The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 11, 2001, Page 9, Image 9
Cht CBamccock
Around the SEC
SEC basketball coaches signing contract extensions
by Kyle Almond
The Gamecock
While USC has been fumbling to try
to find a men’s basketball coach, several
SEC schools have signed or have agreed
to sign their current coaches to contract
extensions.
Kentucky, Alabama and Ole Miss
have all rewarded their men’s basketball
coaches this past week for a job well done
and hope that by signing them to longer
deals, they are also ensuring their
programs’ stability.
Tubby Smith was reportedly offered
$2 million to leave Kentucky and
coach the Gamecocks, but USC’s former
assistant reaffirmed his commitment to
the Bluegrass State last Wednesday,
agreeing to a four-year extension. The
terms of the deal have not yet been
disclosed.
“We’ve agreed, it’s a done deal, and
now we just have to get it on paper,”
Kentucky athletics director Larry Ivy
said. “We looked at several of the top
institutions in the country, and I think,,
once our figures are released, you’ll see
that we’re right there with those
institutions.
“It’s a figure that Tubby was very
satisfied with, and something that I feel
is deserved for him for the job he’s done.”
Smith led the Wildcats to their second
straight SEC Championship this season
and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA
Tournament. In his four years at Kentucky,
he has taken his team to the Sweet 16
three times.
Ivy said Smith never brought the USC
job up to him, and that it had no impact
on contract negotiations.
“Tubby never mentioned South
Carolina to me,” Ivy said. “I gave (USC
Athletics Director) Mike McGee my
permission to speak to hint, and I don’t
know what their conversations were.
“Anytime any of our coaches in any
sport have the chance to look at
another opportunity, we want them to do
that. Obviously, this was not something
that Tubby wanted to consider seriously.”
Like Smith, Ole Miss’ Rod Barnes
led his team to the NCAA Sweet 16 this
past season. It was the first Sweet 16
appearance in the school’s history. For
his efforts, Barnes was named the winner
of the 2001 Naismith Award for National
Coach of the Year.
He’ll have a chance to do it again next
season — he signed a four-year deal last
Wednesday.
“In three short years, Rod Bames has
taken our men’s basketball program to a
higher level,” Mississippi Athletics
Director John Shafer said. “Coach Bames
and his family have made a major
commitment to this university and the
state of Mississippi. We felt it was the
appropriate time to extend his contract
back to the maximum four years allowed
by the state of Mississippi.
“We are proud to have Coach Bames
at Ole Miss, and we hope he will be here
for his entire coaching career.”
Bames, who led the Rebels to their
second SEC West title in three years, was
pleased with the extension and the future
that lie ahead for his team.
“I look forward to the challenges and
opportunities as we prepare to compete
on a national level,” Barnes said. “Good
things are happening at Ole Miss, and I
am excited about the future of our
program.”
Mike Gottfried’s Alabama team barely
missed out on the NCAA Tournament,
but it made waves in the NIT, advancing
all the way to the championship game.
After agreeing last Tuesday to a
contract extension, he will be able to
continue leading a rebuilt program that
returns all five starters for next season.
Details of Gottfried’s deal have not
been announced, but the head coach is
ready to bring the Crimson Tide to the
top of the SEC. *
“I’m excited about our future, and
I’m appreciative of the University of
Alabama for allowing me to be its
•
basketball coach,” Gottfried said. “I’m
also appreciative of the interest and
growing support of our program from our
fans.”
Before agreeing to an extension,
Gojtfried was believed to be a candidate
for the USC vacancy.
The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
The sports desk am be reached at
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
Special to The Gamecock
USC’s Guillaume Legat is coming off a big win over Arkansas’
Oskar Johansson, the nation’s No. 1 men’s tennis player.
i
Legat
from page 8
said.
If Legat can keep up the pace he’s on,
that shouldn’t be a problem.
“I can’t ever remember having a player
play this good,” said DeMars, who has
been coaching tennis for 28 years. “He doesn’t
just beat people. He demolishes them.
“I always knew he was good. He’s always
had a good record here. But never like this.
... He should be seeded at the NCAA
(Championships) for sure.”
Legat played in the NCAAs his first two
years and knows it’s a wide-open tournament.
“Everybody there (at the NCAAs) is
good,” Legat said. “There, you can lose in
the first round; everybody has a chance to
win the tournament.”
With the confidence with which he’s
playing, it will be tough to stop Legat from
advancing.
“It’s ridiculous. He’s playing with so
much confidence,” DeMars said. “He thinks
he can’t get beat, and consequently, every
shot he feels he can make.
“[Legat] doesn’t just
beat people. He
demolishes them.”'
Kent DeMars
USC men’s tennis head coach
“He’s very quick, so if you hit the ball
away from him, he chases it down. He makes
hardly any mistakes ever. If you come to net,
he lobs over your head. He passes you, he
- stays in a rally forever, and you just feel like,
‘What do I need to do to beat this guy’?
“You really have to go through him to
beat him, and right now, he’s playing with
too much confidence to do that.”
Legat will play his final home match
Wednesday when the Gamecocks (11-8) take
on Duke.
Carolina will then close out regular season
play with away matches at Tennessee on
Friday and Vanderbilt on Sunday.
The sports desk can be reached at
gamecocksports@hotiTiail.com
I
Sports Briefs
*
■ Two USC athletes
honored for their
academic excellence
Twenty-four student-athletes,
including USC’s Leigh Echelberger and
Lars Cederquist, have been chosen by
their respective schools as recipients of
an SEC post-graduate scholarship and
are finalists for the 2000-2001 H. Boyd
McWhorter SEC Scholar- Athlete of the
Year Award Commissioner Roy Kramer
announced today.
Leigh EichelbergSr ranks among
USC’s all-time best doubles players.
She has played an integral role in the
success of the women’s tennis program
during her career, helping lead the Lady
Gamecocks to four consecutive Top 20
national rankings and four straight
NCAA Tournament appearances.
A native of Center Valley, Pa.,
Echelberger lias compiled an impressive
3.725 GPA while majoring in Business
Administration.
The male recipient for USC is Lars
Eederqvist of the men’s golf team.
K four-year letter winner. Cederqvist
vas a 2000 first-team Academic All
America selection. He has been a regular
>n USC's nationally ranked golf team
uid has compiled a stroke average of
aider 75 during his career. t
Cederqvist recorded a perfect .4.0
stimulative GPA at Carolina, earning
lis bachelor's degree in Mechanical
Engineering. He also has a 4.0 GPA in
iraduate school. Cederqvist is a
lative of Skoevde, Sweden.
Each finalist will receive a
55,000 scholarship for post-graduate
studies. The SEC Faculty Athletics
Representatives Boyd McWhorter
selection Committee will choose the
autstanding male mid female student
ithletes, who will receive a $10,000
post-graduate scholarship provided by
the Alltel Corporation.
The award will be presented to the
iwo winners in June at the SEC
Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla.
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' .I
BUT HE DIES IN THE MIDDLE.
During his crucifixion, nol even Jesus'
closest followers would have called him a
hero. When Jesus was arrested, they all
deserted him, fearing for their lives. Two of his
disciples, Peter and John, eventually went to
w atch Jesus' interrogation and trial from a
distance. Even then, w hen questioned by
someone, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.
Obviously, "hero" w asn't their view of Jesus at
the time. All they knew is that Jesus, w hom they
hoped was the Messiah, was now being crucified.
End of dream. End of hopes.
But obviously something changed. Three days
later, Jesus left his burial tomb. Nol an easy feat.
Jesus had been severely whipped, had two-inch
long tnoms pressed into his head as a “crown,"
w as beaten to a pulp and then nailed at his wrists
and feel onto a cross, lie eventually died from
suffocation and loss.of blood. A spear was thrust
into his side to confirm his death. Yet, three days
later, just as Jesus had said it would happen, he
left the tomb
Again, not an easy feat. An entire guard of
Homan soldiers had been stationed at Jesus’
tomb with a two-ton boulder and a Roman
insignia sealing its entrance. Yet, three days later,
the boulder was found up the slope away from
the tomb, the guards had fled, and the tomb was
empty, except for the burial cloths which once
encased his body, now lying there like an
abandoned cocoon.
Then several tunes, Jesus physicdlly (not
spiritually) appeared to the disciples. He even ate
breakfast with them. Jesus also explained to
them all the prophecies from the Scriptures that
showed the Messiah must suffer for the sins of
the world, then rise from the dead. Thomas, one
of the disciples who wasn’t around during one
time that Jesus appeared to the rest, said he
wouldn't believe until he personally fell the nail
marks in Jesus' wrists. A week later, Jesus
appeared to them again and invited Thomas to
feel the nail marks. Thomas' reaction? He
worshipped Jesus, exclaiming, "my lord arid my
God!" Jesus responded, "Because you have seen
me, you have believed; blessed arc those who
have not seen and yet have believed."
What difference does it make whether you
believe in Jesus or not? Jesus Christ isn’t your
average hero. He's the only one who died for the
forgiveness of your sins, who conquered death,
and who offers you eternal life. He says, "Behold,
I stand at the door (of your heart] and knock; if
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, 1 will
coine into him.” Are you open?
If so, you can invite him into your life right
now through prayer. Prayer is simply talking to
God. Tell Jesus you would like him to come into
your life, to forgive your sins and help you to be
the person God created you to be. Just like a
marriage that begins with a simple “I do," you
can say ”1 do" right now and begin the greatest
relationship you ever dreamed of—with the God
of the Universe.
Still skeptical? Want to investigate more?
Read the section called “John” in the Bible, and
see the feature article BEYOND BLIND
FAITH at www.EveryStudenl.com. Or get a free
copy of the article by calling I-KOO-236-925K or
emailing Articles(s»EveryStudent.com.
www.EveryStudent.com
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