Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Bf^ m y B j^B gg| y, Hr V - I gSTi:; I BF S-- '' I & %g| LifflM 1 I i-mmmmmsm Stephen McCorm?ck -THE GAMECOCK Auburn University transfer Cedric Hodges (34) works out with the team during practice. The 6*8" Hodges is ineligible this season, but McGuire thinks he'll ably fill the center position next year. Hodges will have two years of eligibility left with Carolina. I dCfl0QUI9 From page 2 JAN. 28--VIRGINIA TECH- Two starters return from last year's team which went to the NIT. Ron Bell and Marshall Ashford are back, but help will be needed from Virginia Commonwealth transfer, Tic Price, and 6-6 freshman David Bennett. JAN. 30--at DUQUESNE- The Dukes were in the NCAA tournament lact vmt hut prariiintinn took its toll. Onlv one returner averaged more thanten points a game. Two freshman, 6-7 Bill Harper and 6-10 Maurice Drinks will play a lot. FEB. 1-RHODE ISLAND at PROVIDENCE, R.I.- The Rams of coach Jack Kraft return three experienced players, 6-4 forward, Stan Wright, and 6-7 Sly Williams. Help is expected from 6-9 Tennessee transfer Irv Chatman. FEB. 5?MARQUETTE? The defending national champion will be coming into Columbia with a new coach, Hank Raymonds, to play in a nationally-televised game. He has inherited quite a team, though. Rpturnine will be All-America Butch Lee. who averaged 19.6 points per game last season. Other talented players return, including Jerome Whitehead, Bernard Toone, Jim Boylan and Gary Rosenberger. FEB. ll?FURMAN? The Purple Paladins of Joe Williams are loaded with talent. They return four starters from last year. Guard Bruce Grimm was 13th in the nation in scoring, and his 24.0 average also led the Southern Conference. Guard Ron Smith returns for his fourth year as a starter, and Jonathan Moore is back with his 20-point average. 6-11 Jim Strickland withdrew from school two weeks ago. Williams should ~'? ?nAllorto All.Amorinn A1 Haniol nnH itnHnpv ArnnlH aisu I CI_y Ull JU1I1UI VVllbgv I?1 IU..V.IVU .? , who averaged 35.7 points in high school. ? FEB. 18--N0TRK DAME- The Irish are ranked high in the preseason polls mainly because Digger Phelps had one of the best recruiting years in the nation. Returning are G-9 Dave Batton, 6-8 Bruce Flowers, last year's leading scorer, duck Williams ana leaaing assist man men Branning. The Irish will have one of the most talented benches in the nation with 6-7 freshman Kelly Tripucka, 6-5 all-state piayer from New Jersey, Tracy Jackson, 6-8 Orlando Woolridge, 6-10 Gilbert Salinas, and 6-11 Bill Laimbeer, who was academically ineligible last year. ..FEB. 20-at FURMAN FEB. 22--WILLIAM & MARY-- New coach Bruce Parkhill will be inheriting a team that returns three starters from last year's 16 and 14 team. Leading the returnees will be 6-5 John Ix>wenhaupt, who rx 1 H 0 nnintc fl Ui\ m O UVt'l cl^tu 1I.U pwuuu M FEB. 25-at HICllMONI)- This will he a rebuilding year for coach Carl Slone and the Richmond Spiders. There are 11 freshmen and sophomores on the team and just one starter, 6-9 center Hob Boehling, How much doc miss ACCin be For those who are interested in trivia, when was the last time the Carolina basketball team defeated a reputable team with a good record? For those whose memory can't go that far back, it was during the 197374 season when the Gamecocks defeated two NCAAbound play-off teams, Marquette and Creighton. Carolina defeated Marquette, the 1973-74 NCAA runner-up, in Columbia, 60-58. Marquette came into Carolina Coliseum with a 10-0 record and finished the year with a 26-5 season. Carolina defeated Creighton in Omaha, Neb., /H-09. creignton tinishcd the year with a 21-6 record and was invited to the NCAA playoffs. The 1973-74 season was the last year the Gamecflcks were offered a bid to the NCAA's. SINCE THEN, Carolina basketball has gradually declined to seasons of 19-9, 18-9 and last year's mark of 14-12. And since the 1973-74 season USC has failed to defeat a team of national prominence. Consequently, attendance at home games has also iflB Matt Ward Columnist dropped from an all-time high of 12,523 per game in 1970-71 to last year's average of 7,728. Why is it that a basketball program which ranked with the very best in the country only a few years ago Js steadily declining, with no relief in sight? Carolina t^isketball has slowly been deteriorating since USC's Board of Trustees made its fateful decision to leave the Atlantic uoasi uonterence (ACC) in the spring of 1971. Since then the Gamecocks have not been a factor in collegiate basketball. _ FIRST AND FOREMOST among the problems USC has had since its departure from the ACC is recruiting. Carolina is simply not getting the kind of talontwl hull nlnvprc it nwl to ppf whpn in thp ACC. Being in the nation's best basketball conference is without a doubt a definite plus when going after the top high school players in the country. Last year the two best high school players decided to attend ACC schools. Gene Banks and Albert King will hope to help bring an ACC title to either Duke or Maryland, respectively. When the Gamecocks were in the ACC, they were able to recruit such names as DrtrtUn Vmtin Imr/vn Prion U/intnrc anrl nthprc JU1III IVIA-IIC, IWVIll UVJVt, JLJilUll ff ilivvtu MKU vw>v> u who were responsible for turning around Carolina basketball and putting Columbia on the map with collegiate basketball powers. Since then the Gamecocks have not gotten the players who can turn around a slumping program. They have done fairly well in recruiting Jim Graziano, Mike Doyle, and Richie Wejnert and Zam Frederick this vear. but thev are not of the duality Carolina was able to get when it was in the ACC. ANOTHER FACTOR hurting USC is the exposure and publicity the ACC receives every year. All seven teams are usually equal in ability and often games are not decided until Uie final minutes. Also, the ACC has a television contract which allows most of the 4 ...o4y?U knolrn^koll V fmnct EjilSl VyUUSl IU W dlUI LUUt^ldlt LfdOivciuaii o i iiiv. jl conference. That kind of exposure aids the ACC in getting its share of great players. Billy Cunningham, David Thompson, Phil Ford and many others have consistently through the years made the ACC the most pxritinc conference in colleciate basketball. Carolina's location in the Southeast as an independent has also hurt USC's basketball program. The Gamecocks are sandwiched in between the ACC and Southeastern Conferences. Most high school players feel more secure with a team which belongs to a conference Ijecause of the competitive nature the conference offers. Being the lone major independent in a region which has two of the nation's best conferences has been detrimental to recruiting for the Gamecocks. USC is faced with not only the problem of recruiting against one team, say for example, North Carolina but against the seven teams which comprise the ACC The schools which belong to the ACC are using theii conference affiliation to recruit the better players. Since USC is an independent and so close to the ACC ?s Carolina isketball? basketball has lost the recruiting battle since their departure. SECOND, the Gamecocks have been hurt by their schedule. They are unable to play ACC teams, except Clemson this year (for the first time in six years). To fill the open gaps USC must play such well-known iivtui?? us L?uquesiie, napusi <ti ^nanesion and Richmond. There is no rivalry between these teams, and most fans would rather see games involving Carolina and old ACC opponents. Coach Frank McGuire must be given credit for scheduling such notable powerhouses as Kentucky and Alabama. But since the Gamecocks are not members of a conference, they must play the better teams in the early part of their schedule because these teams have conference games in the second hall ol their season. This means USC must defeat superior teams at the beginning of its schedule lx?fore building up any momentum. And after playing these teams, the Gamecocks are left with no-names in the second half of their season, except for Notre Dame and Marquette this season. Even if Carolina has a good season, the NCAA playoff committee may extend a bid to either the second or third place team in the ACC or SEC because of luugner hcneuuHis in iu> respective conierences. Therefore being an independent has hurt Carolina's basketball program. So why does USC remain an independent? CAROLINA 1IAS REMAINED an independent because of the board's obsession with "Carlenmania.*' Since Jim Carlen's arrival at USC in 1975, Carlen has received total board support. His role as oil rxsxnoV* ill AO Aunnn/l<ul i a ? iwiuau luulii w ad cApuuucvj ill ivtv iu dullcllt director, except for control of basketball. Carlen's contract was also extended two weeks ago by the board, even when the football team had lost four straight games. USC's athletic program under Carlen's direction has not hidden the fact that its chief purpose is building a football power, even at the expense of the basketball program and McGuire. Carolina has remained an independent because of the board's obsession with V.UI ICII-IIIUMIU. Since Carlen's arrival at Carolina his status has grown to the point where only one person stands in his way of totally controlling athletics here: Frank McGuire. Carlen's position in athletics has received assurances, through his appointment as athletic Hirontnr nnH rnntrarf pvtpnsinn from thp hoard that he is the dominant man in USC athletics. By backing Carlen, the board has relegated McGuire to the position of number two man on the USC athletic totem pole. The board has also created the power struggle between these two coaches. They have submitted to the wishes of Carlen and given him, for all practical niiwirvamao nil Ua umnfc an q ciltmi* rvloHot* tKair }JLU cm lie vvamo uii u Oil* VI piuiivi . ?V iv*i iuvm vote of confidence in Carlen they have shown very little faith in McGuire. In other words, McGuire is expendable. BY ITS ACTIONS th?? board has shown football is the direction it wants USC athletics to head towards. Carlen has said he wants Carolina to remain an independent to further the advancement of football while McGuire believes the ACC is the answer to rejuvenating Carolina's basketball program. IN FOOTBALL, being an independent does not hurt a team's chances of receiving a bowl bid because bowl committees are not required to give spots to just teams which win conferences. However, in basketball in recent years the NCAA has given fewer spots in its ; tournament to independents. Since Carolina is an inHpnendent it must show more than a uood record to get the NCAA to give USC a bid to the national tournament. Even Marquette, the defending NCAA champion, was fortunate to receive an invitation with seven losses during the regular season.