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Albany Stal
By EARNEST REESE
Special To The Review
IT APPEARS that ALBANY
STATE is not only loaded for Bears,
but for Wildcats, Panthers, Tigers
or any other basketball-playing
animals as well.
Under Coach Oliver Jones, one in
a long list of Jones brothers who
played at ALBANY STATE, the
Rams are expected to occupy a VIP
suite in the Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference, if not the penthouse.
The reason for such expectations
swirls around the presence of five
players who started last year and
two others who logged a good portion
of playing time.
* Returning to a team that was
15-15 (10-6 in the league) are senior
and sophomore guards Leonard
Wright (6-0) and Macklin Bradfort
(5-10L resDectivelv. alone with
swingman Kelvin Rice and
Chamberlain Campbell, a 6-6 junior
forward who averaged 12.6 points
and 10.7 rebounds.
The key returnee, however, is 6-7
sophomore Jerome Reeves, who last
season made all-conference and
several freshman all-America teams
alter ne averaged a team-leading
v 15.1 points and 11.7 rebounds.
Add to the quintet sophomores
Milton Morris (6-3), Eric Gervin
(6-5) and Reginald Johnson (6-3),
and the Rams' chances of winning
the SI AC title seem enhanced.
They'll be enhanced even more if
freshmen Jimmy Emmers (6-7, 230)
and Maurice Hodges (6-7, 230) start
throwing their weight around.
There is, however, another
serious contender.
Chances are, when the regular
season is over in the SIAC, the
ALABAMA A&M Bulldogs will be
right there, at or near the top of the
heap. From a team thai finished
21-10 (11-5) and in a first-place tie
with Savannah State for the conference
visitation championship,
Coach Ben Jobe has three starters
and two other veterans returning.
The key player among them is
three-year starter Donald Reedus, a
6-7 senior forward. In Jobe's third
season at A&M, where he has
posted a three-year record of 60-27
since leaving Georgia Tech as Bobby
Cremins' assistant, Reedus scored
18.7 points and pulled down 9.1 rebounds
a game.
Reedus, an all-SlAC selection
during the '84-85 season, this year
will try to blend his talents with
those of sophomore Ondray
Page 14-December, 1985 mSSSSSSSSSSSm
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Chamberlain Campbell's insid<
Savannah State in the finals 01
Greenlee).
Wagner and senior Wesley Brack
the other two returning starters.
While Brackett is a 5-11 gua
Wagner, at 6-6, plays that posit
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he's known as A&M's version
Magic Johnson. IIn
addition to the aforementioi
players, however, the Bulldogs,
to a 4-0 start, apparently will ben
from the presence of two jur
transfers in their lineup. Rot
Thomas, a 6-5 forward from Mai
Junior College (Tennessee), i
troops and th
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5 play keyed Albany State* comeback over
f the SIAC Tournament (photo by Craig T.
mtf I IIU 11 1 T_t a /r - <*^AV
wuionu isiana ^o* /, mj) are proving
themselves to be quality players
ird, in this league,
ion Jobe's bench isn't bad, either,
lie. For instance, King Soloman Green
(6^, also a JUCO transfer, is
averaging 16 points as a reserve.
led Then there are 6-A snnhnmnr^
off Nathaniel Crowder and point guard
efh Richard Perry, who led the team in
dor assists last season with 159.
>ert For the Bulldogs, this should be a
tin good year. By Jobe.
ind TUSKEGEE, treated rudely in
V
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ie artillery
and out of conference play last
season, as indicated by a 12-16
record and a 6-10 finish in the
league, is capable of at least reversing
those marks. In fact, with four
starters back, coupled with the addition
of Richard Person, a transfer
from Mississippi State, the Golden
Tigers may be the dark horse of the
SI AC.
This is a team, coached by 11-year
veteran Charles Thompson, that has
three players (more than any other
in Division II) rated among the top
100 in the country by the NCAA.
Senior Ignatius Lott (6-5, 225), who
averaged 19 points and 9.8 rebounds
last season, is one of the trio.
Juniors Joe Johnson (6-2) and Tom mi
. uru:.. tc. a \ ...u 1
my ttiuic wiiu scureu a combined
total of 32 points a game in
*84-85, are the other two.
4'Offensively, we're going to do
quite well," said Thompson, who
owns a doctoral degree in P.E. 44If
we can get our defense together and
become a bit more consistent, we've
got a good chance of winning the
conference championship."
The Tigers have started off 3-0,
beating a Paul Quinn team that was
8-1 at the time.
Three starters are gone from the
CLARK squad that was 15-12 (10-6)
last season. However, Ernest Lee,
who, in his sophomore season last
year led the nation in scoring (34.1
points a game), is back.
So is sophomore Anthony Ikeobi,
a 5-10, 235-pound Nigerian who has
improved tremendously after playing
in the Atlanta Hot Net Summer
Basketball League.
The Panthers, who will play
senior Costia Harris (6-6) at forward
and Coach Robert Pritchett's
son, Robert Jr., at the point, will
probably be one of those teams that
will improve as the season progresses.
However, should freshmen
Tony Jenkins (6-8) and Peter Jacobs !
(6-3) come around on schedule, the
struggling may be short-lived.
Not even its first-year coach can
predict what MORRIS BROWN'S
wolverines are going to do this
season when they try to adjust to the
loss of three-year starter and leading
scorer Bernard Tittle.
Despite the uncertainties, Coach
Harold Merritt will look to returning
starters Alvin Oeorge (6-9), Jeff
Brown (fc-7) and Paul McClary (6-4)
for some positive answers.
"We're going to need patience,"
said Merritt, who has been an assistant
at New Orleans ancf Ldng
Beach State. "Plus, I'm the new kid
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