University of South Carolina Libraries
I Monday, November 25,1996 Staley, Haml Carolina fans run onto the field afti CLEMSON continued from page 1 no Clemson timeouts left as Padgett missed the 37-yard field goal attempt that sent the Tigers into the locker room left to ponder next year. "For our football team, that was a tremendous win," coach Brad Scott said. "For our players to come into this environment with a lot of things going against us and for (them) to respond and come back and win a football game, says a lot about our team." Coach Scott and his team hopes the win will take them to the Independence Gamecocks: LARRY WILLIAMS Staff Writer I The Maui Invitational has a ? reputation as being one of the toughest \ preseason tournaments in college ? basketball, and there appears to be no ? reason the 1996 edition will fall short of c the billing. g Here's a rating of the teams, followed ] by our predictions on who will come back t to the mainland on top. \ Ratings (1-8): 1. Kansas Jayhawks: It's hard to ] disagree with the many who pick this ? team to be on top when the Final Four i > concludes in Indianapolis March 31. The Jayhawks are seeking redemption 5 for last season's disappointing West v Y mmi I ine largest Tl m ^Supei presented ,CV*\ $k\ / PS^ ' 4 mck instrum ^ - ? H " mmHh f" mm Nil BRYAN JOHNSTON The Gamecock ?r the Gamecocks' 34-31 victory. Bowl in Shreveport, La. Th$ Carolina win did not assure the Gamecocks a bowl birth, but bowl officials made it known Carolina was near the top of their list. Asked how he liked his bowl hopes, Darren Hambrick responded, "I like them pretty good. I don't know what's going on with it... I hope they pick us, and I pray to God that they pick us. But if they don't, then this is a positive note for us to go into next season." Aside from the possible bowl invitation, the win over Clemson did several things for the Gamecocks and .1 /-* //-"?! tne Lsaronna/^iemson senes. face tough f Regional loss to Syracuse in the NCAA rournament. Strengths: The Jayhawks have perhaps he most skill players returning than myone. Forward Raef LaFrentz is veiy ithletic up front, and center Scot Pollard :an move better than his 6-10 frame suggests. In the backcourt, guard Jerod lasse is as tough a defensive player as hey come. Weaknesses: They'll miss all-eveiything joint guard Jacque Vaughn, who is out intil January with a hand injury. Coach \oy Williams needs consistent shooting ind more power inside if his team is to ive up to preseason expectations. 5. UMass Minutemen: John Calipari, vho transformed the Minutemen from collegiate 3 o ie Uniy hick r Hoops. r \/ z / * Men's an jn Exciting 1 y Winners i SPO ental in Gam For coach Scott, his team finished iinfV* o unrminrr ?w?a>y] cz fz fni* fkn c/v^wt-v t?ilii a winning icwiu, iui wiic ocuaiu time in three seasons as USC head coach. The Carolina win also kept the six-game visiting-team winning streak going. In this win, the offensive stoiy of the game would have to be that of Duce Stale/s, with Troy Hambrick's running a close second. For Staley, his return after a month away from the game could, not have been any better, if it had been choreographed. After missing most of the Vanderbilt game in which he was injured, Staley also missed the Tennessee and the Florida games. Staley hobbled his way to 133 yards on 22 carries and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark. "Coming into the game, Coach Scott recommended that I start the game and that made me feel good and showed me how much respect that he had for me." Staley said. "I decided to just go out and give my all since this was my last game as a senior." Not to be outdone, freshman tailback Troy Hambrick ran his way to 135rushing yards on 14 carries, including a 75-yard TD trot in the fourth quarter. "Coach called this play we call lisa', and the line blocked well, and it just happened to bust open. All I had to do was make one guy miss and go for the races," Troy Hambrick said. Affor loof vauWo rlafanoiira c?V?nurrnrr xuvw mob j&ai o uwvuoi T v onvTf nig against Clemson, analysts speculated before this season's game whether or not USC would be able to stop the Tiger ield in Maui Atlantic-10 laughingstock to perennial championship contenders, ran for the money when he left UMass to coach the NBA's New Jersey Nets. Also smelling the green was NCAA Player of the Year Marcus Camby, who bolted from Amheist for the NBA a year early. DidCabpafi and Camby take the Minutemen's powerhouse-status with them? Not quite. Strengths: First-year coach Bruiser Flint won't have to wony about production in his backcourt. Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla comprise what is likely the best one-two guard combination in basketball. Weaknesses: Losing the production of Camby, Donta Bright and Dana Dingle in the paint will hurt. The pressure will be on sophomore center Lari Ketner, n 3 Basketball ersity o "I Sign 1 Play Be mjwm \ f lA/liAWA* P Sf VVIICIC. L / / Contact: When: /v Entry Dea d Women's Div'i Prizes from Schi advance to Reo I >' >RTS ecock victory ground attack. In the first quarter, it appeared that once again the Clemson rushing game would have its way with the USC defense as Raymond Priester had 91 yards on only five carries by the quarter's end. But in the second half, Priester could only muster 24 yards. The difference between last year's defense and this year's? "We play with more heart," defensive back Arturo Freeman said. "We play with more character" On the one day out of the year the entire state remains divided, South Carolina made their point at the expense of the Clemson Tigers. And like it or not, every Sandlapper heard it loud and clear. BRYAN JOHNSTON The Gamecock Freshman Troy Hambrlck breaks away for his 75-yard TD run. Invitational senior Tyrone Weeks, and Inus Norville to pick up where Camby and Bright left off. 3. South Carolina Gamecocks; Superb backcourts will rule the roost in Maui, and USCs guards are no exception. The guard trio of BJ McKie, Lany Davis and TIT _ J. !_ _ l i r up Today gins Monday, D wmmmmmm mtsumum tlatt PE Center Ron Rvpr<; londay - Friday, 8:30ai idline: November 28i sions ck and M lional Champion meivin vvaison comDine elements 01 speed, snooting and poise that often go unsurpassed, and it's likely they still haven't reached their full potential. Strengths: Besides having a stellar backcourt, USC lost only one player to graduation (Malik Russell), and there aren't many doubting it will improve on last year's 19-12 record. MAUI page 8 I Tournament ir f South JLyUJLlllVUViU I BRYAN JOHNSJON | Friday was a sad day for the USC students who tiy to show school spirit. Friday night, during the second round of the SEC Volleyball Tournament, in a match between USC and Ole Miss, the Carolina Ballheads were ejected from the game for "harassing the referee." For those of you who do not know about the evolution of the Ballheads, let me fill you in. Volleyball coach Kim Hudson . approached a group of guys at a basketball game and asked them to come out and support her team by weaiing volleyballs cut in half on their heads, thus the name Ballheads. Over the past season the group has gotten so popular they have become a sideshow at the matches. Known as much for their abilities to dance and lead cheers, The Ballheads are also famous for heckling the opposing players and referees. Friday night, the group was given the boot for their antics. Many of you were there and are probably still wondering what happened, but many of you were not in attendance. So, for everyone who is curious, let me tell you what transpired the fateful night of Nov. 22. First of all, let me tell you I am one of The Ballheads, and many consider me to be the head Ballhead. After winning the first game against the Rebels, Carolina proceeded to drop the next two games and were one game away from elimination. From that point on, it was all downhill. It all started when the line judge made a questionable judgement, and we let her have it Each time she walked by our seats during a timeout, we booed her like there was no tomorrow. After a while, she seemed to get a little irritated and complained to the head referee about us. He thai, in turn, told an administrativie intern for the atletics department, Kelly Lewis, to warn us. She came over and told us to stop using profanity towards the referee and to stop "harassing the'referee." Let me state that not one profane word was uttered towards the line judge. We also had done nothing Fiiday night we had not done all year. i the World is < Carolim \ l ecember 2nd I :?gi This Baby C v AA Mic m ? 7:00pm mm ^ B "cn maf * rj_ ^ M COLLEGIATE icfliric BhI basketball lallipa Uliiilf TOURNAMEI 1 7 et the boot We continued to boo the ref and were told by Lewis, who has no real authority in my opinion, to get out of the gym. We were never given an official yellow card before we were ejected. As we left, we were escorted out by the boos directed towards Lewis from our supporting fans. We decided to sit in the lounge of the complex so we could listen to the fifth and deciding game. The next thing we saw were two USC police officers coming up the stairs, twilling their handcuffs and threatening to arrest us. As we were leaving the building, we were called "a--holes" by use officer P.A. Weed. All I have to say is that it is a sad day when you get ejected from a ' volleyball match for showing too much school spirit. Heckling the referees is part of the game, and they know that when they go into the profession. I have never seen any of the infamous "Cameron Crazies" at Duke basketball games get tossed from a game for being too rowdy. As we stood outside, we were given nothing but support from fans leaving the match, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, especially coach Hudson and her Lady Gamecock volleyball squad for all of their support this past season. It is not their fault we were thrown out, and we do not hold it against them. But it is sad we were thrown out and couldn't help the Lady Gamecocks Saturday as they took on Arkansas in the semifinals. They lost the match in five games, and I believe if we had been there, we could've helped. One man told us as he was leaving that he had graduated in 1956,.had been coming to athletic events since and had never seen anyone get thrown out of any sporting event. He said it was ridiculous and he was going to call Athletics Director Mike McGee today to let him know how much he disapproved of our dismissal. Two years ago, no one attended the matches, but Friday night, the place was packed. You would think the Athletic Depaitment would be thankful that people are attending the matches, but instead they throw them out of the match. coming to: a T gjlltflP Sets You Going!' rosoft 1 full , c?urt press..you'll sweat" sIT j?