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■ ROCKY Continued from page 13 Southern, Appalachian State, Furman, schools like that,” Trice said. He decided to go a different route, starting his basketball career at Georgia Perimeter College in northeast Atlanta. While at GPC, Trice proved to big-time college coaches like Dave Odom that he could play at the major-conference level. In his sophomore season at GPC, Trice averaged 21 points, nine rebounds, four and a half steals and three assists per game. He led his team to the National Tournament in both his seasons at GPC, making the final four in his first year and the elite eight in his second season. The GPC Jaguars had a combined record of 61-11 with Trice at the helm. His play at the college level proved to be his meal ticket into big-time basketball. Before deciding to enroll at USC, Trice weighed offers from Ohio State, Baylor and Minnesota. “The main reason I (chose USC) was that it was kinda close,” Trice said. “My family could get a chance to come see me play. And also I could come in and get a great chance to play in what 1 think is one of the best leagues.” Trice has not disappointed Odom in the least. “I don’t know that there is anyone on our basketball team that I’d rather see with the ball at the end, on the free-throw line when the free-throw needs to be made,” Odom said after last week’s landmark win over Kentucky. “Rocky Trice, right now, is a rock ... and by the way, he’s not afraid.” Odom has rewarded Trice with increasing amount of playing time, playing more than 20 minutes in three of the last four games. He has played in every game this season, with his career high in points at 11, coming in USC’s win over Georgia on Feb. 5. Something encouraging about Trice’s play on the floor is the versatility of his game. He also covers all the intangibles, including rebounding, distributing the ball and foul shooting (he is shooting 90 percent from the ffee-throw line.) Something else Trice has shown flashes of lately is his dunking ability. A state runner-up in the high jump at Swainsboro, a laughing Trice said he definitely has the highest vertical jump on the Gamecock team. Off the court, Trice is an African-American Studies student, and, like a large number of students, he’s said he’s not sure what life holds after college basketball. But he does know that the most influential people in his life thus far have definitely been his family. “My mom and my uncle stayed on me, you know, kept me out of the streets,” Trice said. “They told me to focus on something you know that you’re good at and you’ll succeed in life.” For right now, Trice is a crucial part of a USC basketball team that is trying to sneak its way into the NCAA Tournament. For a player who has had a long, winding road to this point in his basketball career, that is the goal for now. “It would be a dream come true,” Trice said. “I’ve always wanted to play big-time college basketball and go to the tournament, so it would definitely be special.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gvm.sc. edu ■ ALL-STAR Continued from page 14 Larry Bird hit the last shot to win it as he walked off the court. They might as well have retired the 3-point competition when Bird retired, because nobody has the combination of trash talking and the ability to back it up like he did. The last thing they did before the game was the dunk contest. Everything went off fairly well except for the Chris Andersen debacle. The guy took nine attempts on his first dunk before he made it. 1 grew a beard just waiting on it. Even Bill Russell was sitting in the front row laughing and pointing at him. Steve Kerr couldn’t jump over a phone book if he had on moon shoes, but even he was making fun of Andersen. It was painful to watch. Josh Smith, the guy who won the dunk contest, is ridiculous. On one of his dunks, Kenyon Martin sat in a chair and tossed the ball to Smith in mid-air while he jumped over him on his way to the basket. The second I saw Martin sit down I started praying that Smith would at least clip him on the way by — at least a little kick in the ear. As great as the dunk was, nothing would be more entertaining than watching Martin react to getting kicked in the face. The bald guy from Jerry Springer would have had to come out there and break up the fight that would have ensued. It would have been great television, but unfortunately Smith made the dunk. Oh well. The All-Star game itself wasn’t anything really worth talking about, but the halftime show was. Who is the genius that decided LeAnn Rimes and Big and Rich should perform at halftime of the NBA All Star game? Not only is it the NBA, but the game is in Denver. we aren i laiiung aDOUt Memphis or Dallas here — we’re talking Denver. I don’t know about you, but when I think basketball, LeAnn Rimes isn’t exacdy the first person that comes to mind. Overall, this All-Star weekend wasn’t as bad as recent years, but it wasn’t as good as it used to be. After all of the amazing plays and shots, the main thing that sticks in my mind is Charles Barkley’s comments after seeing Big and Rich sing “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” at halftime: “Who is Big and Rich? This ain’t no NASCAR race.” You’re right, Charles. Thank goodness, you’re right. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksportMgixm.se. edu ■ SECOND Continued from page 13 Tennessee for 18 years. Kentucky looks to SEC Freshman of the Year candidate, center Sara Elliott, for support. She is coming off a stellar game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs where she led her team with 14 points. She is second on the team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 10.8 and 5.2 per game, respectively. Kentucky looks to another freshman, Samantha Mahoney, to continue her hot hand. In the last four games, she averaged 14 points a game with a career-high 22 points against No. 1 LSU last Thursday. Kentucky looks to its only senior starter, Sara Potts, to show leadership. She is averaging 13.4 points per game, which lead the Wildcats is ninth overall in the SEC. ine VjamecocKs win iook to someone else to carry the load, as team captain and leading scorer Lauren Simms is out for the game after she sustaining a knee injury in the Gamecocks’ win over Alabama on Sunday. She is the only Gamecock averaging more than 10 points a game. Sophomore guard Stacy Booker could be the choice outside, as she put up 13 points last year. Down low, sophomore forward Iva Sliskovic should get lots of touches. She led the Gamecocks last year against the Wildcats with 15 points and eight boards. The Wildcats will look to get great looks and put up points on the board. The Wildcats are sixth in the conference in scoring, with an average of 69-4 points per game, and fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage. Carolina will look to its low-post defense to prevent the Wildcats from getting easy shots. Carolina is third in the conference in field-goal percentage defense. Carolina is third in the conference in blocks with 147 blocks, which is a new school record, shattering the old record of 115. This is the last home game for the Gamecocks. They will face the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday to finish SEC play and the regular season. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edit How would you score? Take a FREE practice test at Kaplan’s Test Drive and find out. Saturday, February 26, 2005 10:00 am USC - Gambrell Hall Call or visit us online today to register! 1 -800-KAP-TEST kaptest.com/testdrive Test Prep and Admissions 3 •Test names are registered trademarks of their respective owners. £ Interested in taking The Gamecock Challenge? If you can beat the editors, you’ll win a free Gamecock T-shirt. Send your picks to gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu by 2 p.m. Thursday. We’ll select ONE person’s picks, at random, to be our Reader of the Week. This week’s games: 5 Kentucky at 16 Alabama 2 UNO at Maryland LSU at Auburn 4 Oklahoma State at 8 Kansas Georgia at Vanderbilt 17 Connecticut at 18 Pittsburgh Tennessee at Arkansas Florida St at Clemson Ole Miss at Mississippi State Florida at USC ♦ FOR TIE-BREAKING PURPOSES, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SCORE FOR THE USC FLORIDA GAME. AND DON'T FORGET YOUR NAME! Darren “DS" Sanders BPhlat Co Coa Brown • - Wednesday, February 23 | 8 p.m. in the Russell House Ballroom Come have some laughs I f with comedians who have appeared on BET’S “Comic View” and HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam.”