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20 THE GAMECOCK * Monday, January 12,2004 G3fTlG ft “■-“■-Y B"fl MEN’S BASKETBALL at Auburn, 11 p.m. Wednesday ™ fl m VI B r fl 1 L 1 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Thursday p . . MW M B fl J ' I ' MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING at World Cup at UOrlLaCt. I fl B I fl . Huntersville, N.C., Thursday Story ideas? Questions? Comments? I fl fl fl I Ikf MEN’S TENNIS at SEC Indoor Championships in E-mail us at gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu fl B B rV J Atlanta, Ga„ Thursday Men’s.Basketbai Gamecocks perform well throughout break BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC men’s basketball team (14-2,1-1 SEC) is working on one of its best records in several decades as students return to classes this semester. Carolina was 7-2 during the nine game stretch in between classes that included games against Clemson, Temple, N.C. State, Florida and Georgia which tested how the team has bounced back from last year’s disappoint ing 12-15 mark. The Gamecocks’ first game of the semester is at Auburn on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on Jefferson Pilot Sports. USC 84, Georgia 63 Road wins in the SEC are par ticularly rare, so the Gamecocks’ complete domination of Georgia on Jan. 10 wasn’t exactly expect ed. Forwards Carlos Powell and Renaldo Balkman were late to the team’s pregame meal and didn’t start, instead coming off the bench and combining for 25 points and 10 rebounds. Center Rolando Howell also had a good day, scor ing in double digits for the first time this season. No. 14 Florida 65, USC 62 Carolina lost a heartbreaker on Jan. 7 at home in its SEC open er to Florida that featured physi cal play and an absurd number of 3-point shots in the first half by USC. At the half, the Gamecocks had three more 3-point shots than 2 point shots. Carolina played ex ceptionally close considering the poor shooting — USC was just 38 percent from the field and 17 per cent from the 3-point line for the game. “We executed well enough to get to the threshold of winning, but we didn’t execute when it was time to win,” USC head coach Dave Odom said. ♦ MEN’S, SEE PAGE 21 Women’s.Basketball Women’s basketball splits eight-game trip BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK The USC women’s basketball team (8-5,0-1 SEC) played only one of its eight games during the win ter break at home, forcing the team to compete on the road and play some of the top talent in the nation. The Gamecocks managed a 4 4 mark-over the break, losing the ir last four games on the road at Seton Hall, No. 15 North Carolina, No. 6 Minnesota and Alabama. Carolina’s four-game road trip comes to an end when the team arrives back in Columbia for a matchup with No. 5 Tennessee at home on Thursday night at 7 p.m. use 71, Alabama 74 The Gamecocks fought toe-to toe with the Crimson Tide on Jan. 11 but ultimately lost when Alabama guard Kate Mastin hit a shot with 25 seconds left to put Bama ahead by one. Lauren Hill hit two free throws at the 3-second mark to give the Tide the 3-point win. After a 31-31 halftime deadlock, Alabama’s ex cellent 60 percent shooting from the field bested Carolina’s 35 per cent for the second half, making the difference in the final seconds of the game. USC 53, No. 6 Minnesota 63 Even though USC stayed close to the Golden Gophers during the second half, the 10-point differen tial at the end of the first half would eventually cost Carolina the game on Jan. 3. Minnesota hit 13 of its 16 free throws in the sec ond half to make up for its poor shooting from the floor. ♦ WOMEN’S, SEE PAGE 22 Depth, defense give USCa surprisingly positive liftoff Nobody out side the USC practice facility gave the men’s basketball team any kind of chance to win anything this JONATHAN season. This HILLYARD was a team First-year coming into the electronic season that fin journalism ished with a 12 maJ°r 16 record and was losing four seniors. In the preseason poll re leased at the SEC Basketball Media Day in October, USC re ceived 72 points in votes, good enough to put the Gamecocks last in the SEC’s Eastern Division and last overall in the SEC. “There is no team here that less is expected from than ours. In one way, that’s fine,” coach Dave Odom said. “But in other ways, I take exception to it.” Apparently, the players have tak en exception to this as well. They responded with a very impres sive 8-0 start that included a Guardians Classic championship victory. USC wrapped up its non conference schedule Friday, Jan. 2, with a 13-1 record — the school’s best since the 1969-70 sea son — and has laid a solid foun dation in conference play. With a very narrow 65-62 loss to No. 11 Florida and an 84-63 walloping of Georgia on the road, USC will look to contend for a spot in post season play and may have its best chance to do so in recent memo ry. There is no doubt that USC’s success can be greatly attributed to the play of its five newcomers. Freshmen Renaldo Balkman, Tre Kelley and Brandon Wallace have made extreme contribu tions, while Paulius Joneliunas has added some valuable min utes. In addition to the freshmen, junior college transfer Josh Gonner has solidified his spot in the starting rotation, averaging 9.6 points per game. While these players may not yet be super stars, they do add valuable min utes to a team that may be one of ♦ HILLYARD, SEE PAGE 22 PHOTO BY JOHNNY*MYNES/THE GAMECOCK Guard Josh Gonner attempts a shot against a Gardner-Webb player In a game a^lnst the Bulldogs earlier this season. Gonner has averaged 9.6 points and 2.8 rebounds > game. USC football reloads coaching staff after Christmas cleaning BY JONATHAN HILLYARD THE GAMECOCK The USC football team has had a busy winter break despite the late season struggles that left the 5 7 Gamecocks home for Christmas. Following a season-ending col lapse at home versus Clemson, head coach Lou Holtz decided that changes were in order. He re leased four of his assistant coach es while a fifth left for another job, leaving half of his staff positions empty. When asked about the dis missals, Holtz was very candid. “It’s a very difficult process,” said Holtz. “These were good foot ball coaches. They were good enough to win two Outback Bowls. I just felt there were changes that had to be made.” The first of the replacement coaches was hired on Dec. 13. Ron Cooper, who has had experience with Lou Holtz, was named the new defensive backs coach. In ad dition to coaching the defensive backs at Notre Dame with Holtz, Cooper, 41, also held the same po sition most recently at the University of Wisconsin in 2002. Cooper’s Wisconsin secondary fea tured the Big Ten’s two leaders in interceptions, including safety Jim Leonhard, who led the nation with 10 picks. Cooper has also had experience as a head coach at Eastern Michigan, Louisville and Alabama A&M. Last season he was the de fensive coordinator at Mississippi State. After a season plagued by dropped balls, USC will be looking to a new face to lead the Gamecock receiving corps in 2004. Considering the talent Holtz feels exists at the position, this job is very important. Thus, Holtz is looking to 22-year coaching veteran Rick Stockstill to coach the Gamecock receivers. Stockstill spent this season at East Carolina, where he served as of PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK USC head coach Lou Holtz has replaced three of the five open coaching staff positions. fensive coordinator. His name may sound familiar due to an ex tended stay at Clemson, where he served as a recruiting coordina tor, wide receivers coach, co-of fensive coordinator, passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was at Clemson from 1989-2002. Most notably, Stockstill mentored All-America wide re ceiver Rod Gardner, who now plays for the Washington Redskins. After a wild process, Holtz has finally hired an offensive line coach. On Christmas Eve, Robbie Caldwell, the current offensive line coach at Vanderbilt, accept ed the job at USC. Three days later, Caldwell de cided that USC was not where he wanted to take his career and re scinded his acceptance of Holtz’s offer, leaving the Gamecock coach ing staff with still two vacancies. That vacancy did not last long, however, as USC named Steve Shankweiler its offensive line coach. Shankweiler brings 21 years of collegiate coaching expe rience to the USC family, includ ing stops at Georgia Tech, East Carolina and md&t recently Cincinnati. While at ECU, Shankweiler’s Pirates appeared in three con secutive bowl games and were the only team in Conference USA to have an all-conference offen sive lineman for five straight sea sons. The only position that remains available is that of defensive co ordinator. Chris Cosh filled this position last year, who in turn filled the position after Charlie Strong left for Florida. The USC defense experienced a rough end ing to its season as the Gamecocks dropped five of their last six games. There have been rumors that Holtz has offered the position to Ohio State linebackers coach Mark Snyder, but he plans to stay at OSU. Holtz has also spoken with LSU linebackers coach Kirk Doll, but Doll claims the conver sation had nothing to do with the available defensive coordinator position. While a nev staff has been the priority of the Gamecock football program so fa' this offseason, it is not the only change being made. Holtz annouiced over the break that he will b* taking over the of fense from hs son Skip Holtz in 2004. When asked if Skip would keep his offeisive coordinator ti tle, Holtz sail, “I really can’t say at this time,but I will take over the offense.” One thing ippears obvious with the recent coaching staff change i — Holtz is going with experieno’J Between thethree hires made in the last monh, USC has gained 56 years of collegiate coaching expe rience. This is a lit of a makeover for a staff that las seen quite a few young, inexperienced faces lately. The cliche "tge before beauty” is quickly becoming a reality in Gamecock country. Comments tn this story?E-mail gamecocksforts(&gwm.sc.edu