The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 20, 2001, Page 10, Image 10
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 Eidson had withdrawn from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.