University of South Carolina Libraries
r« ___ ^ ^ Game schedule GAMECOCK ' __ —> Baseball @ Kentucky, 6:30 p.m. f ""I *V k r I FNi Women’s Tennis vs. Florida - SEC Tournament, 10 a.m. 1 J J ■ P [ I 1 Men’s Tennis vs. Florida, 10 a.m. Friday, April 21,2006 —I— — L. J— ^3 Page 9 Odom talks up program w ■ ■ Coach reflects on season, I forsees bright future I for USC basketball I Michael figuilar B THE GAMECOCK ■ The school year is coming to a I close and it’s time like these when I many look back and reflect on the I past year. What went right? What B went wrong? B Head basketball coach Dave ■ Odom did the same thing with ■ reporters Wednesday. Odom | reviewed the basketball season and I talked about the many different B issues that the program will be ■ facing next season and in the ■ upcoming off-season. I “When you look at our season, B it was a season that was filled with just about everything,” Odom said. “We had several highs and at least an equal number of disappointments and a lot in between.” If USC’s men’s basketball team could be described as anything this past season, it would be described as almost there. The Gamecocks lost 15 games this season; out of those 15, seven were decided by three points or less. In seven of the losses, the team was within a single bucket of sending the game into overtime or winning. There were high expectations after USC won the National Invitation Tournament a year ago. Many saw an NCAA bid ahead. However, that was no't to be, and the Gamecocks returned to New York to win another NIT championship. Odom was not disappointed with the end of his team’s season, but that was by no means the highlight of the yeaf. . “You might asic, ‘What will k I remember most about this M season’ and it won’t be (the NIT 9 championship) although that was 9 a special moment,” Odom said. “It 9 would be the determined resolve jk of our team as a whole, particularly '/J our two seniors, Tarence (Kinsey) 9 and Rocky (Trice).” 9 Odom reinforced what any 9 Gamecock fan had already seen in the two most experienced players 9 on the team. Kinsey and Trice led 9 the team through the lows, such as I a big loss to Clemson. 9 “As I look back on that game, I 9 really think that it took a lot out 9 of us ... it continued to serve as an I anchor over the course of the rest 9 of the season,” Odom said. 9 Kinsey and Trice also led the 9 oDom • 10 I Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK Renaldo Balkman, winner of the NIT's Most Outstand ing Player award, wants to leave USC to play pro-ball. Balkman requests draft scenario from NBA panel Senior forward hopes to enter drafi early Alex Riley and dlichael Aguilar THE GAMECOCK Dave Odom’s talent cupboard might be about to take another hit. With the departure of Tarence Kinsey, Antoine Tisby and Rocky Trice to graduation, the Gamecock basketball roster was already starting to thin out. Now rising senior Renaldo Balkman is weighing his option on a career in the NBA. Balkman, who won th^ NIT Most Outstanding Player award, submitted his request to be evaluated by the NBA advisory panel. “After talking with my family and Coach Odom, I have decided to submit a request to the NBA advisory panel, which evaluates undergraduates interested in entering the NBA draft before their senior year,” Balkman said in a statement released through the USC Athletics Department. “My request was submitted to the NBA office today (April 19), and I would hope to hear back from them in the next couple of weeks. After finishing the year averaging just less than 10 points per game, Balkman had a strong showing brum • 10 I Sports Womens basketball to visit Meadowfield The USC women’s basketball team will pay a visit to Meadowfield Elementary on Friday April 21 to honor the school for winning the “Lets Read with the Gamecocks” program. The school has 284 participants who combined to read Kover 129,000 pages of books this year. “I am so excited for the students of Meadowfield,” coach Susan Walvius said. “Our team is always excited about an opportunity to mentor young people in our community.” The students get Juan Bias / THE GAMECOCK Catcher Ian Paxton tries to beat out the throw to first during Wednesday night’s game against the Citadel. USC won 11-2 against the in-state rival. USC topples Citadel at Sarge Frye Field fl.J Bembry STAFF WRITER What began as a miserable day slowly morphed into a gorgeous spring night for the 3,953 baseball fans on hand at Sarge .Frye Field for Wednesday night’s 11-2 Carolina victory over The The Bulldogs took a 1 0 lead in the top of the second when catcher Brady Mashak’s double down the right field line allowed shortstop Matt Matulia to score from first. Carolina pitcher Will Atwood was able to stop the bleeding, as he forced Cappelmann RfCRROI I * IIL_ Volunteers offer helping hand in series sweep of softball Tennessee’s big bats, stingy pitching put USC below .500 Saw Smith THE GAMECOCK Tennessee proved itself an unbeatable force this year against the Gamecocks. USC gave up all three games of a three-game series to the Volunteers, who are on a nine-game winning streak. This year, Tennessee boasts a 44 6 overall record and a dominating 15-6 record in SEC play. In the first game of the series on Tuesday, the Volunteers started off with a commanding 3-0 lead after the first inning. A two-run homer in the sixth inning by Tonya Callahan pushed r i . -i_ i _-L i Tennessee victory. The Volunteers’ All American pitcher, Monica Abbott, left USC hitless for the first 6.2 innings until Chrissy Schoonmaker and Christie Hamilton responded with a hit each. The Gamecocks were not able to battlfe back in the front end of the . doubleheader, and Tennessee earned the win. In the second game of the doubleheader, USC looked a little more alive with its five hits and three runs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to battle out the victory against the Volunteers, who won the close game, 5-3. Gamecock catcher Ashley Smith was the driving force behind the USC offense, hitting a two-run homer in the second inning, and then another blast in the seventh inning. Tennessee scored their _ ._!_._»J_• ■— to push their lead to 5-2, but Smith’s homer in the seventh led to the final score of 5-3. The Gamecocks set out on Wednesday to take the win in the last matchup of the three-game series against the Volunteers. USC started the game off solidly with two hits in the first inning, but Abbott got the next 10 runners out before USC could get another hit. Jennifer Griffin of the Volunteers led off the second inning with a homerun and then Sarah Vaughn stole home and put Tennessee up 2-0. They chalked another run up on the scoreboard to make it 3-0 in the fourth. USC recorded their third loss of the series, and their record dropped to 4-16 in SEC play, 24-25 overall. Comments on this story? E-mail