Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Williamson picked 7th in NFL draft By STEPHEN FASTENAU ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR • There’s little irony in the fact that Troy Williamson was selected ahead of Mike Williams in this year’s NFL draft — except that Troy was not even considered the best receiver in the draft with a last name beginning with “W,” or that when one mentions USC on the national scale, the first school that comes to mind is Williams’ Southern Cal rather than Williamson’s South Carolina. None of that stopped the Minnesota Vikings from choosing Williamson with the seventh overall pick Saturday. Williams, who unsuccessfully tried to bypass the NFL’s age-limit standards and enter last year’s draft, fell to Detroit with the 10 th pick. “I’m stepping into my own because I’m JL my own person, so nobody can compare me to Randy Moss,” Williamson told The Associated Press. “I’m Troy Williamson. Believe me — Minnesota will get to know that when I get up there.” The Vikings received the pick as part of a trade with the Oakland Raiders for Moss. Minnesota coach Mike Tice, looking for a speed demon to replace Moss, was drawn to the former Gamecock receiver’s sub-4.4 second 40-yard dash time. “He was the number one receiver on our board. Regardless of who everyone in the country liked, that’s who we liked,” Tice told the AP. Williamson became the second Gamecock in as many years to be taken in the first round. Former USC cornerback Dunta Robinson was taken with the 10th pick in the 2004 draft by the Houston Texans. Former USC linebacker Rodriques Wilson, a projected strong safety in the NFL, was taken in the seventh round with the 220th pick overall, followed by former defensive tackle Darrell Shropshire, who was selected with the 241st overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons. Williamson, a Jackson native, was one of four SEC players selected in the first 10 picks. The other three hailed from national title contender Auburn. Tiger running back Ronnie Brown went to Miami with the second overall pick. Brown’s teammate in the backfield, fellow running back Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, was drafted fifth by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Washington Redskins used the ninth pick to take physical Auburn cornerback Carlos Rogers. Elsewhere in the SEC, Georgia safety Thomas Davis will be a Carolina Panther next season. The Shellman, Ga., native won’t be traveling far from home after being selected by the Charlotte, N.C. based team with the 14th overall pick. Davis’ teammate in Athens, defensive end David Pollack, was selected three picks later by Cincinnati. Dallas grabbed LSU defensive end Marcus Spears with the 24th pick. Former Arkansas quarterback turned NFL wide receiver Matt Jones was picked up in the first round by Jacksonville with the 21st pick. Quarterback Jason Campbell, who ran the offense for undefeated Auburn during last year’s title run, was picked up by the Redskins with the 25th pick and Qle Miss center Chris Spencer capped the conference’s first-round selections, going to Seattle a pick later. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu _ ■ YEAR IN REVIEW Continued from page 12 Holtz steps down as USC head coach NOV. 23, 2004 Lou Holtz stepped down as USC football coach, ending a career that spanned 249 wins and 33 years. STORY BY STEPHEN FASTENAU Six football players charged with larceny Jan. 21,2005 USC announced six football players would be charged in relation to the Nov. 22 theft of $18,000 worth of laptops, video equipment and framed photographs from Williams-Brice Stadium. STORY BY STEPHEN FASTENAU USC rejects joint use baseball field SEPT. 10, 2004 USC announced it would build its own baseball stadium instead of a joint-use stadium with Columbia that would also have housed the Capital City Bombers, a single-A minor-league baseball team whose stadium is located on Assembly Street. STORY BY JONATHAN HILLYARD Athletics director McGee to retire JAN.19, 2005 As USC says hello to coach Steve Spurrier and a new era, it will say goodbye to Athletics Director Michael B. McGee, who has been the AD at Carolina for 12 years. STORY BY JONATHAN HILLYARD equestrian wins national title APRIL 18, 2005 USC’s varsity equestrian team became NCAA champions in the title’s first year, defeating teams such as Georgia and Texas A&M to take home the Gamecocks' second team NCAA title in any sport. FROM STAFF REPORTS PHOTOS BY CHARLIE DAVENPORT AND KATIE KIRKLAND Carolina continues SEC woes By MICHAEL FINNEGAN FOR THE GAMECOCK The Carolina baseball team traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., this past weekend to face off with the Crimson Tide and were defeated, losing the series 2-1 to fall to 10 8 in the SEC. This makes the second straight SEC series Carolina has lost. Overall, Carolina has lost six of its last eight games. In Friday’s game, Alabama’s one-two pitching combo of junior T.J. Large and freshman David Robertson kept the Gamecock batters at bay, limiting them to only three hits in a 6-4 Crimson Tide win. Carolina jumped ahead with a two-run double from sophomore outfielder Jon Willard after juniors Steven Tolleson and Michael Campbell led off the game with back-to-back walks. Carolina again failed to hold the lead when Bama scored three runs in the sixth inning. Senior outfielder Gabe Scott got the scoring started for Alabama when he hit a one-out double to score sophomore outfielder Emeel Salem from first. Next to bat was Alabama’s junior power hitter Evan Bush, and he didn’t disappoint, sending senior Aaron Rawl’s pitch out of the park and extending his hit streak to 27 games to cap the Alabama inning. Alabama added to its lead in the eighth with three runs. Carolina looked to rally in the top of the ninth when Steve Pearce REMAINING BASEBALL SCHEDULE 4/29-5/01 vs. Auburn 5/04 at Furman, 7 p.m. 5/06-5/08 at Tennessee 5/10 vs. Wofford, 7 p.m. 5/1 Ivs. Furman, 7 p.m. 5/13-5/15 at Ole Miss 5/20-5/22 vs. Kentucky hit his 10th home run of the year to shrink the lead to two runs, but that would be the end of the rally, as Robertson came in to get the final three outs. The second game was no different for Carolina, as they came out hot again to take a 3-0 lead but failed to hold it in a 10-4 Alabama win, clinching the series win for the Tide. Pearce continued his hot hitting, as he opened up the game with a solo shot in the first. In the fourth, USC pushed its lead to 3 when junior Chris Brown doubled to score Pearce and Campbell. The lead was trimmed down to 1 in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run homer by senior Morrow Thomley. Alabama scored one run in the next three innings to extend its lead to 10-3. Pearce capped Carolina’s scoring in the ninth with another solo shot, his 12th home run on the year. Senior Zac McCamie kept the Tide bats at bay, and Carolina salvaged the series with a 5-2 win under a great pitching performance by McCamie on Sunday. Once again, for the fourth straight game, the Gamecocks scored first, but this time they held the lead. Tolleson and Campbell opened up the game with back-to-back singles, and sophomore Ryan Mahoney hit a single to score Tolleson. Carolina scored two more runs in the third inning, extending its lead. Tolleson homered to start the inning, and Mahoney had an RBI ground out for his second RBI on the day. McCamie carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but it came to an end as Bama got three hits and plated one to trim the lead to 2. In the next inning, Alabama again scored to cut the lead to just one run. Junior infielder Joey Friddle had an RBI single to score junior Mark Stanley as an insurance run. Junior Brent Marsh made sure Carolina held the lead, as he set down the last six batters to record his ninth save of the season. Comments cn this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc.edu tiVm H^Shl | . ]