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GAME SCHEDULE
Pap-e q MEN’S GOLF at Mercedes Benz Collegiate
,,® , „ , ____ MEN’S BASKETBALL at Tennessee, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Monday, February 21, 2005 WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Winthrop, 2 p.m. Wednesday
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Sorensen considering 3 athletic director candidates
By STEPHEN FASTENAU
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
USC President Andrew Sorensen
has not had a shortage of
applications to wade through in his
search for a new athletic director.
Sorensen met with the
Intercollegiate Athletics Committee
on Friday and announced that he
had received three dozen
“unsolicited expressions of interest”
for the job Mike McGee will be
leaving as of June 30.
Sorensen said the majority of
those who have expressed interest in
the job are current athletic directors
at Division 1-A universities.
Sorensen also noted that there
were “a number of other people
prominent in intercollegiate
athletics” who had expressed
interest in the position.
Internally, Sorensen named three
candidates — current USC baseball
coach Ray Tanner and senior
associate athletic directors Chris
Massaro and Brad Edwards.
Tanner and Massaro have already
interviewed for the position.
Edwards is scheduled to meet with
Sorensen this week.
Sorensen said he would not look
specifically at candidates from within
USC but that he would choose
whom he found the most qualified.
Tanner received a Bachelor of Arts
degree in recreation resources
administration from N.C. State in
1980 and his master’s in public
administration there in 1983. A four
year starter as a baseball player for the
Wolfpack, Tanner became an
assistant coach at his alma mater after
graduation. In 1988, Tanner took
over as head coach and stayed nine
years before coming to USC in 1996.
In the last five years, no Division
1-A coach has won more games
than Tanner. The Smithfield, N.C.,
native has compiled a 260-87 record
over that time frame, including
three straight trips to the College
World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Massaro received his bachelor’s
degree from Northern Colorado in
1983 and his master’s in sports
administration from Ohio
University in 1986. He came to
USC on a one-year internship while
at Ohio, was named assistant ticket
manager in 1986 and has been with
the university ever since.
A member of the executive
committee of the Sports
Management Institute, Massaro is
also on the SEC men’s basketball
tournament ticket committee.
Edwards, an All-American safety
at USC and a nine-year NFL
veteran, is the chief financial officer
for the athletics department.
Among the many who have
contacted McGee, one might very well
be Florida senior associate athletics
director Greg McGarity, who has
expressed interest in the position.
Former USC quarterback and ex-NFL
head coach Dan Reeves has also been
mentioned as a candidate.
McGee announced his intentions
to step down as AD on Jan. 18.
McGee arrived at USC in 1993
after lengthy stints as AD with
Southern Cal and Cincinnati.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edit
CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
USC baseball coach Ray Tanner has been interviewed by USC
President Andrew Sorensen for the athletic director position.
use 68, ALABAMA 87
JASON GETZ/THE GAMECOCK
Alabama forward Chuck Davis, left, drives to the basket as USC
center Antoine Tisby defends during the first half Saturday.
5Bama pummels
Gamecock defense
■ Tides hot shooting
befuddles Carolina
in blowout victory
By WES WOLFE
THE GAMECOCK
If it was a game of two halves
for USC: The first half was a bad
dream and the second half was a
nightmare.
Carolina (14-9, 6-6 SEC) was
taken to the woodshed by No. 16
Alabama (21-4, 10-2 SEC)
Saturday, finally falling, 87-68.
The Gamecocks never led in the
game, with their last chance for a
lead going the way of the dodo at
the 3:17 mark in the first half.
“We were beaten by the best
team we’ve played, this year, on
this particular day,” USC coach
Dave Odom said.
Odom said Carolina didn’t do
a bad job on executing its game,
but that Alabama did that much
better. This is especially true
considering the second half, when
the Gamecocks shot 51.6 percent
from the field — shooting better
than Bama for the half.
Though Carolina was beaten
by 19 points and Bama had a lead
as high as 30, the Gamecocks were
in the game until forward Jean
Felix, the Congo connection,
came into the game for the Tide.
USC had cut Alabama’s lead from
eight points to one point on a
layup by center Antoine Tisby
with five minutes left in the first
half. With 3:17 left in the first,
Felix hit his first 3-point basket,
followed by his second trey less
than a minute later. Felix put two
free throws on his tally at the 45
second mark — enough to lead
Bama with eight points going into
halftime. Only two shots from the
charity stripe from forward Carlos
Powell put a dent in what was a
12-2 Alabama run to end the half.
Alabama guard Ernest Shelton,
who ended the game with 16
points, credited Felix with jump
starting the team.
“We went through a period
there where I think 1 missed a few
shots and [Kennedy Winston]
missed a few shots. Felix just
stepped in and hit some big ones
for our team.”
Odom said Felix didn’t catch
the Gamecocks entirely off-guard.
“It’s not like the guy was, you
know, somebody from Mars that
we’ve never heard of. The guy —
we knew about him, and we
respected him.”
Odom said USC needed the
right personnel to counter a threat
like Felix, but did not have it.
“I think we rolled through our
lineup, and we probably didn’t
have enough size on the court at
that position at that time,” Odom
said.
Odom said if he could do it
♦ Please see HOOPS, page 9 I
use 66, ALABAMA 57
FINALLY
■ Gamecocks take
first SEC victory ofi
2004-2005 season
By MIQUELJACOBS
STAFF WRITER
The USC women’s basketball
team has only been able to beat one
SEC team in the past two seasons.
Led by sophomore guard Stacy
Booker’s 19 points and nine
rebounds Sunday, the Gamecocks
ended a school record nine-game
losing streak and won an SEC game
for the first time in 18 tries.
The last victory came Feb. 12,
2004, with a 77-51 decision over
Alabama at home.
This time, the Tide played
competitively but still faltered at the
Colonial Center to give Carolina its
first SEC win with a 66-57 victory.
Carolina improves to 7-19 overall
and 1-11 in conference play.
“Our team played extremely well
today,” USC coach Susan Walvius
said. “Stacy Booker had an
exceptional game. For the whole
team, the execution was there, the
team effort was there, the team
communication was there.”
Alabama struck first in the game
but would not be on top for long,
losing its lead when Booker put
back a miss by sophomore Lauren
Simms for Carolina’s first time on
top, 7-6. The Tide would never
again lead the Gamecocks. During
the next six minutes, the
Gamecocks collected three steals
before Booker’s fast-break layup
gave Carolina a 26-16 lead with
7:52 remaining in the first half. By
this point, she had already collected
14 points and six rebounds.
“We’re very relieved,” an almost
speechless Booker said. “We knew
we could come out there and win it.
This will give us confidence going
into our game Thursday.”
Carolina was faced with a
frightening situation when team
captain Simms fell to the floor in
pain with 6:29 remaining in the
♦ Please see FINALLY, page 9
' CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
Junior forward Olga Gritsaeva goes up for a layup in Sunday’s game against Alabama. USC defeated
the Crimson Tide to notch the first victory of the conference season for the young Gamecock team.
CHARLIE DAVENPORT/THE GAMECOCK
I I
Pitcher Forrest Beverly hurls a strike Sunday against Radford.
Baseball sweeps overmatched Radford
By ALEX RILEY
STAFF WRITER
With opening-weekend jitters
behind it, the No. 7 Carolina
baseball squad (6-0) flexed its
muscles, sweeping a Radford (1-5)
team that was facing a slow start to
the new season.
The series opener placed red-hot
senior Aaron Rawl back on the
mound for the second time this
season. Rawl garnered SEC pitcher of
the week honors last week after seven
innings of work in the 5-1 win over
Longwood in the season opener. Rawl
looked every bit the ace he showed
last week, going six innings, allowing
she hits and recording five strikeouts.
Rawl’s effort would be
overshadowed by an offensive
explosion, as the Gamecocks ripped
everything the Lancers could throw at
them. USC racked up 20 runs on 23
hits, to score an impressive 20-0 win.
The offense was clicking to say the
least, as seven of Carolina’s first 10
hits were doubles. Carolina finished
with 10 total doubles, one short of a
new team record. Junior Steven
Tolleson went 3-for-5 on the day
with a double and two triples,
doubling his career total in triples.
With an impressive win under
their belts, the Gamecocks found
themselves in unfamiliar territory
during the first inning of game two,
as Radford jumped out to a 1-0 lead,
making it the first time Carolina had
trailed all season.
That lead quickly dissipated, as a
Cory Vanderhook sacrifice fly and
Jon Willard RBI single gave USC a
2-1 lead it would not surrender. The
rest of the game Carolina laid it on
the Lancers, piling up seven doubles
on the game and two home runs in
the fourth — one by sophomore
catcher Ryan Mahoney andjthe other
by Vanderhook.
The remainder of the game
belonged to senior Zac McCamie,
who pitched only five innings but
yielded only one run on four hits
while striking out seven. Three
Carolina pitchers combined to close
out a 16-4 USC win.
With the series clinched, USC
headed into Sunday s matchup
looking for its second series sweep of
the season. Dark skies and heavy
rains delayed the 1:30 p.m. start time
and seemed to delay the Gamecocks’
readiness to play.
Sophomore Forrest Beverly
earned his second star of the season
but did not stay around long enough
to make an impact, as he failed to
make it through the first inning.
Beverly gave up three runs on four
hits and was quickly pulled and
replaced by freshman Andrew Cruse.
Cruse s performance in relief was
nothing short of stunning, as gave
up only four hits and one run for the
entire game, while striking out two
en route to the first win of his college
career. Sophomore Conor Lalor
picked up the first save of his career,
pitching shutout baseball for three
innings while striking out five.
The Gamecock offense was
lacking the consistent play it showed
the first two games but found a way
to squeak away with a win. After
struggling since the opening pitch of
the season, senior outfielder Brendan
Winn erupted back into the
spotlight, crushing his first career
grand-slam homer in the first and
adding another solo shot in the sixth.
The two long balls of the game gave
Winn four hits on the season, three
of which have gone long.
“It’s about time, Winn said. “I
made some adjustments this
morning. We’re playing pretty good.
1 can’t complain.”
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♦ Piease see SWEEP, page 9