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THlfS&AMECOCK SPf) >TS Page 10 ^Wednesday, Jan. 11,2006 USC defensive unit suffers 3 major losses Simpsony Joseph bolt for NFL Draft; Dustin Lindsey ineligible for 2006 Stephen Fastenau SPORTS EDITOR USC’s defensive unit took a few major hits Monday. Gamecock defensive backs Ko Simpson and Johnathan Joseph declared themselves eligible for the 2006 NFL Draft during a teleconference Monday afternoon. Linebacker Dustin Lindsey was declared academically ineligible by USC and will be forced to sit out the 2006 season. Simpson and Joseph hinted before the team’s bowl game Dec. 30 that they would head for the NFL if projected as a first- or second-round pick. Neither would say what feedback they received regarding each’s draft position but said the decisions were in their best interest. “(It’s the) chance of a lifetime,” Simpson said. “Too many kids wait all four years. I did it in two. I got to take it and run with it. In two years, I did all I could do at USC.” Simpson, who grayshirted his first year, switched to rover in 2005 after a standout freshman campaign at safety. Simpson led the Gamecocks in tackles this season with 103. Joseph, a redshirt sophomore, had four interceptions and nine pass breakups in 2005 after having his 2004 season cut short after breaking his foot. “It was a pretty tough decision,” Joseph said. “I had to talk to my mom my dad, my uncle just to get the best decision. It was a pretty hard decision for me to make.” DRAFT • 13 Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK USC sophomore rover Ko Simpson, on the field before December’s Independence Bowl, will enter the NFL Draft. Gamecocks try to refocus Katie Kirkland/ THE GAMECOCK USC coach Dave Odom shows his frustration in a game earlier this season. Odom hopes his team can bounce back after losing its SEC opener. Odom hints at changes after team squanders 15-point lead in second half of Sundays loss personal.” In reference to the other word, Odom challenged his team to show more pride and passion in their performance. “I care deeply about our team, our fans and our basketball program,” he said. “I want it to be something that everyone is proud of. I want our players to take on that same emotion of caring.” The two words might be the motivating factor that the Gamecocks have been lacking in the early stages of the season. While USC stands* at 9-5, the team has formed a habit of giving up leads in the second half and has been underwhelming in crucial moments. To shore up these problems, Odom planned to shake up the roster and game plan. “I’m not one to just sit on the status quo and keep on hammering our heads on the same piece of concrete,” he said. “We are going to make some changes. Some of them will be subtle, and some of them will be very obvious.” While Odom had not yet decided on the specific roster changes, it is likely that senior forward Antoine Tisby and sophomore guard Dwayne Day will see more playing time. With Southeastern Conference play coming into full swing, the road gets much tougher for the Gamecocks.. Including tonight’s game in Oxford, Miss., against Ole Miss, USC will play six of its next eight games away from home. To make matters worse, Carolina has never beaten the Rebels at their home arena. “Oxford is a difficult place to play,” Odom said. “However, Tennessee had never won at the Colonial Center, and South Carolina had never won at Tennessee in football. There are a lot of‘nevers,’ but nothing stays the same. Let’s look them in the eye and play them.” To make history against Ole Miss, the Gamecocks will have to deal with a strong and physical squad. The Rebels are off to their best start (11-3) since 2001 2002, but their performance has been inconsistent. Ole Miss’s three losses were by an average of almost 30 points, and they struggled against lightweights Southeastern Louisiana and Western Carolina. However, coming off a 71-61 thumping of Alabama, Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes seemed excited about his team’s potential. Despite his team’s success, he indicated his team was focused on another conference win. “One of our goals this season was to defend our court,” Barnes said in his teleconference Monday. HOOPS • II Tom Benning FOR THE GAMECOCK Monday, the white board in USC’s men’s basketball team room contained only two words — personal and caring. After a tough loss to Tennessee on Sunday, USC coach Dave Odom felt it necessary to refocus his team before its Jan. 11 matchup against Ole Miss. “When we have a 40-25 lead over (Tennessee) and lose it, I take that personally,” he said. “I want our players to take it personally. If they don’t, we have to make it Pro ball no place for green defenders Secondary tandem should have played draft dodgers for now The words slid quietly across the television screen. They didn’t boast or proclaim the end of □ an era. To someone in any other part of the U.S., it was just another person trying to grab RILEV a couple Second-year bucks. Pnnt But to the journalism loyalest of student g-f i Gamecock fans, it was the end of an era and news that could make a grown man cringe. Ko Simpson and Tohnathan T oseoh declared for the 2006 NFL Draft. Coupled with the news that Dustin Lindsey had been ruled academically ineligible for next fall’s campaign, suddenly it seemed like the same thing that happened at the end of last season. Simpson and Joseph had been anchors on a secondary that had played pretty stellar during the 2005 season. The defense had only given up 10 touchdowns and less than 190 yards passing a game. Joseph, who made a comeback from a broken foot in 2004, had led the team with four picks in 2005. His 55 tackles were fifth best on the team. And the best part was — he was only a junior. Simpson continued his run at stardom from the previous year. The All-American only had one pick last year, but he led the team in tackling. Added to his already growing list of honors, Simpson earned first team All-SEC and numerous more All-American nods at the conclusion of the season. Since both players have 1_ J r i*i IClllOVtU 1J.U111 IU5II school for three years, each asked for the draft board to review their numbers and give them a projection on where they’d go in the upcoming draft. Both swore they would be back in Columbia next fall if the projections were anything less than a second-round selection. Everything looked like clear sailing. Until Monday afternoon. The hustle of a new semester masked the grim truth that was being played out on the | BottomLine. Neither was going to don the garnet and black again. That same reality hit USC fans last fall, when then-Gamecock Troy Williamson decided to forego his senior year and take a shot at the NFL. The result — No. 7 overall. But unlike Williamson, this years installment of RILCV • II