The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, December 01, 1972, Special Basketball Issue, Page Page 3, Image 3

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Scoring Brian Winters, the other I backcourt duo, scores on a la; year. Winters has that all-art fellow guard, Kevin Joyce. Fresh BY JIM HERSH Sports Writer Freshmen being eligible for var sity activity may be a great thing for fan interest, small schools and whatever else the NCAA claims it does, but it sure leaves freshmen coaches and people trying to write Across from USC ROUNDHOUSE GO LU GAMEI We're S. C. B< Corner of G Rook Center threat alf of the deadly Gamecock rup in Creighton game of last und ability of teammate and men p pre-season summaries on freshmen teams confused. Take Carolina. They have a var sity game Saturday at Tennessee. Their freshman team has their first game Monday at home against someone or something known as the Phiblant Navy. All of the seven freshmen players on scholarship will go on the trip to Tennessee. What happens at Ten nessee, whether a particular freshman plays well, or plays at all, will decide which freshmen play for the jayvee team and which stay with the varsity. They have a game Mon day also. So not until Sunday will USC's freshman coach Donnie Walsh know who will and who won't play GD CK ECOCKS No. 1 rok store reen and Main raf the U1nivewuty Vols t to tak BY DOUG WILLIAMS Sports Editor For some time now, Southeastern Conference basketball teams have pretty much had to fight it out among themselves for second place. After all, Adolph Rupp kept coming up with good groups year after year and it was naturally assumed that his Wildcats would take the confer ence title without breaking a sweat. Every so often, Tennessee would throw a scare into Rupp, but the Baron always seemed to come out on top. Such is the case no longer. Rupp is gone and Tennessee should be on top, though the two have no bearing on each other. Kentucky is still a sound basketball team. It's just that Tennessee is better. The Vols, who have been ranked in almost all of the preseason polls, have four men back from last year's 19-6 team. Included among them is the SEC's Player of the Year, Mike Edwards, and 7-0 center Len Kos malski, the conference's Sopho more of the Year. Kosmalski, who averaged 19.5 ppg last year, was given the oppor tunity to open up offensively when Vol opponents attempted to tie up otenth for him the next night. He might have all seven scholarship players, he might have some or he might have none. Right now there are non scholarship players working with DON WALSH ...Biddle beadmaster. "Four Hors Apoc wii RUDOLPH WHLL B Sunday - 2:00 & iave. sti e SEC the dangerous Edwards. "Mike faced a series of strange defensive alignments designed to limit his scoring." said Tennessee head coach Ray Mears. "Even though his average may have been curtailed, the heavy concentration on him opened up scoring possibilities for the rest of the team."Despite com plicated defensive attempts, the 6-2 guard still managed a 19.4 scoring average. Also back are 6-5 forward Larry Robinson, who led the Vols in rebounding with a 9.0 mark, and guard John Snow, who averaged over 10 ppg after becoming a reg ular at mid-season. The only loss Tennessee sus tained was that of guard Steve Hirschorn. "Steve did an excellent job in running the offense from the point position," Mears commented. "But sophomore Rodney Woods is a strong candidate to succeed him." Woods is one of three top pros pects who will join the varsity team this season. With the freshmen, he averaged 18.6 points per contest, second only to 6-5 Dan Moody's 20.9 I/ unce Walsh. They practice by themselves most of the time. Twice this year the scholarship guys have practiced with the walk-ons. So with a mixed line-up of scholarship players and walk-ons you, will have a team that has practiced together twice all year. It's very hard to say which freshmen will make it with the var sity. If you're not a prophet it is out right impossible. But from the Garnet-Black game it appears that Bob Mathias, Alexander English and maybe Mike Dunleavy will see considerable service for the var sity. That leaves the other four to go with the jayvee team. Moving on this assumption the Biddie line-up Monday night against the Philbant Navy would U. Union Films Committee men of the tlypse" VALENTINO E SHOWN December 3 at md 4:00* ength crown mark. Another forward, 6-5 Austin Clark, is being heavily counted upon by Mears. Other reliable reserves are 6-8 Lloyd Richardson (7.1 ppg), Wayne Tomlinson (6-9, 2.5 ppg) and Eddie Voelker (6-2, 2.3 ppg). Tennessee appears to be in fine position to capture the SEC title that Kentucky sneaked away with last year, though both schools had iden tical 14-4 conference marks. Ray Mears has now established himself as truly one of the top coaches in the nation, as his 306-97 career mark would indicate. The game will indeed be a tough opener for the Gamecocks, taking both Tennessee's talent and the fact that it will be played in enemy ter ritory into consideration. Many may still remember 1969 when USC, then ranked first nationally, got its rating shot out early by the Vols, who emerged a 55-54 victor over John Roche, Tom Owens and Com pany. And it is frightening to think that this year's version of the Gamecocks can't match 1969 for talent; and the 1969 Vols couldn't match Mears' team of this year either. rtain have Joe Artime and Mark Cartwright at the guards. The for wards would be Jim Clements and Tim Lewis and the center would be Mark Greiner. All but Lewis are on basketball scholarship. Lewis, a left-handed pitcher, is on a baseball scholarship. Lewis has shown well in practices for the Biddies. The other walk-ons are Bud Atkins, Al Balwick and Jim Fleming-all guards-and for wards John Mangen and Bob Pet rocelli. If the scholarship players are all on the jayvee team at the same time the Biddies would be unstoppable, at least by the Philbant Navy, Palmer College, Fort Jackson and the other name teams they play. Without the scholarship people it doesn't matter much what happens. No one will care outside of the player's mothers or girl friends. So if you go to jayvee basketball games this year you may see scholarship players with a varsity career ahead of them or you may see non-scholarship people with no basketball career ahead of them. But you will see the Philbant Navy, and maybe the French Foreign Leg ion. ACross from USC ROUNDHOUSE 'P KLEEN 1320 Main Street 1-hour cleaning 4-hour Laundry Servic