Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Swim me By Willie T. Smith III Oamecock Staff Writer The Dec. 22 firing of swimming coach Scott Woodburn has upset several USC swimmers, according to team members Shelly Cramer and Jude DeSando. "We are very upset, shocked, unH mncf nf no r- I A .? ?..v. ...uuv v/l UO V. 1 ICU WI1C11 we heard of coach Woodburn's firing. It really came as a total surprise to us. I miss him," Cramer said. The dismissal apparently came without cause. Athletic director Jim Carlen and several other members of the athletic department are not willing to comment on the case, and Woodburn has also elected to remain silent pending his appeal of the firing. rne swimmers said the timing of the decision has caused problems with the desire and performance of the team. "It's a bad thing to do in the middle of someone's season," Cramer explained. "Carolina seems to do that. They did it to the basketball coach too. They always seem to choose the wrong time to deal with problems." WHEN THE ACTION was first taken mnnv of (hp too m , ?x/M>aa itivillU^iO thought of leaving, but after the team talked it over, they decided to stay together and perform as well as they can. Mike I Fo By Brett L. Friedlande Sports Editor Mike Dunleavy is familiar wit! basketball court, but if it wasn't Rockets, the former Gamecock sta be practicing in a different kind of c< After two seasons of only limited | the Philarfplnhin thpfi-1 iRA-rw give up basketball and attend law si Methodist University. The early postponed when a member c organization persuaded Dunleavy tc they were sending to the California S His play in that league earned Di Houston's roster for the 1978-79 seas by averaging eight points and foui while playing in 74 of Houston's : season, he is contributing even more "I FIGURED why not," Dunleavj about giving basketball a second tr Rockets that if at the end of the sun weren't interested, they had to tell n law school. Apparently, they liked w offered me a contract. "So far everything's worked out that someday they'll have that spot me," he added. Dunleavy graduated from USC in three seasons under coach Frank that time he amassed 1,586 points third on the all-time Carolina scorii second in career assists behind .Tar Gamecock, Dunleavy's teams had a of 59-23. After his collegiate career ended, the sixth r<HMid by Philadelphia. A selected in the annual player poo native was not given much of a ch; NBA team. But Dunleavy surpris himself, as he made the 76ers sqi stars like Julius Erving, George Collins and Darryl Dawkins. Til AT FIRST season, the former < well in 32 tfames He made the team 0 ? . ?" ? this time a new coach and a rule players to each team sent him 1 employment before the season was obvious disappointment over being turned out to be the best thing thai pened to Dunleavy's career. "It was a big break for me to com said. "At Philadelphia, (coach G play rookies, but I did get into some that second year, Shue got fired e roster limitations, it meant someon Woodburtif Q rs 'upset, r ^MaiaWi 1? "Right now we've bounced back. For a while, we didn't know what we'd do. We had a choice of staying here or going home," Cramer said. "All the Canadians were thinking about going home, and T was iiiuuvius ctuuui it iuu. i uian i reany know where to go, then we all decided to stick together, and we've had some pretty good meets over the holidays. Things are beginning to look up." "We feel as if we have something to prove to everyone now," Cramer said. "We want everyone to know that we are good people t Junieai rmer Gam< f I was the only one the one to get cut. fi battles on the Once he was for the Houston Dunleavy began t ... ?I, ? IL: i ? i f_ r would probably u,c "??u guaru 10 )urt. contribution to hi flaying time with double figures 28 minder decided to league in free thi chool at Southern a starting role on retirement was >f the Rockets THIS SEASON, i play with a team torn ligament in lummer League. games in which h mleavy a spot on has been the tean on. He responded c,u^ in playing t r assists a game scoring average c 82 contests. This "I've played w< >. said. "Really it w shape. I'm happj i*i ...I 1 r onf rihiifp to a wi ' ??iu wiicii dsivt^j ... y. "But I told the For that com nmer league they popular with He le as I was set for himself with the I /hat they saw and 'n connection wil chain. "Ron's C well. I still hope offered all fans ii in law school for chicken dinner if in a winning effor 1976 after playing That figure hg McGuire. During team's history, ui - good enough for Houston whippec no He* wo Jo oicn assumed the hen 1 JV, A IV IO UlOU ? ? :kie Gilloon. As a He scored 11 of hi combined record of the game, an remaining gave t he was chosen in the fans their chi s the 99th player Man" Dunleavy 1 1, the New York much tothedeligl ance to make the ed everyone but ALTHOUGH H lad along side of almost fOUr year McGinnis, Doug the progress of t His younger br< current USC teai jramecock played during the conti again in 1977, but McGuire's contra allowing only 11 During that d ooking for other threatened to qui over. Despite his USC's board of tr cut, the bad luck resolved, but si t could have hap- directly involved back at it with an e to Houston," he "I agree with v ene) Shue didn't team did," he sai big games. Then ?r who the coach ind with the new owe him every bit e had to go. Since case on any team thletic departmen shocked' I I On Dec. 72, athletic 1 director Jim Carlen (/eft) fired swimming coach Scott Woodburn (right). Neither side can comment on the reasons for Woodburn's dismissal until the case is HtmrH hu r and that we are responsible enough to continue the winning tradition that coach Woodburn has started here." THE TEAM HAS shown strong support for Woodburn bv writing letters to athletic director Jim Carlen, president James Holderman and vice president for athletic affairs William Putnam. 4 The coach asked us for his support after everything happened. We did this by writing letters and going to see coach Carlen. Some of our parents also wrote letters," Cramer said. "We wanted him to jy ecocK gets i with a no-guarantee contract, I was ft picked up by Houston in 1978, to get his game together. Playing as r the Rockets, he made a significant s team's play-off drive. He scored in times, and he finished ninth in the *ow percentage while performing in numerous occasions. Finn loo tr^r hoc a r*/irr*rl kn n i ?vu??ivu v j nuo uv/v/ii notiipvi uu uj' a his left hand. However, in the 18 e has played, the Carolina graduate l's top reserve. He ranks sixth in the ime and currently has the highest >f his career. ell since I signed with Houston," he as just a matter of getting back into f that I can play with a winner and nning cause." tribution, Dunleavy has become >uston fans. He further endeared lockets' faithful right from the start :h a promotion by a local fast food rispy Fried Chicken" of Houston n attendance at home games a free the Rockets scored over 135 points t. id only been reached once in the ntil last year. In the very first game, 1 New Jersey 139-87, as Dunleavy 3's mantle from the "hungry" fans, s 13 points in the final three minutes id his layup with under a minute he Rockets their 135th point and got cken dinners. Since then, "Chicken las turned the trick two more times, ht of the paying customers. E has been away from Columbia for s, Dunleavy has a lot of interest in he Gamecock basketball program. >ther Kevin is a member of the n and was a very outspoken figure roversy that arose last fall over ct. ispute, the entire Carolina squad t the team if the coach was fired by ustees. The situation has since been nee the older Dunleavy was not in the conflict, he is able to look nnan minil vpvil IIIII1U. vhat my brother and the rest of the d. "I don't care what the situation is is. Until he is gone, as a player, you L of loyalty that you have. That is the I t await appeal over coac tepfip ''-'A !;rj^r:.lfo:'y.7r ;"":i WA . ./ /> * U~~... iL_l _A 1 . . . ... iuiuw uiai we siana oenind nim because he needed help. We are all here for him," she added. "It's just a really big injustice that was done to him," Cramer said. "It was also an injustice to us," DeSando added. "It's so ironic," Cramer said. "They fired him for things he did last season, but they waited until this year u/hpn ouorifthiniT ?tnp **ao guillg pel fectly to let him go. We couldn't have had a better team. We have . more unity than we ever had before, and he gets fired." "Just when things started to roll, _ l i i u U^K m Hiii. iim'M1 in! '"IM 11 i'11 1 11 11 wii'MH1 Former USC basketbaN standou shot against Notre Dame's Job teammates on the Houston Roct h's firing that happened," DeSando said. "The team was rolling, I mean we were going full steam. This set us back a bit, but now we're coming back." /\unougn tramer ana DeSando are upset with the dismissal of Woodburn, they are quick to point out that interim coach Steve Colins has stepped in and done an admirable job. "He's doing an amazing job," DeSando said. "For an assistant coach to be thrown in and given all the responsibilities of a head coach, just out of the blue, with no one to help, he's done a super job," Cramer said. "If we can't get Coach Woodburn back, I'd fight with everything I 've got to keep Steve." Both girls think the athletic department is indifferent to the ?:u/imminO nrnnrim of Pomlinn "I - .. utii cat. v/M? uuwa . 1 don't think they care if we have a good program or not," they said. "It's really a frustrating situation," DeSando said. Cramer also said she hasn't made up her mind about returning to Carolina next year. "It all depends on what kind of coach they get," Cramer said. "Once the job is open they could get a lot of people to coach. We've got a beautiful pool and beautiful facilities, so a lot of people should want the job." pro ball *4>V ?HiL- \* , <** > FWk' % c "^aK3BKHM ^Hr^ ,>*? /SEEPy*" * !^M^3!^nxV?Swi^SI^DBlK^^^^nHwHK^' ':? -7^8? t Mike Dunleavy goes up for a n Shumate, The two are now wts of the NBA. i