Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Preseason Basketball Special Sports SpecaI University of South C&SUneColumia, S. C. 2923 Monday, November .10, 1970 PREDICTED CONFERENCE STANDING8: USC Maryland Duke North Carolina NC State Virgiub Wake Forest Clem%sn Roche USC All-AmerIca guar( Al Heartley. US, B.v TEIDDY HEFFNER -sports Editor USC breezed through the ACC regular season schedule last year with little trouble. The Gamecocks closest contest was against N. C. State when Carolina only won by two points but the game was not as close as the score indicates, USC was never in trouble. drives for the i John Roche drives for two-pol Duke I vombat But then came that farce some people call the ACC tournament. John Roche, one of if not the top stars in the conference, was hurt in the semifinals and Carolina was ousted the next night by a well executed slowdown by the Wolf pack. l'he real loser, as usual, was the conference. State was battered by St. Bonaventure in the opening basket nter against N.C. State's iead Ants game of the Eastern Regionals and to make things worst North Carolina and Duke lost in the first round of the NIT in New York. Carolina, battle-proven as the best team in the conference sat at home. The Gamecocks have lost only one starter from that team and the returning players have had plenty (Continued on pag 3) Al-A mericas Roche, Owens key Carolina By TEDDY HEFFNER Sports Editor Four returning starters and some bright sophomore prospects key USC's hopes for an improvement on last year's 25-3 mark and a berth in the NCAA playoffs--which means surviving the ACC tournament. All-America guard John Roche tops the returners. Named as the ACC Player of the Year for the past two seasons Roche is one of the top backcourt men in the nation. He is expected to be fully recovered from last year's severe ankle sprain and should once again dominate games with his outstanding ballhandling and shooting ability. "John is the closest thing to Jerry West playing collegiate basketball today." said USC head coach Frank McGuire. "He can do it all. He's a real leader and was selected captain for this year. His value to our team was shown when he got hurt in the ACC Tournament last year and we were upset. Every team, even the great ones, needs a home run hitter, and that man for us is John Roche." McGuire, always an opponent to the ACC tournament, has been known to call the tourney "russian roulette". He makes his feelings clear this year. "Our single goal this season is to win the tournament. The season means nothing unless you win that." Roche has a strong supporting cast. Another All America, 6-11 Tom Owens, has led the ACC in rebounding for two straight years. Owens also hit at a 15.9 clip last year despite 11 attempted slowdowns at the Gamecocks. Other members of the towering front line returning are 6-10 junior Tom Riker, who gathered in 9.0 rebounds a game last season as a sophomore and scored at a 13.8 rate, and John Ribock, 6-8 muscleman who is very adept at setting screens for Roche, and will lend a hand to the rebounding chores. Also available are 6-2 guard Bob Carver and 6-7 forward Rick Aydlett, last season's top reserves. Carver is a quick guard with a high arching jump shot and good ballhandling ability. Aydlett came off the bench many times last season to give the Gamecocks a spark with his sharp shooting poweress. Top sophs are 6-4 high school All-America Kevin Joyce and 7-0 Danny Traylor, who also was a high school All America pick. Joyce led the frosh in scoring with a 25.3 mark while Traylor was the top rebounder with a 15.6 average despite not being fully recovered from a knee operation. The 250 pound Traylor seems to have all his old maneuverability back. In early practices Traylor was deadly with his hook shots from around the foul lane. Joyce can play either forward or guard as his 15.0 (Continued an Page 3) -