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Page 10 Friday, March 18, 2005 PORTS GAME SCHEDULE BASEBALL vs. Arkansas, 7 p.m. TRACK in Weems Baskin Relays, All Day EQUESTRIAN vs. College of Charleston, 1 p.m. Saturday NCAA hoops fail to drown football's new excitement ■ 0Γ ball coach brings different, appealing type of March Madness Ah, nothing like the feel of March Madness. Not the Jim Nantz, 64-team, One Shining Moment, March Madness. USC basketball is, after all, in the NIT. March madness is diagnosed this η year ai symptoms relating to the observation of Steve Spurrier at work in spring practice and the I upcoming .. ι STEPHEN FASTENAU SECOND-YEAR PRINT JOURNALISM STUDENT Black game. The ol' ball coach be up g will opening s ρ r i practice to the public Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at Williams-Brice. The Garnet and Black game will be held April 16 and televised by ESPN2 and ESPNU. No word yet on whether Court TV will be on hand, but sources tell me the station is tied up with a high profile child molestation case and wouldn't make the trip. With his team ravaged by off-field problems, Spurrier is going to try his hardest to instill an exciting atmosphere ♦ Please see FASTENAU, page 11 Spurrier, Gamecocks set to kick offfiin 'n gun era By JONATHAN HILLYARD SPORTS EDITOR OR 116 DAYS, GAMECOCK FOOTBALL FANS have had a bad taste in their mouths. A second consecutive loss to Clemson and the denial of a bowl bid served as a slap in the face to all associated with the program. Now Steve Spurrier, USC's new coach and, some say, savior, is prepared to finally set foot on a USC football field. Gamecock football's spring practice begins Saturday. A team coming off a 6-5 season, USC will look to install Spurrier's fun 'n' gun offense during a 4-week period from March 19 through April 16 when USC hosts its first Garnet and Black Game. "Spring practice to me has always been about trying to learn what to do and trying to find the players that really want to play," Spurrier said. "We're going to try and make this fun." Spurrier made it clear that fans would see a whole new Gamecock team in 2005. "What's happened in the past has no bearing on what we do in the future," he said. "Everything about us is starting fresh from this day forward." Offensively, the Gamecocks will unofficially return four starters from the 2004 team that finished seventh in the SEC in total offense. Leading the way will be rising junior Syvelle Newton, but not from the position many would expect. "Newton is our No.l split end right now," Spurrier said in a news conference on Wednesday. Newton was the team's third leading receiver his freshman season, catching 22 passes for 277 yards. Spurrier said the decision to move to receiver was made by Syvelle, not coaches. Joining Newton in the spring at the No. 2 receiver position will be rising junior Noah Whiteside. Whiteside, a Greenville native, caught 20 balls for 290 yards last season. Distributing the ball in what, in the past, has been a pass-happy offense will be rising sophomore Blake Mitchell. Spurrier said Wednesday that Mitchell would enter the spring as the starter. The Lagrange, Ga. native completed 9-of-22 passes in 2004, throwing one touchdown and three interceptions. Following the dismissal of star tailback Demetris Summers, rising junior Cory Boyd will begin the spring as USC's featured back. Boyd was second on the team in rushing in 2004 and will be joined in the backfield by starting fullback and rising senior Daccus Turman, who doubles as a tailback. The men protecting Mitchell in spring practice will be made up of experienced and talented youth. Returning starters Jabari Levey and Na'Shan ι Goddard will anchor the line as seniors at both tackljjl positions. They will be joined at guard by High School All-Attiertcan James Thompson, TTfd defensive lineman convert Freddy Saint-Treux. Rising junior Chris White will take graduated John Strickland's place at center. JflBlP New co-defensive coordinators John '^Hg&pson and Tyrone Nix will head a defenseHgt; has ♦ Please see SP9HI, page 11 NICK ESARES, KATIEK»K JRtîNE GAMECOCK , USC coach Steve Spurrier, left, and rising junior SyVellwfewton,1 right,, will begin their 2005 spring practice Saturday at WilliamflPfce Stedii Newton is listed as the team's number one receiver. Probable starters for Garnet and Black Game GAMECOCK OFFENSE: QB: 12 Blake Mitchell, So. TB: 3 Cory Boyd, Jr. FB: 32 Daccus Turman, Sr. « WR: 1 Noah Whiteside, Jr. WR: 13 Syvelle Newton, Jr. TE: 80 Andy Boyd, Jr. LT: 78 Jabari Levey, Sr. RT: 70 Na'Shan Goddard, Sr. LG: 54 Freddy Saint-Preux, Sr. RG: 67 James Thompson, So. C: 60 Chris White, Jr. GAMECOCK DEFENSE: DE: 45 DeAdrian Coley, Sr. DE: 97 Charles Silas, Sr. DT: 79 Marque Hall, So. NG: 55 Stanley Doughty, So. LB: 42 Ricardo Hurley, Sr. LB: Mike West, So. LB: 51 Orus Lambert, Sr. CB: 9 Jonathan Joseph, Jr. CB: 8 Fred Bennett, Jr. SS: 17 Trent Usher, Fr. FS: 10 Ko Simpson, So. Baseball to begin conference play By ALEX RILEY STAFF WRITER Holding a No. 2 rank and a 16 1 record, the USC baseball team heads into the first SEC series of the year against one of the nation's best, the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs (16-1) have been on cruise control all season, with their only loss coming at Louisiana Tech, 10-8. Arkansas owns a series sweep against Minnesota, a win at Oklahoma State and the SEC's third-best team batting average, swinging .344. The batting barrage is lead by senior Casey Rowlett, who is batting. 508, while four possible starters in the field are still batting better than .350. Arkansas strong start is credited to their bullpen depth, which boasts a 2.41 ERA and has used 10 different arms to win. All that said, Carolina stands a chance of rising to the nation's top-team spot in the polls next week. A solid showing could bolster the Gamecocks into the top place, especially against a high level of competition. After a 3-1 week during spring break, Carolina knocked off archrival Clemson once in Tigertown (6-3) and once In Columbia (6-5) last weekend. Those v^ins moved the Gamecocks up in most of the polls, as low as No.4 and as high as No.2. The Gamecocks offense also packs a powerful punch, featuring eight different hitters with +.350 averages, six of whom will most likely start on Friday. The offensive firepower is lead by juniors Michael Campbell (.397) and Stephen Tolleson (.415), who have started every game thus far. The lineup as a whole has a collective .330 average. The rotation for USC will have to keep up its solid start, as the Gamecock rotation clings to a 2.53 ERA, but 143 total strikeouts are keeping opponents at bay. Coach Ray Tanner said his team has seen a lot of different scenarios this season and that it should be ready for anything. "We've had a little bit of everything happen to us," Tanner said. This is something we have prepared for all year long," Tolleson said. The series begins Friday at 7 p.m. at Sarge Frye Field and continues Saturday at 4 p.m., with Sunday's game being moved up to 12:30 p.m. The Gamecocks will start senior Aaron Rawl on Friday, senior Zac McCamie on Saturday and freshmen Wynn Pelzer on Sunday. Comments on this story? E-maty gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu NICK ESARES/THE GAMECOCK USC junior forward Tarence Kinsey and the Gamecocks will play another NIT home game Tuesday at the Colonial Center. NIT grants Carolina second round contest The National Invitation Tournament announced Thursday that USC has been chosen to host a second-round game between the Gamecocks and the winner of the Arizona State vs. UNLV game that was in progress at the time of publishing. The game will be held next Tuesday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the Colonial Center. "We are excited the NIT has named South Carolina as the second-round host," USC coach Dave Odom said. "This will give all of our students and Gamecock fans time to get their tickets for this second-round match-up. Our team commented after the Miami game how loud the crowd was on Tuesday night and how much they helped them in · the second half." Students can get tickets today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Russell House and can also get their tickets next Monday starting at 10 a.m. The Gamecocks are just two wins away from advancing to the NIT semi£nals, held in New York's Madison Square Garden. KATIE KIRKLAND/THE GAMECOCK Junior shortstop Steven Tolleson knocks a p^itch into the outfield in USC's home win against Clemson last weekend at Sarge Frye Field.