The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 10, 2006, Page 7, Image 7
THffeAMEGOGK
SPfPTS
Friday, Feb. 10, 2006 ^—a M —a — I ^—s Page 7
Some Gamecock assistants
to have new duties in 2006
Ulichae! Aguilar
THE GAMECOCK
The football season
has come and gone, but
some argue that the most
important time for football
is now.
“I always like to finish
recruiting,” USC football
coach Steve Spurrier said.
“Then, after all that, I like
to evaluate the coaching staff
and reorganize things.”
Spurrier did just that.
The coaching -staff will
see many changes this
coming season. Tyrone Nix,
who, was a co-defensive
coordinator and coached
the defensive lineman, will
coach the inside linebackers
next season and also will
remain as the defensive
coordinator
Nix also was relieved
of assistant head coaching
duties.
“We didn’t want him to
have too much on his plate”
Spurrier said of that move.
Ron Cooper will take
over as the assistant head
coach and will also move
to coaching the secondary.
He was in charge of the
linebackers last season.
“I’m confident that if I’m
not here, Ron (Cooper) can
do a good job,” Spurrier
said.
David Reaves will take
over as the recruiting
coordinator in addition to
being assistant quarterbacks
coach. Reaves will also fill in
if any of the other offensive
coaches cannot be present.
Specifically, he will be a
backup for Fred Chatham,
who was promoted to
special teams coordinator in
addition to being the tight
ends coach.
Dave Wommack will
switch from coaching the
secondary to the outside
linebackers.
The offensive coaching
positions will stay the same
with John Hunt coaching
the offensive line, Steve
Spurrier Jr. coaching the
receivers and Rob Gillespie
staying as the running backs
coach.
“We are not getting rid
of anybody,” Spurrier said.
“We are reorganizing a bit.
I think it will help make us
a better offense, defense and
team.”
The reorganized coaching
staff will be on display
during the annual Garnet
and Black spring game*
which is scheduled for April
8 at 2 p.in.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@givm.sc. edu
. Juan / THE GAMECOCK
USC coach Steve Spurrier talks with the media
Monday. Spurrier would not talk about a potential
replacement for departed coach John Thompson.
Carolina sweeps Gators
Odoms team beats top-10 Florida
for second time in as many weeks
Andrew Abramson
THE INDEPENDENT
FLORIDA ALLIGATOR
GAINESVILLE, Fla. —
Perhaps Steve Spurrier’s
presence looms even over
the basketball court, or
maybe the Gators were
still celebrating from a
nationally televised win
against Kentucky.
But to USC coach Dave
Odom, simple mathematics
explain the Gamecocks’
stunning 71-67 victory
against No. 7 Florida that
put an end to the Gators’
20-game home winning
streak.
South Carolina swept
the season series with the
Gators for the first time
since 1998, and two of
Florida’s (20-3, 6-3) three
losses have been at the
hands of the Gamecocks.
Thus, two of USC’s (12-10,
3-6 SEC) three conference
wins have come against the
Oaf-nrc
“The greatest equalizer
in college basketball — it
doesn’t make a difference
about talent or who’s better
than who — is the 3-point
line,” Florida coach Billy
Donovan said.
USC hit 10-of-21 shots
from beyond the arc.
Guard Tarence Kinsey
and unheralded reserve
swingman Bryce Sheldon
both were 4-of-6 from
behind the 3-point line.
Donovan, unusually calm
after the loss, did criticize
his forwards for allowing
Sheldon to come off the
bench and score 14 points.
“Get out there and make
him a driver, let’s see how
many times he can finish
going to the basket,”
Donovan said. “We allowed
him to do what he does
well and that’s shoot the
basketball.”
Gators forward Joakim
Noah led the Gators with
15 points, but he grabbed
just three rebounds while
turning the ball over a
team-high five times.
Lee Humphrey appeared
fully recovered from his
separated shoulder suffered
‘ t
in a bicycle accident — the
guard scored 12 points
off the bench, all from 3
pointers.
Odom credited his team’s
ability to contain Florida’s
Taurean Green, who he
called one of the two best
guards in the SEC. While
Green put up 14 points,
he shot just 3-of-9 to go
with three assists and three
turnovers.
The Gators led 60-56
with 4:13 remaining in
the game, but Sheldon
responded with a 3-pointer
to bring the margin to
one.
One play later, Noah
nearly went for the dunk
to give Florida a 3-point
lead, but a steal by Tre’
Kelley and a 3-pointer by
Kinsey gave the Gamecocks
a 62-60 lead they wouldn’t
relinquish.
i he Lrators had several
chances to recover. With
28 seconds remaining and
the Gamecocks up 67-64,
Kelley threw a full-court
pass to Renaldo Balkman
that nearly went out-of
bounds. Instead, Balkman
grabbed the ball under the
basket, and Florida’s A1
Horford tried to send him
to the ffee-throw line.
Horford ended up
slapping Balkman in the
head, sending him to the
ground. The intentional
foul put Balkman at the line
and gave South Carolina
another possession.
“I felt like we could win
coming in, all the way
through the game I thought
we could win,” Odom said.
“But when I really felt like
the door opened was ... the
intentional foul. I thought
would we win there because
getting that thing out of
harms’ way was maybe the
turning point, the one that
eave us confidence.”
Humphrey would
eventually hit a 3-pointer,
and Florida would have
a final chance to send
the game into overtime
in the closing seconds,
but the Gators couldn’t
get Humphrey an open
look. Brandon Wallace
f
blocked Green’s 3-point
attempt with eight seconds
remaining.
The Gators are two
games behind Tennessee for
the SEC East lead before
facing SEC West leader
LSU on Saturday.
| '
“You can be on top of
the world [after defeating
Kentucky] ... and you can
come back and perform
the way you did today,”
Donovan said. “It just goes
to show that you’re not as
good as you think you are
and you’re not as bad as
you think you are.
“You better come
with a level of focus and
preparation and humility
and understand who you
are as a player and as a
team.”
Phil Sandlin / The Associated Press
USC forward Renaldo Balkman loses the ball as Florida’s Al Horford is called for an
intentional foul in the final moments of the Gamecocks’ 71-67 win against the No. 7
Gators on Wednesday. USC improved to 3-6 in the SEC in beating the Gators again.
BASEBALL
TO OPEN
SEASON
AGAINST
ELON
DJBembry
THE GAMECOCK
Coach Ray Tanner and
the Carolina baseball team
will start the 2006 season
when they begin a three
game series with the Elon
Phoenix today at 3 p.m.
The projected lineup for
the Gamecocks could look
a little different from last
year’s NCAA Regional
team, when as many as
three freshmen make their
first career starts later today.
Armed with a mixture of
youth and veterans, the
Gamecocks are ready to hit
the diamond and get a good
look at the makeup of this
year’s team.
l know our guys are
ready to play against
somebody in a different
colored uniform,” Tanner
said. “We’ve gotten a lot of
quality work in, we’ve got
some questions, but, you
know, it’s time to play.”
Chief among those
questions is how the team
hopes to replace departed
pitchers Zac McCamie and
Aaron Rawl. The tandem
won 18 games last season,
tallying nine apiece. The
coaching staff will get
to look at right-hander
Andrew Cruse when he
takes the mound today. The
sophomore from Cornelius,
N.C., played in 14 games
last season with a 3-1 record
and a 3.54 ERA. Lefty
juniors Arik Hempy and
Forrest Beverly will round
out the weekend rotation
by starting Saturday and
Sunday, respectively.
Although the starters have
been named, a new face
figures to see some time
this weekend. Tanner said
he hopes to use freshman
lefty Will Atwood, the
2005 S.C. AAA high school
player of the year, sometime
- during the weekend, but
he said there is no specific
timetable for when Atwood
or anyone else will come
out of the bullpen.
“I’m not one to do
predetermined splits or
try to get 10 guys in this
weekend, but we’ll probably
go to the bullpen quicker
than we ever have because
we like our depth, “ Tanner
said. “We think our starters
are pretty good, but we
know that we can put a guy
out there that’s probably
just as good as the guy that
started, so we’ll probably
use more pitchers than we
have in the past.”
Tanner said the depth at
the pitching position made
it hard to decide whom the
starters were going to be for
the weekend series.
“It was a very difficult
process. I can’t remember
ever having to go through
this process and spend
this much time picking
out a starter,” Tanner said.
“Sometimes you wonder
who the No. 3 guy’s going
to be, but you always
know who the front guys
are based oh their history,
innings pitched before, but
this was tough. “
Today’s game is set for a
3 p.m. Weekend games are
set for 1:30 p.m.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu
s