The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 02, 2000, Page B1, Image 11
Friday:
The 2000 Gamecock baseball
season is previewed in a spe
cial insert
Schedule
■ National Signing Day, today
■ Men’s basketball vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m.
■ Women’s basketball vs. Auburn, Thu.
■ Track & Field at Milrose Games, Fri.
■ Baseball vs. Chas. Southern, Fri.
"* Page B1
USC looks to avoid 7th straight loss
by Jeff Romig
Sports Editor
When the Florida Gators and the South Carolina Game
cocks face off tonight at Frank McGuire Arena, two of
the top freshmen in the nation will square off against each
other.
But who is better?
Florida’s Donnell Harvey comes in with all the ac
claim. He was picked as the SEC Newcomer of the Year
by Basketball News and was one of 12 Dick’s Dandy Dozen
Diaper Dandies by Dick Vitale’s College Basketball.
“Harvey is the most relentless rebounder I’ve seen,”
said Eddie Fogler, USC head coach.
Fogler gives the nod to his own freshman star Chuck
Eidson, but he doesn’t think Eidson has gotten the same
recognition because he’s not playing for a Top 25 team.
“Our team hasn’t been on television as much,” Fogler
said. “Because our team has lost close games, I don’t think
people realize how good he is.
“I’m not saying he’s as talented, but he’s as good a
player as I’ve seen playing the game. There are certainly
more talented, more athletic, but I think it’s quite obvi
ous to anyone that has seen him play that he is an excel
lent player.”
Eidson is averaging 10.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.7 as
sists and 3.2 steals a game. He leads the SEC in steals
and is ranked seventh in the NCAA in the same category.
Any attention Eidson has gotten hasn’t fazed him to
this point.
“I’m just another player out there,” Eidson said.
Eidson knows about attention. As a senior at Pinewood
Prep in Summerville, Eidson was billed as the next god
send for the Gamecocks.
“I got too much (attention),” Eidson said. “I was get
ting sick of it a little bit.”
Despite being made out to be the next USC star, it was
assumed that Eidson would have to take his lumps in the
SEC before he made an impact.
How does Eidson feel about his progress to this point?
“I expected to be playing a lot better,” Eidson said.
“Right now, going to the point, I can’t wait to play
Florida. I need some more work at (playing the point),
but I had a good time out there and I look forward to Flori
da.”
Gamecock team captain Herbert Lee Davis knew dur
ing summer practice that Eidson had the heart to even
tually make an impact in the SEC.
“During the summertime, he tried to dunk on me,”
Davis said. “He didn’t dunk, but that just showed that he
had a lot of heart.
“That was the big question coming in. Was he tough
enough? Could he compete at this level? When he played
aggressive like that, I knew that he would be something
special.”
Probable Starting Lineups
USC (9-11,1-6 SEC)
F #35 Antonio Grant (6-5,230, RJr., North Augusta,
S.C., 7.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.2 spg)
F #33 Damien Kinloch (6-7, 215, So., Charleston,
S.C., 4.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg)
C #12 Marius Petravicius (6-10, 245, Fr., Kltenenu,
Lithuania, 7.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
G #14 Herbert Lee Davis (6-5,182, Sr., Georgetown,
S.C., 11.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg)
G #31 Chuck Eidson (6-7,198, Fr., Summerville, S.C.,
10.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 3.2 spg)
No. 12 Florida (15-4,4-2 SEC)
F #00 Brent Wright (6-7, 232, Jr., Miami, Fla., 8.2
ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.1 apg)
F #25 Major Parker (64,218, Jr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.,
4.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg)
C #50 Udonis Haslem (6-7,260, So., Miami, Fla., 11.9
ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg)
G #5 Teddy Dupay (5-10,170, So., Cape Coral, Fla.,
9.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.5 spg)
G #13 Mike Miller (6-8,218, So., Mitchell, SD., 14.5
ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg)
Coaches
use
Head Coach; Eddie Fogler (102-96 USC, seven years, 244-'
176 overall, 13 years)
Assistants: Rick Callahan, John Cooper, Barclay Rade
baugh
Florida
Head Coach: Billy Donovan (64-45 Florida, four years,
97-65 overall, six years)
Assistants: John Pelphrey, Anthony Grant, Donnie
Jones
Series History
Overall: Florida, 18-16
Last meeting: Florida, 89-6 l*in Gainesville
Streak: Florida has won the past two games against USC
At Columbia: Florida 10-9
At Gainesville: Florida 7-5
At Neutral Sites: USC 2-1
Fogler against Florida: 11-10
Donovan against USC: 2-5
Location: Frank McGuire Arena, Columbia
Tipofl: 7:37 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: WVOC-560AM
Tickets: Still available
^—esssam^i i 'in' ■———E-a—
Sean Rayford Gamecock Sports
Freshman Chuck Eidson dunks during USC’s 61-60 loss to Vanderbilt last week. Eidson and the rest of the
Gamecocks will take on the No. 12 Florida Gators toninht at 7:30 n.m. at Frank McGurie Arena.
Gortman tears
ACL, will miss
rest of season
Women’s Basketball
Roundup
Gamecock Sports
The USC Lady Gamecocks learned
Tuesday that sophomore guard Shaun
zinski Gortman wall miss the remainder
of the season with a tom anterior cru
T^iate ligament in her left knee.
The injury occurred in the first six
minutes of Sunday’s game at Florida as
Gortman was bringing the ball up the
court uncontested. Originally believed
io oe a minor ruiee
sprain after the
game, Gortman un
derwent an MRI in
Columbia on Mon
day afternoon and
the ACL tear was
found.
Gortman, who had
minn, «
UUni mmi -
at point guard for
South Carolina, led the team in scor
ing (14.8 points per game), assists (4.2
per game) steals (2.6 per game), and was
third in rebounding (5.6).
^ Earlier in the season, Gortman ac
complished only the third triple-double
in team history against Geoigia South
ern when she scored 21 points, grabbed
12 rebounds and passed 10 assists.
“Obviously, it is a big hit to our pro
gram to lose a player with Shaun’s abil
ity,” USC head coach Su$an Whlvius said.
“She is a big part of our offense
and our running game. We have a very
talented team and Shaun is not our on
ly scoring option.
“I know that our players will accept
this setback as a challenge to work hard
er in practice and during the game. Our
team will have to rally behind the in
jury and we’ll need Annie Lester, Jo
celyn Penn and Petra Ujhelyi to step up
and score more points. We probably
won’t be the same up-tempo team with
out Shaun, but we will still stick to our
game plans of pushing the ball upcourt.”
“I can’t really explain what hap
pened,” Gortman said. “I had gotten the
rebound and started dribbling up the
court and just after I crossed midcourt,
my left leg stopped on the floor and the
rest of my body kept going.
“At halftime, I thought that I could
come back out and play but we decid
ed not to risk it. I am disappointed that
Sunday’s game was my last opportuni
ty to play with our seniors Shanta Jeff
coat, Casie Key and Annie Lester. I’ll
just have to accept it, work hard in re
hab and come back stronger than be
fore.”
USC won its only Southeastern Con
ference game this season behind Gort
man, who scored seven points and had
four steals. The Lady Gamecocks are
currently 11-9, 1-6 SEC with seven
remaining games.
Lady Gamecocks lose again, 79-63
by Shannon Rooke
Assistant Sports Editor
Despite out-shooting and out-rebounding their
No. 7 opponent, the Lady Gamecock basketball team
fell to Florida 79-63 on Sunday.
Carolina got off to an early lead with top scorer
Shaunzinski Gortman leading the way with four points
and two rebounds in the first six minutes. Not long
after that, the sophomore point guard was bringing
the ball across half court when she fell to the floor
and had to leave the game. The USC trainer’s re
port during the game stated she had sprained her left
knee and wouldn’t return to the floor for the re
maining 44 minutes.
Freshman Kelly Morrone and senior Annie Lester
rallied around the loss and brought the struggling
Gamecocks from a nine-point deficit to a 19-18 lead
with 5:10 left in the first half. Morrone set a new ca
reer record and also led the team with 15 points.
Florida answered and went on a 16-5 run, send
i
ing themselves into halftime with a comfortable
10-point lead.
The Lady Gamecocks would never recover.
Missing their top scorer and top rebounder
throughout the second half, Carolina sank into an 18
point hole and never had a chance to dig them
selves out. The Lady Gamecocks were unable to stop
Lady Gator guard Tiffany Travis and watched as she
scored eight consecutive points. Travis would go on -
to score 16 of her 22 points in the second half.
USC head coach Susan A^hlvius is happy with the
consistant improvement from her team.
“I’m not totally unhappy with our performance
today,” she said. “We had some good looks at shots
today but they just didn’t go in. We corrected some
things from our last Sunday’s game against Florida
and we did a better job in transition and on the boards.”
With Gortman off the court for now, Walvius has
had to look toward her younger players to fill her
chnpc
“It’s hard to win in the SEC when you lose your
point guard and top scorer,” Whlvius said “Our young
players had to play a lot of minutes in the second half
and they came out and played hard.
“They weren’t scared or intimidated by Florida.
Our team can learn from freshman Kelly Morrone.
Her mentality makes her a winner and she doesn’t
quit or accept defeat. I was pleased with her play to
day as I was pleased with Ines Ajanovic’s play.”
After conversing with the trainer about the in
jury on Monday afternoon, it was concluded that
Gortman had tom her ACL and will not return for
the remainder of the season.
With the loss, USC dropped to 1-6 in the SEC
and the Gators moved to 3-3. Next, Carolina returns
to their home court Thursday night for an SEC bat
tle against the 11 th-ranked Auburn Lady Tigers. Auburn
is 4-3 in the SEC and 16-4 on the season. Tipoff is set
for 7:00 p.m.
5
;
t
)avid Cloninger 1
Who Else?
Janikowski ■
just another;
Criminole
i
r
People the world over have been telling the same fi
tupid, tasteless jokes about the lack of intelligence c
upposedly possessed by Polish citizens for years, ti
Although the remarks are vile, insensitive and
bsolutely false, in the case of Florida State place- a
icker Sebastian Janikowski, the jokes can’t ring any t<
lore true. v
How can one person be so stupid? a
Briefly, the facts of the case:
Janikowski is an All-American kicker from the
ational champion Seminoles, revered for his mighty ii
3g and projected as one of the highest draft picks n
ver at his position. After winning the Sugar Bowl
n Jan. 4, Janikowski announced he would forego his
enior season and enter the NFL draft. v
The Polish-born player had come to America to a
lay football, become quite successful at it, and want- e
d to become a pro so he could get money to bring p
is mother over from Poland.
Great story, right? Really warms the heart, right? o
Oh, what a tangled web we weave. li
Janikowski was arrested last week after offer- o
rg a bribe to a police officer outside a Tallahassee
i£ht club. Allegedly, Janikowski and an underage
iend were drinking at the establishment when the
ops raided the joint, taking the friend into cus
>dy.
As his friend was being written a ticket by the
rresting officer and being administered a sobriety
!St, Janikowski allegedly (the hell with allegedly,
e know he did it) approached the cop and offered
$300 sum to let his friend go.
Brilliant.
Long story short, the colorful kicker was taken
i on an attempt to bribe an officer of the law, and
ow he could be deported back to Poland.
Good riddance.
First of all, the guy’s a thug. In a recent inter
iew with Sports Illustrated, the kicker made no
tempt to hide the fact he stays out until 3 a.m. most
very night of the week, drinking and shooting
aol around Tallahassee.
Janikowski frequents these places so much, most
f the bartenders know what brand of deodorant he
kes to wear. There’s nothing like the commitment
F a dedicated team player, is there?
CloNINQER see page B2