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1C lie (Bamecocfc Odom CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 their senior years of high school, Odom cannot comment on their recruiting status or their ability. . Odom also received good news when rising junior Chuck Eidson decided to come back to USC after a knee injury ended his sophomore season. Eidson had withdrawn from USC the spring semester to rehabilitate in his hometown of Summerville. “The first phone call I made when 1 got here was to Chuck and his family,” Odom said. “We had a long conversation, and we decided he needed his team as much as his team needed Him.” mason expioaea onto tne 5>ti_ s All-Freshman team in 1999 after setting a new school record in steals and pacing the Gamecocks to a late-season surge. Although Eidson was locked in a shooting slump at the time of his injury last season, Odom is optimistic Eidson will resume his natural place running the Gamecock offense in the fall. With Eidson and Powell in place for 2001, Odom turned to filling his remaining open scholarships. Although he lost the battle for Vytas Danelius, a recruit he had signed at Wake Forest, Odom received a commitment from 6-foot-10 John Chappel, whose father was an All-American at Wake Forest. Following Chappel’s commitment, Odom lost one of his assistant coaches when Haith decided to go to Texas as head coach Rick Barnes’ top assistant. “Frank is a terrific coach and a wonderful person,” Odom said. “He has been completely loyal to me as we worked together to build our basketball programs.” Odom replaced Haith three days later when Rick Duckett was brought in from Winston-Salem State. Duckett, a forme'r USC assistant under Bill Foster in 1986, brought eight more years of head coaching experience to the 20 combined years the staff already had. “I was telling my wife the other day that two things will get me away from Winston-Salem State,” Duckett said. “One was a person I respected to coach with, and the other is a place where 1 would love to live and coach. I have both by joining the staff at South Carolina.” “We had to go out and find who I feel like is a star. We did just that in Rick Duckett,” Odom said. “He’s a former head coach who is very successful. He knows the state well, he knows the University well.” Odom recently added his third commitment in 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward Chris Warren from Colin County Community College in Plano, Texas. Warren averaged almost 19 points per game and was recruited by Wyoming, Old Dominion and Nevada-Reno. While Odom is tracking down recruits, part of a “never-ending process,” he said, USC’s team is going through intense weightlifting sessions four days a week and practicing during individual and team workouts. Although every session is unsupervised (by coaches) per NCAA rules, Odom is confident the team is improving. “I’m sure they’re making progress,” Odom said. The emphasis is on improving shooting, and I encourage them to work on that whenever possible.” Other than that, Odom has been concentrating on running his basketball camp and making the move to Columbia. Odom and his wife recently purchased a house and will be moving in very soon. “I’m very appreciative of the early reception I’ve received from the fans,” Odom said. “The enthusiasm of USC fans has just blown me away.” The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com USC’S NEW FACES Head coach Dave Odom has hired a new coaching staff for the Gamecock basketball team. Rick Duckett Ernie Nestor Barry Sanderson Head coach,Winston S3em State, 1999-01: Fayetteville State, 1994-98 Head coach, George Mason. 1989-93; assistant coach, Wake Forest, 1994-2001 Assistant coach.Wake Forest, 2001: assistant coach, Lipscomb, 2000 Around the SEC ■ Gators hire McMahon GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Mississippi State’s Pat McMahon was hired as head baseball coach to replace Andy Lopez, who was fired after the Gators were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. McMahon led the Bulldogs to a 39-24 record and a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals, and reached the College World Series in 1998. ■ Bulldogs talk \|vith Polk STARKVILLE, Miss. -The Mississippi State baseball program, seeking to replace departed coach Pat McMahon, is interested in getting Georgia’s Ron Polk to return. Polk departed MSU in 1999 to take over Georgia’s program, where he compiled a 79-41 record and a College World Se ies appearance. Polk b( gan his first stint in 1976. ■ Commodores ranked No. 1 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vander bilt’s women’s tennis team has been ranked first along with Duke in the Southeast Region. ■ Hogs hire new golf coach FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas hired Mike Ketcham as men’s golf coach to replace Bill Woodley. USC football gains respect The USC football team, coming off an 84 season and an Outback Bowl victory, was ranked 23rd in Blue Ribbon Yearbook's preseason poll. Five USC opponents grace the poll, including Florida (2), Tennessee (6), Mississippi State (15), Clemson (21) and Georgia (25). Athlon Sports also gave the Gamecocks some recognition, although not as high. USC is ranked 33rd in Athlon's poll. Blue Ribbon Yearbook Preseason Top 25 1. Miami 2. Florida 3. Oklahoma 4. Nebraska 5. Texas 6. Tennessee 7. Florida State 8. Virginia Tech 9. UCLA 10. Georgia Tech 11. Oregon 12. Northwestern 13. Kansas State 14. Michigan 15. Mississippi State 16. Notre Dame 17. Wisconsin 18. Washington 19. LSU 20. Clemson 21. Southern Cal 22. Michigan State 23. South Carolina 24. Purdue 25. Georgia Cloninger CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 who cover the Tiger Golf Association have been swayed to this way of thinking, also. Writers used to fly to Augusta or Pebble Beach or wherever, pad their expense accounts and get some quotes from the guy still playing at 5 p.m. Sunday. Now, a golf writer has two options for a lead — either “Tiger does it again” or “Tiger didn’t win: What happened?” Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for those of us in the business. This way, sports editors know they’re going to get some kind of filler story from every golf tournament, and don’t have to worry about pictures, either. There will be at least five Tiger pictures out of every eight the Associated Press places on the wire. ror me reauers, n s a umereni story. If someone happens to be a David Duval or a Lee Janzen fan, they’re reduced to plowing through agate type to find out a final score. (“Sorry there’s no quotes, buddy, but Tiger changed his socks mid round and we had to get that in.”) Tiger has become the end-all be-all of golf. If he wins, golf fans shake their heads in amazement and wonder how one human could accomplish so much. Lose, and there has to be a reason - the flu, rabid squirrel attack, surprise visit from Earl Woods - to explain a less-than-superstar performance. Could it be because Woods just didn’t have it last weekend? Don’t be ridiculous. Legends don’t take the day off. The rest of the PGA has come to accept Tiger’s status, and to hear them tell it, believe they have virtually no chance of winning a tournament unless Woods is either not there or just not on his game. “I guess everybody at 4-over has a shot,” a put-out Phil Mickelson said Saturday. “But he’s going to have to go catch everybody.” Mickelson has a right to sound like he’s pouting. The man’s won 18 PGA events without a major victory and was in sixth place going into Sunday’s round. Yet he still had to comment on Tiger’s play and not his own. “If (Tiger) wins this tournament, he’d be my idol,” said Sergio Garcia, who at age 21 is four years younger than Woods. Get in line, Sergio. Woods is due to be canonized before he’s old enough to shave. Just don’t ask Tiger for his autograph if you get paired with him. Woods is a great goiter, but he s also human. Like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky, Woods entered a professional sport at a young age and immediately made an impact. But, what people don’t seem to realize is Woods will have a bad day sometimes on the course. He even admitted it. “To be honest with you, I’ve pulled a couple, I’ve fatted a couple, hit a few more right and a few long, a few short,” Woods said. “I’ve got the whole gamut covered.” Woods put his bad round behind him and shot a 69 Saturday, which is a great round for a course such as the Open. But, with all he’s accomplished in his career, many expected, instead of hoped, an impossibly low score to streak past the competition and regain first place. Tiger had a bad day. So what? I’m sure he’ll recover to win his next 10 tournaments. Even Superman has to be just plain Clark Kent once in a while.