Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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SEC EAST/CLEMSON PREVIEW ■ ■ ■„ - ■■■ ' v* VANDERBILT BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK Vanderbilt went through its fair share of woes last year. The Commodores end ed with a 15-15 overall record and went a meager 4-12 in conference play. The Commodores had a winning record early but then dropped their final eight games, starting with South Carolina. Vandy head coach Kevin Stallings would like to put last year behind him and look to this sea son. you can use past seasonj as motivation in many different ways, and we are moti vated from last year because of how aw ful it made us feel,” Stallings said. “We’re a better team than how we played down the stretch. The memory of that has been a focal point in the off-season.” Despite Stallings’ positive outlook, the team will enter this season without some of last year’s star players. Greg LaPointe and Anthony Williams have graduated, and the Commodores have been picked by the SEC media to bottom out the SEC East. Backcourt Guard Chuck Moore returns to lead his team after averaging 12 points per game last season. The recruit from Seton Hall is an excellent perimeter shooter and can also play the point position. Last season, Moore led the team in scoring in a team high nine games. Sam Howard will start as the Commodore’s point guard this sea son. In limited playing time last season, Howard averaged right over six points per contest. Frontcourt Sophomore forward Matt Freije had an impressive year last season, shooting a team-best .390 on three pointers and putting up 28 blocks. Freije was named to last year’s SEC’s All-Freshman team. With Anthony Williams gone at the cen ter position, Darius Coulibaly will look to take oven The 7-foot-l star from Greensboro doesn’t score many points, but can come up with blocks and rebounds. Outlook Even without some of his key players from last season, Stallings believes his team has the ability to make things hap pen in the conference. “I like our team a bunch. They’ve worked very hard and have responded well in practice,” Stallings said. “My concerns are with defensive re bounding, defense itself and taking care of the ball. If we take care of these areas, we have a pretty good team because we can shoot.” CLEMSON & BY CHRIS FOY THE GAMECOCK The Clemson Tiger men’s basketball team is a squad ready to get out of the past; namely, last season. Last year, Clemson bottomed out in the competitive ACC with a less-than-impressive 12-19,2-14 record. The team did manage some success, though, as they upset No. 1 North Carolina in late February. But this team will have to do without last year’s stars, as Will Solomon-and Adam Allenspach have gone to the NBA. Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt knows he’s dealing with a young squad, but he thinks it will make some noise in a tough conference. There s no question tnat witn the ad dition of five new players and a roster with eight first- or second-year players, we enter the fall practice not knowing who to rely on in certain situations,” Shyatt said. “But we have some talented young men who are eager to fill our roles.” The Clemson offense will be the focal point once again this season. Last year, the squad set a school record for three- point ers and scored 80 or more points in eleven games. Backcourt Point guard Ed Scott will be back to lead the Tigers on the court. He led the team in assists last season and at one point made 23 consecutive free throws. Tony Stockman was second in points behind Will Solomon. The sophomore averaged 12 points per game and made 75 three-pointers. Frontcourt Chris Hobbs, who is entering his sopho more season, is one of the Tigers’ strongest players. In his freshman year, Hobbs led the ACC in rebounding and av eraged 7.3 points per game as well as 6.3 rebounds. The Tigers will be relying on some youth to back up Hobbs. Sharrod Ford looks to be a promising front runner. In high school, Ford blocked an average of six shots per contest. Outlook The Tigers may have some players in the works, but they still aren’t ready to con tend seriously in the ACC. Shyatt, who is probably still in Clemson only because of the Tigers’ upset of UNC, knows this sea son will be a building block for Clemson. “This is a group of young players that should have lofty goals during the seasons ahead,” Shyatt said. “An upper division fin ish, a trip to the NCAAs, the Sweet 16 and, hopefully, a Final Four can be attained by this program in the years to come.” KEY PLAYER MOORE Junior guard VITAL STATISTICS HEAD COACH Kevin Stallings LAST YEAR’S RECORD 15-15,4-12 SEC AGAINST USC LASTYEAR at USC, L 49-57; at Vandy, L 65-70 TOP PLAYERS G Chuck Moore, F Matt Freije, G Sam Howard PROJECTED FINISH BY SPORTS STAFF Sixth place, SEC East VITAL STATISTICS KEY PLAYER STOCKMAN Sophomore guard HEAD COACH Larry Shyatt LAST YEAR’S RECORD 12-19,2-14 ACC AGAINST USC LASTYEAR LOSS 76-64 TOP PLAYERS G Ed Scott, G Tony Stockman, C Chris Hobbs PROJECTED FINISH BY SPORTS STAFF Ninth, ACC For complete SEC West previews, keep reading 77ie Gamecock.