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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, January 14, 2004 . 11 “I—✓'■'x r | ^« /—sj Game.Schedule I 1/ \ | If I 1 L 1 MEN’S BASKETBALL at Auburn, 8 p.m. Contact I ^ I I I—I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee, 7 p.m. Thursday 7T„„ . . I 1 ■ I 1 I L ^ MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING at World Cup in _L VJ1 L 1_ hj - New defensive coordinator hired BY WES WOLFE THU GAMECOCK The USC football team has a new defensive coordinator, former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter. Minter has spent the past 10 seasons as head coach at Cincinnati, where he took the pro gram to a Conference USA co championship in 2002 and four bowl games over his tenure. “I’m very excited about having the opportunity to come to South Carolina,” said Minter. “It’s great to be reunited with Coach Holtz once again. From everything I’ve observed and heard in all of our conversations, I’ve never seen Coach Holtz more focused on tak ing this program to the top. I look forward to running the race with him.” Before becoming head coach at Cincinnati, Minter was defensive ~ coordinator of USC head coach se iiv Lou Holtz’s 1992 and 1993 Notre Dame teams. “Rick Minter was a graduate assistant on my staff at the University of Arkansas and I’ve followed his career ever since,” said Holtz. “He did a tremendous job for us at Notre Dame as de fensive coordinator, and as the head coach at Cincinnati, took them to four bowls and won more games than any other coach in the history of that school. Rick Minter is a winner — he’ll be a great role model for our players and he’ll provide outstanding leadership.” In Minter’s second year at Notre Dame, the Irish defense held nine of its 12 opponents under 100 yards rushing. Notre Dame ended the year ll-l and beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. The 1993 de fense also had five All-Americans, including free safety Jeff Burris, linebacker Justin Goheen, cor nerback Greg Lane, cornerback Bobby Taylor and defensive tackle Bryant Young. Minter’s 1992 defense allowed only 91 yards rushing per game and finished 10-1-1 with a Cotton Bowl victory and was ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll. Burris and Young were All-Americans on the 1992 team also, along with comer back Tom Carter, linebacker Demetrius DuBose and lineback er Anthony Peterson. Minter left Notre Dame after the 1993 season to coach Cincinnati, where he posted a 53 63-1 record during the time he was with the team, but was the winningest coach in the history of the program. In 2003, Cincinnati was 5-7 and 2-6 in C-USA, which motivated the university administration to re lease Minter from his contract. Other moves in the USC coach ing staff included the elevation of David Reaves from graduate as sistant to working with secondary coach Ron Cooper to coach the de fensive backs. Also, two former Gamecock players, Phil Petty and C. J. Frye, were brought on board as graduate assistants. Reaves has been a graduate as sistant for the previous two years at Carolina and assisted with the defensive backs last season. Before he came to USC, Reaves was an assistant head coach at Tampa Catholic High School in Florida. Reaves played college football at Appalachian State, where he started for three years at quarter-, back. Before he played for the Mountaineers, Reaves played foot ball at Spring Valley High School in Columbia. “It’s an honor to have the op portunity to work under a legend like Coach Holtz and I’m really looking forward to working with this staff and this team as we de velop a championship caliber pro gram,” Reaves said. Petty and Frye join the team after two years of absence for Petty and one year of absence for Frye. “I had a great experience play ing at Carolina and I’m excited to, be back in the program,” said Petty. “I think this football pro gram has a promising future and I look forward to being part of it.” While with the team, Petty and Frye started on USC’s two Outback Bowl Championship teams arid were four-year letter men. , “It’s a great opportunity to be able to come back to the school' that you played at and work to wards building a championship team,” said Frye. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu PHOTO BY MARK SCHILLING /THE GAMECOCK Guard Mike Boynton looks to pass the ball against a Gardner Webb player. Boynton is averaging 10.2 points per game. Carolina to tussle with Tigers tonight at SEC rival Auburn BY JONATHAN HILLYARD THE GAMECOCK After splitting its first two games against SEC Eastern Division opponents Florida and Georgia, the South Carolina men’s basketball team (14-2,1-1 SEC) will now head west tonight to take on its first opponent from the SEC’s Western Division, the Auburn Tigers (10-3,1-1). Auburn holds a 15-9 advantage in the series and leads the Gamecocks 7-3 in Auburn. USC has not defeated the Tigers in its last six tries and is 2-12 against Auburn since joining the SEC. The Tigers made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament last year only to fall to the eventual national champion, the Syracuse Orangemen. “Auburn is a very, very difficult team for anybody, but particular ly playing in Auburn,” said USC head coach Dave Odom. “They’re playing as well as any Auburn team I’ve seen. The thing that im presses me the most is their front line is as athletic and talented as anv I’ve seen.” The strength of the Tigers’ team is without a doubt its post play, particularly its forwards. Juniors Marco Killingsworth and Brandon Robinson lead the team in scoring with 14.5 points and 13.5 points per game, respectively. Killingsworth leads the SEC in field goal per centages at 66 percent. The inside game for the Tigers is wrapped up by senior center Kyle Davis who SEC Standings All statistics are current as of January 13,2004. EASTERN CONF. OVERALL Florida 2-0 _ 11-2 Kentucky 2-011-1 South Carolina 1-1 14-2 Tennessee_3/-19-2 Vanderbilt 1-1 12-1 Georgia 0-2 8-5 WESTERN_CONF. OVERALL LSU _ _ 2-0 ™ 11-1 Mississippi State 2-113-1 Auburn_ 1-1 10-3 Alabama0-1 8-4 Arkansas0-2 8-5 Ole Miss 0-2 8-5 is Auburn’s career blocks leader. The Tigers are most recently coming off a win over division ri val Ole Miss, 80-53. All three starters on Auburn’s front line . scored in double figures, while Killingsworth recorded a double double by adding 10 rebounds. l ne Gamecocks are commg on a big win over Georgia in Athens this past Saturday. Their 84-63 win was the largest margin by which USC has ever ^defeated the Bulldogs in Athens. The win was in part due to the tough defense USC played all game. In 12 of 16 games this season, the Carolina de fense has held their opponents to ♦ MEN’S, SEE PAGE 12 Holtz’s new hires make USC like 1992 Notre Dame USC is Notre Dame South. A tire-flaming DeLorian pulled up in my driveway early Tuesday morning and a hapless, twitch ing Michael J. Fox jumped out and said, “Dude, is this 1992?” “Nope,” I replied as my Bogota • Blend spilled down the front of my trousers. And then it hit me. It I was 1992. The newspa TYLER JONES Per an(j ^e Graduate television student in the h ., ., schoolof b°!b said> Journalismand “RickMmter Mass will be the Communication new ,jefen. . sive coordi llCtLUl UI U1C OUUU1 ^cuumid iUUl ball team.” Not only are we Notre Dame South, but we are also Notre Dame circa 1992. The helplessness engulfed me. So I did what any good American and Gamecock fan would do: I be gan to complain incessantly. Several hours later, after the coffee had worn off and denial had shed its relentless grip on me, I took stock of the situation and called my good friend Hootie Johnson. “Hootie, baby, how’s it going down in Augusta? Say, what’s the chance you dish out a membership to the ole ball coach and we get some titles up here in Columbia?” “You mean Spurrier? Sounds like a good idea to me, Tyler. I’ll see what I can do.” Sure, Spurrier failed miser ably in Washington, but name anyone in history who has got ten through D.C. without his share of scars. Marion Barry? Bill Clinton? Michael Jordan? James Madison? (Joe Gibbs doesn’t count; he’s about to get a rude awakening.) So why not bring S-squared down here to The Cola? He can play golf down at Bobby Jones’ place in the off-season, and he can cut his teeth again in the SEC against “Fat” Phil Fulmer, Nicky Saban, Mike Shula, Mark Richt and his own boy, Ron Zook. And let’s certainly not for get how much Spurrier would like to beat the feces out of a Bowden every year. oust uuiiK now mucn uei ter the games will be. A high octane offense with a real quarterback and sure-handed receivers running wild over Williams-Brice will be the norm. Juxtapose that image with the inept play-calling and antiquated offensive schemes that will drive us to another seven-loss season next year. The thought of flashy speed sters racking up excessive cele bration penalties just gives me goose bumps. Not to mention ♦ JONES, SEEPAGE 12 Women’s basketball to tackle Tennessee in SEC home opener BY STEPHEN DEMEDIS THE GAMECOCK After four games on the road, the USC women’s basketball team (8-5,0-1 SEC) will return home to the Colonial Center to try to snap a four-game losing streak against the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (12-1,2-0 SEC). History will be on the side of the Vols, as they are 31-2 against the Gamecocks and have not lost to Carolina since 1980. Tennessee won last year’s only meeting by a score of 97-78. USC, then ranked 15th, turned the ball over 24 times, as Tennessee registered its 42nd straight home victory. This year the teams are head ing in different directions. Tennessee lost its only game of the season to the then fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns. Since then, the team has reeled off five consecu tive victories and is 2-0 in confer ence play. Most recently, the Vols knocked off Arkansas by 39 points and Mississippi State by eight joints. Tennessee hris defeated rive opponents that are currently ranked in the top 25, including Purdue, DePaul and Oklahoma. The Gamecocks’ last win came against Louisiana-Lafayette in mid-December. Since then, the team has experienced four tough road losses, including two against teams ranked in the top 15, Minnesota and North Carolina. On Sunday Carolina lost by three points, as a shot at the buzzer rimmed out against Alabama. The match-up this year should prove to be a strong test for the Gamecocks. Defensively, the team will look to Iva Sliskovic and Cristina Ciocan to shut down Tennessee’s two main scoring threats. Forward Shyra Ely and guard Shanna Zolman have totaled 331 points for the Vols on the sea son. Offensively, Carolina will count on Sliskovic and Lauren Simms to power the scoring attack. The team will also get the ball to guard Kelly Morrone who has been consistent from beyond the three-point arch. The senior guard hit five three ♦ WOMEN’S, SEEPAGE 12 PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Forward ttasla Roszak guards an opponent during a game last season. The Gamecocks face the Vols on Thursday. ACC might not have football title game as planned for fall BY ELIZABETH A. DAVIS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NASHVILLE, TENN. - The Atlantic Coast Conference’s hope to play a championship football game next season is looking like a long shot. The ACC will expand to 11 teams next fall with the addition of Virginia Tech and Miami, but NCAA rules stipulate a conference lowing more league championships is the contentious issue of expand ing the football season to 12 games. Some teams would be for it because of increased revenue, but many col lege presidents aren’t so sure. “We’re not certain it’s in the best interest of the student-ath lete,” Hemenway said. "We have to make sure student welfare comes first.” Under current rules, many must have 12 teams to stage a championship game. The NCAA Division I Board of Directors, meeting Monday _ i 4.1_ xrn a a “We have to make sure student welfare comes first.” BOB HEMENWAY CHAIRMAN OF NCAA DIVISION I BOARD OF DIRECTORS schools played 12 games in 2003 because of a built-in excep tion any time there are 14 Saturdays in a summer-fall (AL iiiv H VI II 1 Convention, discussed but took no action on the ACC’s proposal to make an exception for conferences with 10 or 11 members. The proposal isn’t part of any formal legislation and remains just an issue for discussion, board chairman Bob Hemenway said. Hemenway, chancellor at Kansas, said a sticking point in al The next 12-game regular sea sons will be in 2008,2013,2014 and 2019. By 2006, the ACC should have its problem solved. That’s when Boston College joins the confer ence. Boston College would have to pay the Big East an exit fee of reportedly $5 million to leave be fore then.