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Fans underestimate USC baseball coaching legend If you are a fan of great coach ing, you are fortunate to be at tending USC. At no cost, there are tremendous opportunities to watch some of the most talented coaches excel in their craft. However, the best head coach at USC seems to get very little attention from the media and USC fans in i general. In this * column, it is time IK? this coach gets his year print well-deserved journalism recognition, student I did not realize how little recogni tion this coach re lciycu umii i Yvaa navuig a c-aoucu conversation with some friends last week, and the question was asked about who everyone thought was the best USC coach of all time, no sport specified. Of course, people echoed the names of Frank McGuire, Joe Morrison, Dave Odom and Lou Holtz. By no means am I disrespect ing any of these coaches. I can only dream about the glory days of McGuire, when USC basketball was feared like Quke and Kansas are to k day. Regardless of how you feel about " the last two football seasons, years from now people will still be talking about the accomplishments of Lou Holtz. Odom has made the USC bas ketball team the most improved team in college basketball this sea son. No one will ever know how good Morrison would have become, but his fire ant defense, run-and-shoot offense and “Black Magic” are my first childhood memories of being a Gamecock. However, it is time once and for all for baseball head coach Ray Tanner to be added to that list. What Ray Tanner has accom plished since arriving in Columbia is nothing short of phenomenal. No Gamecock team in any sport has come from so mediocre to so dominant in a seven-year span. Even before arriving at USC, coach Tanner showed tremendous heart. He left his own alma mater, N.C. State, to take the head-coach ing job at USC. If you think this is no big deal, then think about it: If you were a head coach and had the opportunity to coach a sport at USC, would leave your alma mater to coach at another university? Neither would I. When Tanner took over at USC in 1997, the baseball team had not finished the year in the top 25 since the 1993 baseball season. Even in 1993, Carolina just bare ly made the polls at number 25. Since then, all Tanner has done is win over 300 games in seven sea sons, win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division four out of the last five years, and most importantly has had tremendous success against Clemson in a sport at which it actually is good. The Gamecocks have finished the last two seasons in Omaha as one of the nation’s best teams at the College World Series. In addition, the Gamecock baseball team has won without the tremendous resources of oth er Gamecock sports. Williams Brice and the Colonial Center are much more attractive venues for football and basketball than Sarge Frye Field. In fact, Sarge Frye ranks near the bottom of the SEC when comparing our baseball facilities to other SEC schools. In addition, very few baseball players receive full scholarships. Imagine how much this would impact the success of our other sports if they were not allowed to issue full scholar ships. If you ever have wondered why USC never seems to be the very best despite tremendous facili ties, legendary coaches and great talent, then make a trip over to Sarge Frye Field. There you will find a Gamecock team that is among the best in the nation and has the talent to compete for that ever-elusive national champi onship. , Oh yeah, they have a pretty good coach as well. Men CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 said. “I was on the baseline and drove to the basket, and I had a bad angle. Daniels just forced me to shoot from there with his defense.” UK head coach Tubby Smith was understandably happy about his team’s performance, citing how the Wildcats execut ed on rebounding. Ml ‘“MU 4 ^MiXJ tjM • V W lant defensive effort to try to contain them because we had all types of problems trying to stop South Carolina,” Smith said. “They are very athletic and quick. We have guys inside and outside that I thought stepped up big. I thought a big key was trying to control the boards as best we could, and we did a very good job there.” Rebounding was still an is sue for the Gamecocks, who were out-rebounded by 15. USC was 10th in the SEC in re bounding margin before the Kentucky game and is one of only three SEC teams to have a negative rebounding margin. Carolina is mainly having trou ble keeping opponents from re bounding and is last in the SEC in rebounding defense, allow ing other teams an average of 38.3 rebounds per game. Kentucky notched 41 rebounds. Carolina will try and bounce back from this close loss when it comes home to Columbia to play the team with the best record in the SEC, Mississippi State, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu Softball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 of the doubleheader against North Carolina came from the bat of Jennings, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, send ing home Curtis and outfielder Melissa Sandel and giving USC a 3-1 lead. The Tar Heels added one more run in the sixth inning but _ couldn’t send home the two more K- needed rims. USC didn’t allow another hit in the seventh inning and the Gamecocks took their third con secutive win of the season. use 3 -UNCI The Gamecocks got the better of the Tar Heels in the second half of the doubleheader as well, scoring their first two runs in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Jennings drove home another RBI with a hit in the fourth in ning, sending home Sandel for the second straight game. UNC got its only run of the game with a solo home run by outfielder Jessica Young in the seventh inning. Aleca Johnson pitched for the Gamecocks, striking out seven batters in seven innings. The Gamecocks will stay on the road this week, heading to the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday. Carolina will face off against five teams in three days, taking on Oklahoma, Southern Miss, Illinois, Western Kentucky and host team Florida State. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu 8:00 pm February 10, 2004 RH Ballroom . Keep in' « "Rea/ COMICVIEW and the COm6uV CEDRIC the w *** w ENTERTAINER m •SHOW Featuring/TOUr Pat Brown^^_ jh www.comediandepot.com RJE COMEDY CABARET Tour 2004 I For more information or special assistance call 777-7130 or visit www.sa.sc.edu/cp Event subject to change. Paid for by student activity fees Fill out an entry form and turn it in to one of the many drop - boxes located across campus. Ballots due March 5. B ^_:_?_ LSAT f How would \ GMAT l you score? ) " DAT Take a practice test at Kaplan’s Test Drive and find out. • February 28th at 10am University of South Carolina Gambrell Hall To register, call or visit us online today! 1-800-KAP-TEST kaptest.com/testdrive Test Prep and Admissions •Test names are registered trademarks of their respective owners. ..~H • Guaranteed SCORE All registered student organizations receiving or planning to receive student activity fee funding must be represented by their Treasurer at one of the mandatory Treasurer's Workshops listed below. Treasurer's Workshops will be held on the following dates: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 RHUU 322/326 3:30 - 5:00 I 5:30- 7:00 | 7:00 - 8:30-*International Thursday, February 12, 2004 RHUU 322/326 3:30 - 5:00 Tuesday, February 17, 2004 RHUU 322/326 3:30 - 5:00 * i ms worKsnop is sngntiy moamea to accommoaate tne neeas or tne mentioned group; however, anyone can Budgets Due Budgets for the 2004-2005 February 19, 2004 by 4:00pm Government & Student Organ Budget submission forms are www.sg.sc.edu/forms.htm For more info please call Ben Edwards, Students Body Treasurer, at 777-3857. r