and they uy threw a they uy tired' a they say want to do Not That's one reason Shaw already hu earned a spot in the bullpen for the 1996 Reds that and the fact he has given up only two runs in 13 innings of work this spring Shaw signed I i 1 i I 1 ilj I 1- J' i A fc I- I I I i I r'i 1 -1 'I ii3 -9 4 if i a free agent by the Reds on New Eve wu bom in Washington Court House and never left other than to play baseball in places like Batavia Waterloo Williamsport Canton-Akron Jeff Shaw Ottawa Colorado Springs Cleveland Montreal and Chicago Now he is 60 mites from his newest employer the Reds and plans to make die 116-how commute every day be nice to steep in my own bed white playing ball" he said I signed every big-league game I saw wu in Riverfront Stadium I wu a Dodgers fan but I liked the Reds too My dad took me to watch The Big Red Machine Who would have thought that 13 years later be playing for the Reds?" Shaw wu 1-6 with a 462 earned and three saves in 50 Cool im ItEe Holt Tony Ricciuto understands expectations of coaching Catholic Centred By Cindy Horner New 8m Sparta Writer Tickets sell fast for Irish games lut season for the Expos through August then finished the year with the White Sox and wu 0-0 with a 652 ERA in nine appearances His numbers this spring more reflect his 1994 season with Montreal 5-2 388 one save in 46 games And Knight hopes he is dose to what the Cleveland Indians saw in 1986 when they made him their No 1 pick and the first player picked overall" out of Rio Grande College long he doesn't said Knight is the consummate pro I like every single tiling I see about If nobody steps forward to claim the closer's rote until Jeff Brantley returns from the 13-day disabled list Shaw may lay claim like elating be said one hitter at a time one pitch at a time It's a great time to be in the ballgame I did it a little test year The key is to know the strengths and weaknesses and go right after the A skeletal crew of pseudo-Red scored a 4-2 victory ova the New York Mets on Tuesday Jeff Branson cracked a two-run game-winning home run in the ninth and John Smi- new things gang to make enemies with any decision I make so it bother me anymore My first priority is always the Ricciuto whose team has won the district title in all three of his years at Central has teamed a kit with the Irish and in his eight years under Coach Joe Staley at Chaminade-Julienne The Irish are 63-1 1 in his three years think there is pressure there" said Staley whose team went to the state in 1989 and 1991 Ricciuto was the assistant and reserve coach both years people think that the oily way his the regional tournament was a relief" said Ricciuto whose team is headed to the state tournament at Ohio State's St John Arena in Columbus for the second straight year The Irish (22-3) will meet Cardington-Lincoln (24-2) at 9 pm Friday in the Division IV state semifinals nice to be going back to Ricciuto said tend to put a lot erf pressure on themselves anyway But what's unrealistic is what's expected of the kids At times you see them get frustrated because they think they should be better because of what they hear But the thing I like is that when you're in pressure situations you team some Catholic Central sold out of boys state tournament tickets in leu than two hours Tuesday The Irish were allotted 2100 for their semifinal game with Cardington-Lincoln at 9 pjn Friday it Ohio State's St John Arena and sold them ell by lpjn If Central should advance to Saturday's final tickets will go on sale immediately following the semifinal at Ohio French Fieldhouse located next door to St John Arena Fans must turn in their semifinal ticket stubs in order to purchase tickets fa the final not always easy having a seven-footer and a guard that can shoot from anywhere on the court It can put a lot of pressure on a coach Pressure of winning your league pressure of winning the sectional the district the regional and the state tournaments Basically winning every time your team takes the court Just ask Catholic Central Coach Tony Ricciuto had to deal with that kind of pressure all year However pressure most coaches mind having See RICCIUTO on Page 7 Bombers vow to fight Colonials in Dayton ley pitched six innings and gave up tings tius one run his first in 20 innings Dayton I'm not sure we can change the outcome but we are going to have another conference Hockey battle begins over control of city Cleveland stockbroker who is president of the CHL Madison Monsters there wu any way we could erase this we would" Furthermore the Dayton Bombas By Mare Kata Cm NmtiinW of the East Coast Hockey League took a hard line and said Tuesday The Bombers and the ECHL are angry that the CHL wants to put a team at Hare Arena which had been the home for five years The CHL is scheduled to announce Thursday one of its teams will play at Hara next season However the league may change its plans after discussions today CHL Commissioner Mike Forbes believes his league should not put a team in Dayton opposite the ECHL This is a divisive issue" Forbes said There hu been quite a bit of discussion about the situation in they'll fight attempts to bring a CHL mtother team to the Dayton area we are doing is said Jeff Croop president of Utica in the CHL The ECHL apparently agrees The ECHL will support 100 parent the Dayton ECHL-President Richard Adams said am extremely upset with the Colonial Hockey Adams would not specify what the league would do if the CHL did move into Dayton but said response will become Man Katz is a sports writer for tit Dayton Daily News spring Mike Kelly is the latest piece in place center field Period he won't play any in left He won't platoon in center with Curtis Goodwin decided Kelly is my center Knight said more shuffling him around over to left All the shuffling now will be to determine who plays left (Vince Coleman? Eric Hal McCoy is a sport swriter for tits Dayton Daily News In a conference call test week eight of the nine CHL governors voted 5-3 to allow an ownership group headed by businessman Mike Ploszek to put a team at Hara Forbes wu stunned his owners voted fa the move and the three who voted against including Dr Eric Margeneau who is president of a team in each league (Mobile in the ECHL Quad City in the CHL) are angry The Colonial Hockey League caught in a controversy that hu divided its owners and angered its commissioner is revisiting whether to play at Hare Arena next season looking at ways to reverse said Andrew Wilhelm a going to said Bombers co-owner Bud Gingher who recently secured a $15 million loan to install ice at Wright State's Ervin Nutter Center so the Bombers can play there next season 5 1 A 'l i I.