KU soccer coach recalls slain Nebraska player

Jenna Cooper wasn’t just another face on another Big 12 Conference team to Kansas University soccer coach Mark Francis.

Cooper, the Nebraska University soccer player who died Sunday in a tragic shooting, was a member of the U.S. Under-21 National team last summer, and Francis was an assistant coach on that gold-medal-winning team.

“She was a good player and a great kid,” Francis said. “I was just shocked when I heard about it. You never expect those things.”

Francis, now in his fifth season as the Jayhawks’ head coach, talked to his players Tuesday about the incident.

“Although it sounds like she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Francis said, “I chatted with our guys about making smart decisions about the environment you’re in.”

Football

Magazine taps Vaughn

Kansas University center Joe Vaughn has been selected to The Sporting News All-Spring Team. Vaughn, a senior from Del City, Okla., was listed as one of the top five offensive lineman in the country after an impressive showing during spring football drills.

Vaughn, who was an NJCAA All-American at Northeastern Oklahoma, was the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year last fall.

NBA

Hinrich All-Rookie teamer

New York — LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade were unanimous members of the NBA All-Rookie Team announced Tuesday.

Chris Bosh and Kirk Hinrich also made the first team in voting by the league’s 29 head coaches.

James, taken No. 1 overall in last year’s draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, is just the third rookie to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists (Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan are the others).

Anthony led all rookies in scoring average at 21 points and helped the Denver Nuggets reach the playoffs for the first time since 1995.

Miami’s Wade ranked among the top five rookies in five statistical categories, while Toronto’s Bosh led first-year players in rebounding (7.4 per game) and blocks (1.41), and Chicago’s Hinrich, a Kansas University product, led them in assists (6.8).

Big 12 golf

Jayhawks tie for fifth

Hutchinson — Kansas University’s men’s golf team finished the Big 12 Conference Championship in a three-team tie for fifth place.

KU shot a three-round total of 893 at the tournament, which concluded Tuesday at the 6,598-yard, par-70 Prairie Dunes Country Club.

“We didn’t play very well in today’s round,” KU coach Ross Randall said. “We just weren’t clicking like we would want in a tournament like this. It was disappointing for us because we didn’t compete as well as we would have liked.”

The Jayhawks, who tied Colorado and Texas Tech, finished 29 strokes behind the team champion, seventh-ranked Texas, which shot a three-round total of 864 to win its third straight conference crown.

KU’s Tyler Hall, Kevin Ward and Tyler Docking each shot 224 and tied for 20th.

Kansas expects an at-large berth in the NCAA Central Regional, to be played May 20-22 at Birck Boilermaker Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind.