Publication Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Stanford basketball players enjoy golden moments in WUG finals
Stanford basketball players enjoy golden moments in WUG finals
(August 24, 2005) Rick Eymer
With a gold medal dangling from his neck, Stanford senior Matt Haryasz wasn't ready to put it away.
Haryasz and fellow Cardinal senior Chris Hernandez returned from Izmir, Turkey with the best souvenir of all after helping the United States men's World University Games basketball team romp to the championship of the World University Games on Sunday with an 85-70 victory over the Ukraine.
The U.S. reached the gold medal game with a 120-80 victory over Russia on Friday.
Stanford senior Brooke Smith also brought home the glimmering gold hardware as the U.S. women's basketball team also won the championship of the World University Games with a 79-53 victory over Serbia and Montenegro on Friday.
"It was so cool," Haryasz told The Bootleg about winning the title on the Aegean coast about 350 miles south of Istanbul. "It was crazy out there. There were a bunch of people on the court. I told Chris something along the lines of 'We got a (expletive deleted) gold medal. We hugged and laughed. It was tight. This medal is getting heavy around my neck but I'm going to wear it all the way home."
Hernandez and Haryasz combined for 15 points, five rebounds and three assists in the final game as the Americans swept eight games by an average margin of nearly 30 points. Haryasz added three blocked shots.
"This whole experience has been about a group of 12 stars giving up of themselves to be a team," U.S. coach Jay Wright said. "We knew we had very talented players but the thing we are most proud of is these guys wanted to be part of a USA basketball team."
The U.S. earned its first gold medal in the Games since 1999, and joined the women in sweeping the gold for the first time since 1997.
"Our goal was not to just win a gold medal but be the best team possible," U.S. forward Randy Foye said. "We gave it all we had. It was the last game and we had to finish on top."
Foye and Hernandez were two of the six players to score in double figures. Shelden Williams led the way with 15 points and 14 rebounds. He also blocked four shots.
"It's a great feeling," Williams said. "We have been together for the last three weeks. We jelled at the right time and it was great seeing everybody playing like they can play."
Foye and Williams each scored 20 points in the win over the Russians. Hernandez added 14 points and a team-high four assists.
"It was a tremendous, once in a lifetime experience," U.S. guard Craig Smith said.
The women were even more dominant in their pursuit of the gold. The Americans outscored their opponents by 1 43.4 margin and shot over 56 percent as a team in winning all seven games they played.
The women won their sixth gold medal, and 13th medal overall in 14 appearances.
"This is euphoria," USA coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. "It's basketball heaven. We have the best players in the country and what's great about coaching them is that they're unselfish."
Serbia and Montenegro scored first but the U.S. scored the next 10 points and never looked back.
The Americans forced 29 turnovers and limited Serbia and Montenegro to 35 percent shooting from the field.
Smith, who saw action in all seven games, averaged 6.3 points -- on 80 percent shooting -- and 4.3 rebounds. She also added 10 assists and five steals.
Cross country
John Rembao and Ashley Couper were added to the cross country/track and field staffs.
Rembao was named Director of Operations for Stanford Track and Field/Cross Country, while Couper, who ran at Stanford, was named assistant cross country and track coach.
"John Rembao will be the glue in handling the many aspects of running a successful track & field, and cross country program," Program Director Edrick Floreal said. "That includes meet management, fund raising, promotions, and budgets in addition to serving as the high jump coach. His expertise in coaching high jumpers is known worldwide. Ashley is a young coach who loves the Stanford program and understands what it takes to be a successful student-athlete at Stanford. Ashley is committed to continuing our success in both the men's and women's distance running programs."
Rembao, a 23-year veteran of the coaching ranks, has also coached at SMU, Texas, Arizona and Cal Poly.
At Stanford in 2001, Couper finished sixth in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn All-American honors. Couper, who continued her running career with the Palo Alto-based Nike Farm Team, holds the Bermuda national record in the 1,500 meters.
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