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V Walvius sho DWAYNE McLEMORE Sports Editor almost i impress* Susan Walvius is the newest head coach in that I've the USC Athletics Department, and she's looking This forward to building a championship-caliber Lady getters ? Gamecocks basketball team. ^ a ve Walvius came aboard Amil 28 after sDendiner ; * * " O XUHOOU A two years at West Virginia. She signed a five-year administ contract worth $500,000, which includes a $90,000 Mike Mi per year base salary. expectat The Gamecock sat down with Walvius to discuss with his how life has been at USC so far, and how she hopes my tean it will be in the future. same tu 3 do to hel Vf iUHlH to the s1 H P Tyq ? spendinj H that thii % Hi TG; ? jUflSi with th " W SW: because our first We talk TG: How has your first summer at USC to go am been? get a fee ^ SW: I haven't been here very much. We've been We've n on the road recruiting. We came into a situation where there were five scholarships to give and no fG: players signed for the 1997 recruiting class. players All the top players in the United States, junior gW: college and high school, had already committed. ^ tafei So. it was verv imrjortant to us to get overseas. WP nra t We've talked to some players over there, and we're to help' looking to bring in some international players this work to season. to be a f There are a lot of things that have to happen to make an international situation work. July 1 TG: is the first day you can make phone calls to rising year, o ? seniors in high school. We sent a lot of mail and away? information on our staff and USC to our recruits SW: out there that could help the program. In July, the prog we went on the road and evaluated talent. I'm saying, now settling on a house and am very excited about "rebuild that. I wo work t< TG: How have the higher-ups and other accompl coaches here treated you? staff, he SW: Wonderful. Thafs why I came here. I was they ca only at West Virginia for two years. We were very recruit j successful at West Virginia. We had everybody And if s ? coming back, we had a top 20 recruiting class and A lol we won 19 games. The nucleus of my team were as physi freshmen and sophomores, so we had a very bright 0f that, future ahead of us. So this would have had to have tpam is been a very special situation for me to leave what I had at West Virginia. TG: I was very impressed with Mike McGee (director acaree of athletics). When I came to interview at South SW: Carolina, I had an opportunity to spend time with "What < I H1HI1 r ?? r? Unive ; South C lclh i, 1997i mm Know What ? QnCa 1 af Proceeds support st b!>C, I "t ^ Wednesday, Augi ots to b ill of the coaches here, and I was ve ed. This is my fifth athletic departme been associated with, is a special group of coaches. They're g tnd hard workers. They're goal-orient* sry professional group of people. Laui s one 01 me strongest senior womer rators that Fve ever come in contact wit cGee is very professional and has hij ions of everyone around him. His attitu staff is very much like my attitude wi 1. You lead with a firm hand, but at ti ne, you take an attitude of, "What car p you be successful?" He's very committ access of the people here. I knew aft % time with him and Laurie and the st 3 was the place I wanted to be. How often have you been able to me eteam? Individually, we've seen quite a hit of the we've had recruits on campus. We h , team meeting right after I took the je ed about where, as a program, we wa d a little bit about expectations. I tried 1 for why they all came to South Carolii iet a lot individually since. How is the team shaping up as far i returning? Hie nucleus of this team is back, and tfo ited young players on this team. As ash joing to do everything within our pow this team be successful. We are going develop leadership, and I think it's goi un group to work with. Do you think this will be a rebuildi r are you expected to compete rig I don't like the term "rebuilding.'' Obvious ram is down in the SEC. That goes witht A lot of times when you here the tei ling," you get a negative sense of thinj uldn't say that I think we have a lot ) do. I think we have a lot of steps ish to be successful. We are going to, a lp the current players be the absolute b n be. And we are going to work hard )layers to complement the existing playe a process. t of success at this level is mental as w cal. Hie Chicago Bulls are a good exam The mental training, even though tl veiy talented, is a big part of their succe You left coaching fin* awhile to purs r in business. What brought you bat I talk to a lot of recruits, and I ask the j 4.i;ruo? t 1U yuu wtuit tu uu witii jruur nici ?i y RSITY OF Carolina ^EL TC* I 1998 I V 'sHapperri mpus? udent scholarshi] st 20,1997 K) 8?U 11 MM The Gamecock uild SEC co ry had asked me that question as a recruit, as many say, nt coaches did, I would've told you I wanted to work job.' for a Fortune 500 company. I wanted big business, woi [o- I wanted to put the suit on every day. I had an you' ed opportunity to coach and decided I would do it. Tha ie I really liked it, but after two years I got out i's of coaching. I had an opportunity to do well peo] bh. financially, and I did that. And after a year, I Ify< *h was working very hard, but I wasn't impacting an ( de anyone's life. Coaching gives you an opportunity in tl th to do that. to s he It might sound warm and fuzzy, but at the top ll same time, as a college basketball coach you spend bee ed a lot of time with this group of people. The four sup er years while you're in college are very important do. aff to what you do for the rest of your life. I really have an opportunity in this position to make a are difference. I missed that. the set And I got a call from the head coach at Rhode har Island asking if I had any desire to get back into recr ;m coaching. And I did, so I took the job there as an will ad assistant. A year mom mat point, a nead >b. coachingjob at Virginia Commonwealth p l||g| nt opened up, and I decided to take that to job. I believe I was the youngest Division % m 1a. I head coach at the time. I was there |gP* n for five years, and I then had the West JK ** Virginia opportunity and was there for as two years. And then I got a call from Mike McGee. |PP W|| ire I was on vacation in the Caribbean, iff, and I called back to the office to get my rer messages and got a message that Mike to McGee had called and was interested I ng in talking about the situation at USC. I My first instinct was mixed. I thought I Fd never leave West Virginia. There I ng was too much going on in the program. I ht And the second was one of excitement. I You see SEC opportunity. I I sty, remember South Carolina as a power, I >ut because I played in the Metro Conference I rm at Virginia Tech. At that particular I gs. time, this program was very good, and ^ of they were signing the top kids in the |p|||Erc^^ to country. I remember the people in the | s a stands at that time. South Carolina I est had a huge Mowing compared to other I to schools across the country. The I srs. opportunities to coach in the SEC, at I South Carolina and under Mike McGee, I rell were very intriguing. pie lat TG: You've signed a five-year j jfl iss. contract Where do you see yourself mM and the program, in five years? I me SW: At that point in time, we should :k? be a contender in the SEC. To establish Susan WaMi sm, a program, it takes time. A lot of people Now with US 'ou look at our men's program, and they ways to the L United Stc offer sc wh Qualified Freshmen a can earn scholarship: full tuition, books, fe $150.00 per month s You can become a N Submarine or Surfaci JJH or SEAL simply by j ^ Unit at the University the # 1 unit in the cou for m( , Cntender "Wow, Eddie (Fogler) realty has done a fantastic ' And if you were to talk to Eddie about it, he dd tell vou the secret is you've got to go out, C Ve got to work hard and you've got to recruit. ^ it's what we're going to do. And it takes time. We need people to be supportive. We need pie to come to our games, get behind the team. )u were to go to the majority of SEC games for jfficial visit, you would see 3,000-plus people tie stands. If you go to Tennessee, you're going ee 8,000 people in the stands. And if you're a recruit, and it's your decision, do you want to in television every day? Do you want to be a erstar in your community? Most young women We will have that here at South Carolina. We going to do a lot to cultivate the community and community's interest. We're going In work real d to get people in the stands. It's important to uiting, the community and our players. And we be a fun team to watch. But it does take time. :: jig- v| PWr% Jp|s f i i mBI n L hM T J 1 Mnj g Bmp^* T ia wt| p Lf l? jx HI VHhHNII^B a A 5 ii |E n ti o n a S b o C b b c SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK g is led West Virginia to 19 wins in 1996. ^ iC, Walvius plans to restore winning ady Gamecocks. ^ ites Navy and Ma :holarships to men and to wish to become offic 1 :c5, anu proviuc PM ubsistence jA KM I MHHRfteflHEEL iitry )re information contact Lt. 209C LeConte, 777-3451 mepage: web.csd.sc.edu/nj 18 klisipeka grabs wo golds, one ilver at SPGs ; 1 Hjk -t J 1 I SI ?~fy * ^t.TTl^M - ISIPEKA I fAFF REPORTS j USC track and field athlete Lisa lisipeka went into the South Pacifie ames Saturday looking to become the rst gold medal-winner for American amoa at the event. She walked out I ith three, setting two records in the rocess. Misipeka captured the gold medal 1 both the shot put and the hammer t the event, held in Pago Pago, merican Samoa Her throws of 50 feet, 1/4 inches in the shot and 191 feet, 2 iches in the hammer were both SPG jcords. She also grabbed the silver medal in le discus, with a toss of48.33 meters, r about 160 feet. The rising senior was ?ai*o of Vior norfnrmanoo 1U1C v1 'fii UU lllvAi av IXV/l iui inmiw t the event. Tm veiy proud to represent America amoa," Misipeka said. 'It's very exciting ) win the medals. It's really different ver here. I hope my participation in the rames will inspire other athletes in *ack and field in American Somoa. It's ruly an honor." The eight-time All-American at USC ompetes under the American Samoa ag, the birthplace of her father. Misipeka as been the runner-up twice in both ie weight and the hammer at the NCAA !hampionships the last two years. rine Corps women ;ers _ >n, you will receive ployment and an in either the Navy )S * a I t*" i L . .? * 1 * <a m Einsel j m m * m rote ? ?mmm?mm * >i,?r