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BRIEFS Gerald commits to play USC basketball Former Mullins High standout Jarod Gerald became South Carolina head coach Dave Odom’s first recruit on Sunday, when Gerald committed to play for USC next season. Gerald told The State that he believes playing for USC will be a “lgreat situation”l for him. “11*11 be close to home,”l Gerald said. “lMy family and friends will get to see me play. It’s a decision I made with my heart.”l The 6-foot-l guard signed with Georgia last November but failed to qualify academically. Instead of enrolling at UGA as a non qualifier, he chose prep school at Fork Union Prep in Virginia. Gerald will sign with the. Gamecocks during the November early signing period. In his senior season at Mullins, Gerald averaged 23 points, 11 assists and six rebounds per game. Baseball’s recruiting class ranked 10th The University of South Carolina’s 2001 baseball recruiting class has been ranked 10th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball magazine. The class includes left-handed pitcher Matt Campbell of Simpsonville and right-hander Aaron Rawl from Lexington. The Gamecocks have been the elite of the NCAA the past two seasons, winning the most games of any team. USC has 105 wins in the past year, followed up by Stanford with 101. This is the second straight year USC has had a top 10 recruiting class. Gamecocks look for Quinn’s replacement Defensive end Dennis Quinn had arthroscopic surgery Monday on his right knee to repair partially torn cartilage. The junior will miss this week’s game against Kentucky and is expected to be out two to three weeks. In Quinn’s absence, the Gamecocks will look for some freshmen to take over. George Gause, cousin of receiver Andrea Gause, is the top candidate to fill the spot. Two redshirt freshmen, Preston Thorne and Jonathan Alston, are also expected to see some playing time in Quinn’s absence. Paige uncertain for Kentucky game USC starting right tackle Melvin Paige has a sore right knee that kept him out of practice on Monday. Paige’s knee was swollen and irritated after the game Saturday against Alabama. His status for Saturday’s game against Kentucky remains uncertain. Backup Jeff Barnes could get his second start of his career if Paige is forced to sit out. Football poll ranks USC #1 in nation T he University of South Carolina was the No. 1 team in the nation under the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Colley rankings. The system takes into account wins and losses as well a*s strengths of opponents, without any regard to margin of victory. The computer poll is one of several polls used in the Bowl Championship Series formula. Gause sprains knee, questionable for Sat. Andrea Gause sprained his knee against Alabama on his 37 yard catch that set up the Gamecock’s winning score. His status for Kentucky is questionable. Gause made a huge reception on the final drive of the Alabama game. Brown and Goodman put on injured list USC’s star cornerbacks Sheldon Brown and Andre Goodman are both suffering from injuries. Brown strained his back against Alabama, and Goodman has a strained knee. Goodman’s injury came on three apparent cheapshots by Alabama. Jordan not commiting a crime, just playing ball JORDAN: “It’s an itch that needs to be scratched.” WASHINGTON(AP) If he fails, Michael Jordan won't regret it. If he embarrasses himself, he'll shrug it off. If he loses his final game, he'll live with it. Jordan made it clear Monday his latest comeback isn't about succeeding in other people's eyes. It's about making peace with him self and giving basketball anoth er chance before it's too late. “It’s an itch that still needs to be scratched here, and I don't want that itch to bother me for the rest of my life,” he said. Jordan, 38, took the stage at the Washington Wizards' home arena to explain in detail why he was returning to the NBA again after an absence of more than three years. Sporting a goatee, he answered every question in calm, mea sured tones, sounding a little de fensive only once or twice. “Everybody was so negative about what I was trying to do,” Jordan said. “If I read every newspaper about negative things that I was trying to do, I swear I wouldn't live in America. Ameri ca’s supposed to be the free will to do whatever you choose, do whatever you want to do. “That's all I’m doing. I'm not committing a crime here. Tm just trying to play a game of basket ball. “What if I'm tired of playing YMCAs or the Boys and Girls Clubs? I want to step into the elite competition. If I can do it, great. If I can’t, that's great, too. But you can't take my six championships away. You can't take all the things that I've done.” If anyone has a problem with that, too bad. “I’m not walking into this sce nario thinking I'm failing. I'm walking in thinking I'm confident and I'm pretty sure that I can make it work. If I sit here and lis tened to everyone else tell me that I can't do it, then obviously I wouldn’t be here,” he said. He characterized his motiva tion this way: “I’m all about chal lenges and seeing if I can go out and see if I can achieve some thing,” Jordan said. “If, at the end of the day, I do it, great. If I don't, I can live with myself.” Jordan wore a black baseball cap and a black sweatsuit with red trim from his personal line of athletic clothing -- a color scheme closer to the Chicago Bulls' than the Wizards. He faced about 200 reporters for nearly an hour, fielding ques tions about his legacy, critics, the young rivals who have circled certain dates on their calendars. He was asked about his health, his stamina, his patience and his effect on the game. Though he answered them all, it was clear none of those things really mattered. Playing is the only thing. He said he will try to start slowly, try not to do too much too soon. He said the Wizards should improve on last season's record of 19-63, but he'd be “surprised” if Washington can win 50 games. The Wizards open training camp Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C. Their first regular season game is Oct. 30 in New York against the Knicks. Jordan won 10 scoring titles and six championships while playing with the Bulls. He left the NBA prior to the lockout-short ened 1999 season, when it became clear the Bulls were ready to break up their dynasty and re build with younger players. Jordan was only 35 then but insisted he was at peace with the decision. That was before he dis covered how much he missed the game. “When I left the game, I left something on the floor. You guys may not be able to understand that,” he said. Jordan began working out ear ly this summer with an eye to ward making a comeback. He shed 30 pounds, held daily work outs against NBA-caliber compe tition and started to get the feel ing that he was not too old or too brittle to resume playing the game. He made it clear Sept. 10 that he was committed to making a comeback, and the official word finally came last week. “I'm not walking into the dark. I know what I'm capable of doing. I know what’s going to be expect ed of me. I know everybody is putting my head on the chopping block,” Jordan said. Jordan said he considers him self 100 percent fit and plans to play in all 82 of Washington's games. He twice mentioned Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, but didn't talk about other young players who are undoubtedly looking forward to their chance of going head-to-head with great est player of all time. Latrell Sprewell will be his matchup in the season opener; Allen Iverson will be going after him in Washington's first home game. Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse will get a shot at him in exhibition games. “I'm pretty sure they're sitting back welcoming the challenge. Guess what? I'm sitting back wel coming the challenge, too. Every body was motivated to play against me when I left, so things haven't changed,” Jordan said. * J, LC Charleston-based band to perform CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 thored “B-13” on Magazine. “The House Our Father Knew,” which he co-wrote with Clifford, is a dark piece about an abusive parent. Evan Bivans also wrote “Words of Wisdom,” inspired by the Bivins’ father’s battle with cancer. The near-perfection of the album’s 14 tracks didn’t come from a near-perfect production experience. The album, recorded in late 2000, was orginally sched uled to be released May 8 on Breaking Records. But Atlantic Records broke ties with Breaking Records while J, LC was in the midst of putting out its album. J, LC decided to put the album out on its own instead, but that proved difficult. After a tug-of-war for the recorded material, J, LC was able to release the album on its own record label, E-Z Chief Records. RETURNING TO CAMPUS In the spring of2001, J, LC played on USC’s Horseshoe as a part of the Bicentennial Celebration, giving students a . taste of several tracks from Vertigo, which they thought at the time would be released in May. It seems only proper that J, LC has decided to make Columbia one of its first stops on its tour support ing Vertigo. The band will autograph CDs and perform at Manifest Discs and Tapes Thursday afternoon and then at the Elbow Room that evening. ! SPORTS RANKINGS & STANDINGS NSCAA Men’s Soccer Top 25 1. Southern Methodist 2. Stanford 3. St. Johns 4. Virginia 5. St. Louis 6. Indiana 7. Washington 8. Alabama Birmingham 9. South Florida 10. Rutgers 11. San Diego 12. North Carolina 13. Loyola (Maryland) 14. Fairfield 15. Ohio State 16. Furman 17. SOUTH CAROLINA 18. Seton Hall 19. Penn State 20. Connecticut 21. William & Mary 22. Columbia 23. Marshall 24. Clemson 24. Boston College AVCA Volleyball Top 25 1. Cal St.-Long Beach 2. Nebraska 3. Southern Cal 4. Stanford 5. UCLA 6. Wisconsin 7. Tennessee 8. Florida 9. Colorado State 10. Penn State 11. Ohio State 12. South Carolioa 13. Hawaii 14. Brigham Young 15. Pepperdine 16. Texas A&M 17. SOUTH CAROLINA 18. Northern Iowa 19. Utah 20. Cal-Santa Barbara 21. Minnesota 22. Notre Dame 23. Louisville 24. Santa Clara 25. Kansas State SEC Standings All statistics are current as of Sept. 30. EASTERN DIVISION CONF. OVERALL South Carolina__2-04-0 Tennessee2-03-0 Florida _2-0 * 4-0 Georgia- 1-12-1 Kentucky_ 0-21-3 Vanderbilt 0-2 1-3 WESTERNDMSION CONF. OVERALL Auburn 2-0 3-1 Alabama_2-1 2-2 Ole Miss __ 1-1 __ 2-1 Louisiana State0-12-1 Mississippi State 0-2_ 1-2 Arkansas 0-3 1-3 Want to participate in The Gamecock Sports challenge? Each week, The Gamecock will pick the winners of several games around the country, and we will have a slot for a selected reader. Give us your picks by e-mailing , gamecocksports@hotmail.com or coming by the newsroom, Russell House Room 333. Be sure to include name, major, year and a phone number ore mail. This week’s games are: KENTUCKY (1-3) AT NO. 13 SOUTH CAROLINA (4-0) MISS. STATE (1-2) AT AUBURN (3-1) NO. 2 FLORIDA (4-0) AT NO. 18 LSU (2-1) NO. 3 OKLAHOMA (3-0) VS. NO. 5 TEXAS® DALLAS (4-0) . NO. 10 WASHINGTON (3-0) AT NO. 9 UCLA (4-0) NO. 14 NORTHWESTERN (3-0) AT OHIO STATE (2-1) GEORGIA (2-1) AT NO. 6 TENNESSEE (3-0) Send your picks in this week and check The Gamecock on Friday to see the picks of the staff, as well as reader picks. Last week’s winners: Chris Foy and Kyle Almond Organisms Genre-less music takes to Elbow Room CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 ing that of Pep Love from Hieroglyphics Gift of Gab from Blackalicious, and most appro priately Black Thought of The Roots. Baptiste, who handles half of the vocals, explained that his group is the “voice of tomorrow,” because they reflect a reality that isn’t “sugar-coated.” Clarifying that he was a song-writer, and not a rapper, Baptiste then made a note-worthy proclamation that is also uncommon in hip-hop, saying that he went to the “school of the John Lennons and the Jeff Buckleys.” The musicians of Infectious Organisms help establish an aesthetic accompaniment that can easily survive on its own. A clear example of this is the instrumental, “Comfort in the Swell”, a song that tells a tale without lyrics. The bass-line pervades the syncopated rhythm and blends with the euphoric guitar and keys, creating a listener-friendly song that could easily be heard on any late night jazz program. The music Infectious Organisms plays, conveys sheer brilliance and requires a deeper understanding, which is evident in “Genesis.” The instrumentation played in the song’s introduction is a perfect imitation of what might be a track on Phil Collins’ own Genesis, a sign this band knows their stuff. Infectious Organisms will perform at the Elbow Room. Wednesday, as part of the Non Stop Hip-Hop series. Also performing will be One Drop. Almond Gamecocks not a one-hit wonder CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 nation that they aren’t a one-hit wonder with this crucial win on the road at Sanford Stadium. This win was especially great because it also took a comeback effort. USC trailed by two points with three minutes left. Phil Petty didn’t flinch, leading the team down the field and finishing with a touchdown pass to Brian Scott. 5 - SEPT. 2, 2000 - USC 31, NEW MEXICO STATE 0 All right, so it wasn’t a close game, and it wasn’t against a quality opponent. But few wins felt better than this one. It broke the dreaded 21-game losing streak and finally gave USC fans something to cheer for. You could make a case that either win over Mississippi State could qualify as a top five win, and I could see that. Maybe the bowl-clinching win over Arkansas last season could make the list as well. But I stick by my guns, and, hopefully, I’ll have to revise this list a few more times this season. Shoutouts To all the fans who left early Saturday, that’s what you get.... Kelley Washington, we’ll give you a scholarship. “Hell, you can have mine.... Paul Tagliabue, put the Super Bowl in New York. ... We’ll miss you, Arvydas Sabonis.... The best thing about Bernard Hopkins knocking out Felix Trinidad? One less title for Don King.... Tp USC ticket offices, let people validate the damn tickets. If you don’t want the extra revenue, I’ll take it.... al Ripken, you’re the best.... But not you, Woody Dantzler. You suck. v If you are ready for a RFAl Tailgate Party, then come on by! the 4th Great Gamecock k October 6 (USC vs. KENTUCKY) 10 am - 12:30 pm featuring music by: DJ Kirby Purvis v Seawell's Parking Lot - 1125 Rosewood Drive ( across the street from "the ROCKET" at the State Fairgrounds The best part is that it is all FREE: Music, Lots of Great Food, Drinks & Door Prizes. Souvenirs for the first 250 ISC students in attendance at each Tailgate Party. General Parking is available at SeaweU's for $10 per vehicle. IBIS TAILGATE PARTY IS AN ALCOHOL & OTHER DRUG-FREE ENVIRONMENT sponsored by the Russell House Alcohol & Drug Programs Major funding provided by a pant received from the VS. Department of Education Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program: The Prevention of High-Risk Drinking & Violent Behavior Among College Students Prunxt Paid for, in part, with student activity fees. Actual dales or times may change due to funding or program nudic decisions. For adtlitional information, please call 777-7130. ^^^..^Department of Student Life Division of Student & Alumni Services