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Gamecock Sports_ _ Wallace from page B1 “I had a great trip to Geoigia Tech,” Barron admitted. “I love the city of Atlanta and their coaching staff is great. I will visit UGA this-weekend and then make a de cision probably on signing day.” So who is his favorite? Barron an swers that by simply stating, “Every school is still under consideration.” With several other top-notch players still on the recruiting board for Coach Holtz and his staff, questions abound with a week left on the recruiting clock. No doubt that Carolina will focus the majority of their attention on the goal of not letting Barron get away and swimming across stream into the Peach State. Players leaving South Carolina and go ing abroad have always been a major con cern for both USC and Clemson. Some would say they’d much rather see top-caliber players go up the road to Tigerville, rather then seeing Georgia or Tennessee snag our beloved South Car olinians. Others would fight that person if they heard that kind of sacrilegious talk. The one advantage USC does have in the Barron sweepstakes is the fact that they only need a few more recruits to top of this class. Carolina can push over the 25-per son limit if they wanted, because some players are sure not to qualify. But the fact remains that Carolina have put themselves in a position where they can be selective. And in the end, “pickiness” may be the bait that lures Barron to Columbia. 2000 USC Football Commitments # James Adkinson — WR * 6-4, 210, Kemper (Mo.), JC # Corey Alexander ~ RB 5- 9, 178, Gulf Coast (Miss.), JC Jonathan Alston — DE 6- 5, 247, Stratford HS Brian Brownlee - LB 6-3, 230, Abbeville HS # Jason Capers — TE 6-4, 242, Hartsville Jason Clark - LB 6-2, 230, Starksville, Miss. DeAndre Eiland -- DB 6-0, 175, Tupelo, Miss. Jeremiah Garrison — LB 6-1, 205, Belton-Honea Path HS Andre Gause -- RB 6-0, 180, Waldorf, Md. Gonzie Gray -- RB 6-0, 180, Waldorf, Md. Jason Harris -OL 6-6, 340, Greenville Wade Hampton Jamacia Jackson - RB 6-2, 195, Sumter, HS Nick Johnson -OL 6-5, 320, Loganville, Ga. Rachiem Monroe — DB 5- 9, 175, Hanahan HS • Taqiy Muhammad -RB 6- 1, 180, Wilmington, N.C. Dondrial Pinkins -QB 6-3, 215, Camilla, Ga. Dunta Robinson -DB 6-1, 170, Athens, Ga. Carl Smalls — DL 6-2, 255, St. Andrews, Charleston * Trevin Smith -- RB 6-0, 195, Moncks Comer John Strickland - OL 6-4, 295, Bainbridge, Ga. Preston Thorne — DL 6-0, 265, Summerville HS Hart Turner — TE 6-5, 225, Dorman HS Chad Walker - OL 6-4, 300, Albertville, Ala. ♦Travelle Wharton — OL 6-4, 295, Fountain Inn * Signed in the Dec. 15 period, will enroll in the spring * Signed last season, will be admitted in the spring Fall semester shows continued improvement for USC athletics Sports Roundup Gamecock Sports - The academic performances of USC athletes continue to be on the upswing, as the overall grade point average of the Athletic Department for the Fall 1999 se mester was the highest in a decade, ac cording to a report released last week. The department’s overall GPA rose to a 2.758, up from last year’s 2.717 and boosting the previous best for a fall se mester of 2.752, set in the Fall 1996 se mester. Additionally, 12 of the department’s 17 teams showed improvement in their GPAs from a year ago. The women’s tennis team led the way with a 3.482 GPA, followed by women’s golf with a 3.448 GPA. Overall, there were seven teams above the 3.0 mark. The men’s basketball team received the lowest average GPA last year, but im proved their mark this year to 2.312, their highest mark since fall of 1993. The football squad’s 2.305 showing was the program’s best in more than seven fall reporting periods. “The overall academic performance of our athletics program continues to improve and that is certainly a reflec tion of the effort put forth by our stu dent-athletes and our academic support staff,” said Mike McGee, USC athlet ics director. “Our men’s basketball and football staffs, along with all of our other coach es, have worked hard to provide our stu dent-athletes with the guidance and mo tivation that is necessary to achieve this kind of improvement. “This department will continue to dedicate itself to the committment that all of our student-athletes have every opportunity possible to reach their aca demic goals.” The department’s overall gradua tion rate of 63 percent ranks second in the SEC for the third straight year. Fall 1999 semester gradfe report Women’s Tennis 3.482 Women’s Golf 3448 Equestrian 3206 Men’s Tennis 3157 Women’s Swimming 3102 Men’s Swimming 3096 Women's Soccer 3065 Men’s Soccer 2 985 Women’s Track/Cross Country 2S59 Softball 2873 Baseball 2869 Volleyball 2861 Men’s Track 2.767 Men’s Golf 2.635 Women’s Basketball 2.501 Men’s Basketball 2.312 Football 2.305 use Student Athletes 2.758 There were 183 student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or higher, 79 with a 3.5 GPA making the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA or higher/3.25 or higher for freshmen). Twenty-one student-athletes recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA and were named to the President’s List. Three USC teams begin seasons over weekend Men’s basketball Die USC athletic tictetpfike announced Mon day dial tickets remain for Wfednesday night's SEC men's basketball contest against No. 20 Vander bilt. Tickets are available for purchase at the USC Athletic Ticket Office on Rosewood Drive and at all Capital Ticket outlets, or by calling 1-8004SC FANS (7774274 in the Columbia area). Tipoff for Wfednesday’s game is 7:30 p.m. Die contest will not be televised, but will be on WVOC 560 AM radio. > f. Men’s termis In die second day of competition, Juan Gam boa became the lone Gamecock to advance in die SEC Indoor Championships at Tuscaloosa, Ala. Gamboa defeated Jon Grey Pou of LSU Fri day in two sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-3. On Sat urday, Gamboa continued through the tournament, triumphing over Kentucky's Dalliber Maholijiic 64; 6-3. USC sophomore David Nelson also advanced on Friday night when he was up 64; 3-0 in the sec ond set versus Mississippi State’s Matt Soto. Soto withdrew from the match for unspecified rea sons. Nelson then played teammate Gamboa iind with drew due to injury after losing the first set 6-5. Gamboa’s run ended Sunday afternoon af ter battling against 7th seeded Georgia Bulldcg Mafias Boeker. Gamboa took Boeker to three sets during the quarterfinals round at the SEC Indoor Championships. The first set had Boeker come back from being down 5-6 to win 7-6 after four tie-break ers. Gamboa won the second match 7-6 after egjit tie-breakers, but could not hold out thrrx^i the third set which he dropped to Boeker 6-2. The final score was 7-6 (4); 6-7 (8); 6-2. Tie Gamecocks will return to action in die USC Winter Invitational iin. 28-30. Man’s swimming The USC men’s swimming and diving team de feated die Georgia Tech Yellow .Rickets 127-116 Sat urday on Senior Day at the Carolina Natatorium. The Gamecocks were led by sophomore Zsolt Gaspar, who won the 200-freestyle and the 200 butterfly, and by Chris Henninger, who won the 50 freestyle and die 100-yard freestyle. . Other winners for the Gamecocks were se nior Andrew Cho, who won the 400-yard indi vidual medley, and Brandon Hulko, who won both die one-and three-meter diving events. The Game cocks finished first, second and third in both div ing events, as senior Chad Sheldon and sophomore Brad Brown finished second and third, respec tively. Rugby The USC men’s rugby team began their spring 2000 schedule with a match at Georgia Southern Friday. • _ The rugby team plays its home games on the field directly adjacent to the Blatt P.E Center at USC. They would like to invite any interested par ty to stop by practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:45-8 p.m. Tire team’s remaining schedule is: Jan. 30 Georgia Tech 2 pm. Feb. 6 Georgia 2 p.m. Feb. 12 at Alabama 2 pm. Feb. 19 Towson 2 pm. Feb. 25 Clemson 8 p.m. March 17 at The Citadel 8 pm. March 26 N.C. State 2 p.m. April 2 at East Carolina 2 pm. Football Feb. 2 is national signing day. The Game cock football team is expected to sign at least 23 recruits. The maximum number allowed by the NCAA is 25 recruits. --==-- ~ --1 CareerConnections a ♦ View job descriptions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ♦ Participate in on-campus recruiting ♦ Receive/respond to employer inquiries ♦ Create typeset-quality resumes including attaching Microsoft Word®Resumes ^areerOcenter 6th Floor, Close (BA) Building 777-7280 M-F 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. www.sc.edu/career