The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 10, 2002, Page 10, Image 10
10 THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday,July 10, 2002
"DAT) HP O THIS WEEK IN use SPORTS HISTORY
CONTACT US III I 1990 Skeets Thomas, MVP of the 1990 USC baseball
E-mail us at gamecocksports@hotmail.com JL V^/ _L \—L team signs with the St. Louis Cardinals.
USC Basketball loses player to NC program
STAFF REPORTS
South Carolina forward Issa
Konare has decided to transfer to
High Point University, which is lo
cated in N.C., Gamecock head coach
Dave Odom announced Monday.
"Issa sacrificed so much in leaving
Senegal and his family to come over
to the United States," said Odom.
"I have a special kinship with
Issa and in talking with him, we de
cided that relocation and a new op
portunity formore meaningful play
ing time would be in Issa's best in
terest," Odom said."I feel really good
that he's going to High Point and to
play for my college coach, Jerry
Steele. I think it's the right move for
Issa," Odom said.
Konare played in 17 games last
season as a freshman for the
Gamecocks, averaging 3.4 minutes
of play time per game. He averaged
1.0 point and 0.8 rebounds per con
test, making 6-of-20 field goal at
tempts, including 4-of-15 from three
point range.
Forward
Issa Konare
follows
Greg Taylor
as the
second
Carolina
player to
transfer
during the
offseason.
Konare will
attend High
Point
University
in North
Carolina
next fall.
PHOTO BY
ROBERT
GRUEN/THE
GAMECOCK
“I think it’s the right move
forIssa”
DAVE ODOM
use MENS BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
Konarebythe
numbers
♦ Konare played in 17 games
last season
♦ He averaged 3.4 minutes
per game
♦ He grabbed 0.8 rebounds
per contest
♦ He made 6 of 20 field goal
attempts
♦ He connected on 4 of 15
from three-point range
♦ Konare averaged 1.0 point
per game
♦ He scored a season-high
six points against Kentucky
on February 2nd
USC catcher to play for U.S. National team
BY MATT ROTHENBERG
THE GAMECOCK
Days after the College World
Series, Carolina's Landon Powell
traded in his garnet and black for
red, white, and blue. As one of the
top college freshmen and sopho
mores in the country, Powell was se
lected, along with 21 others, to play
for the United States National Team
in a summer-long tour.
Powell, who plays catcher and is
a rising junior, is particularly ex
cited about playing baseball this
summer.
"It’s awesome. One of the main
"easons I came to play here instead
if in [the] Cape Cod [summer
eague] was that I'd have the chance
o represent my hometown and my
miversity," Powell said.
"It’s exciting to have the chance
o play with some of the greatest col
ege players in the country."
“The guys here are unbelievable
litchers; they're going to be in the
iig leagues someday. It's good to
leet these guys.”
Powell continued, "Their styles
lay be a little different than I'm
sed to, but it's cool getting tha di
versity on this team." The U.S.
National Team defeated the Japan
Collegiate All-Stars on July 4th, in
a game where the catcher powered
his team to a 2-1 victory.
Powell went 2 for 3 with a run
scored and one RBI. His sacrifice fly
tied the game while he crossed
home with the eventual winning
run.
Behind the plate, he caught
Houstona pitcher Brad Sullivan's
magnificent one-hit performance.
Powell has had much success at the
plate so far this summer, even while
hitting with a wooden bat, as op
posed to metal.
ueiensiveiy, i maae some im
provement over the season, but with
wood [bats], you've got to be disci
plined and learn to pick the right
pitch," Powell acknowledged.
"Japanese pitchers, once the ball
leaves their hand, are similar to
Americans, but they try to fool you
into their release. They hit their
spots better than American pitch
ers, " Powell remarked.
Lelo Prado, head coach of the U.S.
National Team, says Powell is the
real deal. "He’s definitely done a
great job for us and brings a lot to
the table," said Prado.
"I spoke to a lot of people about
him and he's everything they'd said
he'd be. There's no question he's our
number one catcher."
Powell has fond memories of the
Gamecocks’ season, capped by an
appearance in the national champi
onship game in Omaha.
"[The experience] was unbeliev
able. We were almost overwhelmed
by the atmosphere. Wewere nervous
in that first game, but I'm proud of
my teammates for bouncing back,"
he said.
"[Not making the College World
Series] has been one of the curses
in Coach Tanner's career, and I felt
so good for him. This one was for
him."
a „ c_ooon t»_j—
X x\_/x uvvUf x u»ivxx uvvuii x xvi v
see a drop-off in USC’s success. "It
will be difficult to reload, but I know
the coaches do a great job recruit
ing and bringing new players in, so
I'm optimistic about next season,"
he said.
Powell will play with the U.S.
National Team on their Red, White,
and Blue Tour, traveling to The
Netherlands for Haarlem BasebaU
Week, followed by the FISU World
Championships in Messina, Italy.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecocksports@hotmail.com
—
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK j
USC catcher Landon Powell is
starting on the USA squad.
Baseball
owns you
and the
Expos too
J. KEITH ALLEN
C.\MECOCKSP()RTS@m)TM.UL.('.OM
Commissioner Selig isn’t
“letting the kids play”or
the Expos, either.
To quote Bob Watson from "The
Bad News Bears in Breaking
Training," "Let the kids play!"
In the world of Major League
Baseball, $5 million is not a lot of
money. Heck, you can probably find
$6 or $7 million under the couch
cushions in George Steinbrenner's
office. But that amount looks like it
will stand in the way of the
Montreal Expos making a serious
playoff push in what will probably
be their final season.
me txpos ana Marlins nave
hammered out a deal that would
send outfielder Cliff Floyd and
pitcher Ryan Dempster to Montreal
in exchange for pitchers Masato
Yoshii and Graeme Lloyd. But there
is a catch. The Expos would in
crease their payroll by $5 million
with the deal and, since MLB owns
and operates the team,
Commissioner Bud Selig must sign
off on any transaction. Selig has
been adamant that the Expos can
not add to their payroll in any "sig
nificant” way, even if it significant
ly improves the team.
At the All-Star break, the Expos
stand a distant nine games behind
Atlanta in the NL East but only five
games behind Arizona in the wild
card race. After almost stealing
pitching ace Bartolo Colon from
Cleveland two weeks ago, Expos
GM Omar Minaya now has his
sights set on Floyd and Dempster.
♦ALLEN, SEE PAGE 11