The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 11, 2005, Page 11, Image 11
Kinsey guided
by confidence,
determination
By BRIAN DAVIS
THE GAMECOCK
Incredible skill and
determination in life are not two
characteristics that always
coincide. In those situations
where they do, the potential for
success is always present. For
USC junior shooting guard
Tarence Kinsey, a Tampa,
Florida native, there is a bright
light at the end of every tunnel.
This year Kinsey has taken
his opportunity as a starter to
become one of USC’s top
players, averaging nearly two
more points and rebounds per
game with nearly 10 points and
four rebounds per contest. After
being troubled by several
injuries in his first two seasons
at USC, Kinsey is on a streak,
shooting better than 40 percent
from the field and close to that
in his three point percentage.
While these improvements may
be perceived to be due to his
lack of injury, that is not the
case.
“Well, it always feels good to
be injury free,’’Kinsey said. “I
came into this season with a bum
ankle and the ankle’s still bum. It
still bothers me, it hurts all the
time, but, it feels good to help
contribute.”
Kinsey’s ability to learn from
such predicaments is admirable,
as his determination is evident off
the court.
“Truthfully, the first thing,
we’re not in here, we’re in study
hall,” Kinsey said. “You might
catch me in the Russell House
right before 7:30 or something,
eating there. I don’t really do too
much.”
This fevel-headedness has
seemingly been around for some
time, as Kinsey decided on USC
as a high school player based on
several reasons, some jokingly
and some seriously.
“Well I couldn’t go too far up
north, it was too cold. I can’t take
cold weather,’’Kinsey said. “The
SEC has always been one of the
toughest conferences and I
wanted to get out of Florida. I
didn’t want to be too close to my
family so if I get in trouble they
could come up here and whoop
me, so I just wanted to come up
here and get away and start
fresh.”
Kinsey said that his other
collegiate opportunities came
from Arkansas, UMASS, Florida
and recent national powers
Georgia Tech and Boston
College. Thus far, Kinsey does
not seem nostalgic about his
decision, as he reflected on his
more enjoyable moments at USC.
“I think my most exciting
moment was last year when we
got invited to the NCAA,”
Kinsey recalled. “The whole
SEC Tournament and even the
first game of the NCAA
Tournament, all of them were
exciting.”
Kinsey clearly savored these
opportunities when he
confronted them. In the SEC
Tournament, Kinsey averaged
over 11.5 points per game and
five rebounds per contest. He
followed this up by a solid
performance of nine points in 22
minutes in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament against
Memphis.
As the season’s ending or new
beginning approaches, depending
on a potential bid to the NCAA
Tournament, the conclusion of
the careers of standout senior
forward Carlos Powell and
crowd-pleaser Josh Gonner will
leave Kinsey as one of few seniors
to lead the younger, extremely
talented players.
“It’s going to be huge,” Kinsey
said of the responsibility. “From
my class that Ame in 2002, Pm
the only one left. I’m going to
have the most experience out of
all the seniors coming back. So
it’s going to be huge and I think I
got a relationship with everybody
else that they’ll listen to what I
have to say.”
As Kinsey’s third season
reaches its pinnacle, he cannot be
certain of his post-collegiate plans
as his senior season may
determine openings in a
professional career in this
country, or many others that are
available.
On this speck of uncertainty,
Kinsey commented, “I’m not sure
what I’m going to do, I’m
probably going to work with my
grandfather, he has a couple of.
businesses that he owns. If I get a
degree, which I am [in criminal
justice], I know I can probably do
something with that. If pro ball
doesn’t work, I’m not going to let
it bring me down, I might even
go overseas or something like
that.”
While he and the rest of USC
onlookers may wonder where
his future will lead him, both
can be certain nothing will
prevent him from the path he
chooses.
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CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
Junior forward Tarence Kinsey prepares to make a move. Kinsey had a double-double last Wednesday against Arkansas.
KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK
Junior pitcher Michelle Henke pitches in last weekend’s Gamecock Invitational. The team will
travel to Arizona to face Cal-State Fullerton and Arizona.
USC softball goes west
for Kajikawa tourney
By MICHAEL FINNEGAN
THE GAMECOCK
After starting off hot with five wins
in six home games, the USC softball
team will be thrown into the fire this
weekend at Arizona State’s Kajikawa
Tournament.
Carolina will first face No. 25 Cal
State Fullerton. CS-Fullerton is 2-2
coming off splits against No. 7 UGA and
No. 3 UCLA in the UCLA Tournament.
The Titans are looking to start strong this
year after last season’s disappointing 18
34 record. Sophomore Brooke Weekley
leads the Titans’ young pitching staff, as
she started off her varsity career 13-18
with a 2.94 ERA. The Titans’ hottest
hitter of the new year is junior Marissa
Marzan, averaging .545. The Titans will
look to their four freshmen to step up
their game this weekend. Their fearsome
foursome has not been so fearsome to
start the season, going 8-for-40 with a
batting average of .200.
USC will next face oft against Utah
State (2-3). The Aggies have struggled to
start the season, finishing the Alexis Resort
Cj^ssic 2-3. One key to an A#e victory is
better defense,as the .^%gies have already
committed eight errors in five games. The
Aggies look to senior Candice Hatch to
step up, who has yet to register a hit this
season, goingO-for-14. Sophomore Jessica
Garnet has been the Aggies’ best hitter this
season, going 8-for-17.
The Gamecocks open up Saturday
against the University of Massachusetts.
This is UMass’s first weekend of play,
and the Minutemen will look to their
veterans to lead them to victory. UMass
has the 2004 A-10 Player of the Year in
senior Hilary Puglia. She finished 2004
with a batting average of .321 with nine
doubles, three triples, five home runs
and 15 stolen bases. UMass lost its best
pitcher, Kelli Arnold, to graduation, but
will look to junior Jenna Busa to step up
her game. She finished last year with a
record of 13-8 and a 2.34 ERA. UMass
also looks to freshman Maggie Feix to
fill in for Arnold. She finished her high
school career 54-17 with a 0.51 ERA
and 621 strikeouts.
The Gamecocks’ toughest game
should be against the No. 1 team in the
nation, the Arizona Wildcats (5-0).
Arizona played host to and won the
Pepsi Arizona Softball Classic last
week. Arizona was led by sophomore
USA Softball National Player of the
Week Kristie Fox, who had a stellar
performance. She has an average of
.692 with two home runs. Arizona is
also led by 2004 All-Americans Caitlin
Lowe and Alicia Hollowell. At the
mound, Arizona looks to freshman
Taryne Mowatt to continue her stellar
start to her collegiate career. She won
two games and had a .70 ERA.
The Gamecocks wrap up their trip to
Tempe with the Wisconsin Badgers.
The Badgers are led by infielder Kristin
Zacher. Last year, she set the UW record
for hits (63) and total bases (91). On the
mound, a sophomore and a senior lead
the Badgers. Sophomore Eden Brock
had a 1.71 ERA to lead the Badgers in
ERA as a freshman. Senior Katie Layne
looks to continue her success from her
junior campaign. She led the team in
wins (13) and strikeouts (90).
The Gamecocks look to continue
their winning ways this weekend. They
are led by junior Michelle Henke, who
is unbeaten and has not allowed a run
this season.
------;-r
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GAMECOCK CHALLENGE
Fthe CHALLENGE: Every week, Jonathan Stephen Alex Miquel Rick Bennie
The Gamecock’s readers and Hillyard Fastenau Riley Jacobs Henry Riley
staff test their sports knowledge sPorts Asst. Sports Staff Staff Special Reader of
with samp nredirtinns editor editor Writer Writer guest the week
with game predictions. (24.16) (26-14) (24-16) (25-15) (24-16) (25-15)
LSU at Arkansas_Arkansas LSU_LSU_Arkansas LSU_LSU
Florida at TennesseeFlorida FloridaFlorida Florida_FloridaFlorida
Ole Miss at 17 Alabama_Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama
Vanderbilt at Miss. State MSU MSU MSU MSU_MSU_MSU_
20 Wisconsin at 1 IllinoisIllinois Wisconsin Illinois Illinois IllinoisIllinois
8 Syracuse at 21 Villanova Syracuse Villanova Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse
7 Duke at Maryland Duke. Maryland DukeDukeDuke Duke
15 Mich. State at Michigan StateStateState Michigan Michigan Michigan
Georgia at 5 KentuckyKentucky Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky
Auburn at USC USC TjSC USC USC USC USC
62-55 70-69 72-61 66-58 75-61 63-54
WANT TO BE READER OF THE WEEK? E-MAIL SELECTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK’S GAMES TO
GAMECOCKSPORTS@GWM.SC.EDU. LAST WEEK’S RESULTS: Stephen Fastenau has taken
the lead in what is still a close contest. Hillyard also went 7-3. Rick Henry joins us this week.
■ HITTERS
Continued from page 9
with double-digit home-run totals at 14.
The other captain of the 2005
squad is Winn, who was also drafted
by the Red Sox in the 31st round but
chose to return to Columbia for his
final season. The senior out of Florida
came up just short of the team’s triple
crown last season, batting .305 with
19'home runs and 69 RBIs. Winn did
not miss a beat last fall, starting all 70
games in right field. It’s easy to see
why he won the Sarge Frye Award for
class, integrity and being a great
teammate.
USC’s other outfielder is in-state
native Gregg. After being hit in the face
on a pitch last fall, Gregg came in and
out of the USC lineup almost all season.
Greg managed to go 6-of-17 in the
College World Series and had two RBIs.
Gregg finished the season batting .325
with 26 RBIs.
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gamecocksports@giom.sc.edu
■ RETURN
Continued from page 9
A win would mark the third
straight for Carolina and could not
come at a better time. A Tuesday
home matchup with SEC East-leading
Kentucky looms imposingly after this
game, followed by a road contest with
SEC West-leading Alabama. It will be
important for the Gamecocks to not
look ahead to the matchup with the
Tigers, as USC is fighting for an at
large bid to the NCAA Tournament
and needs any win it can ggt.
The Tigers are looking to
merely finish the season above .500
under first-year coach Jeff Lebo, a
former USC assistant. Auburn
stands at 12-12 on the season and
2-7 in SEC play. Carolina was able
to win last year’s contest, 53-51,
but Auburn has won seven of the
last 10 contests against the
Gamecocks.
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BASKETBALL
■ Continued from page 10
effect of cheating.”
“Selling the foul” is not an
uncommon tool to the game. High-,
school coaches teach and preach',
how to inform the officials that a call'
must be made by slightly
exaggerating the contact. Without
the embellishment, it would be easy
for an official to call a blocking foul
or make no call at all.
The Auburn Tigers could care
less about the dispute though, unless
it keeps Powell’s mind away from
preparing. Auburn could care less
about USC’s ESPN game two days
after the fact. All the Tigers will be
focused on is Saturday night’s game,
at the Colonial Center and a
possible third conference victory.
For Odom’s sake, that should be all
that the Gamecocks are focused on,
too.
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gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
TH#%AMECOCK
No one covers USC better. Seriously.
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