15A
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, March 13, 1997
A
JCSU ready for case of spring fever
Continued from 13A
himself.”
Charles Young, who shared the
quarterback duties with DeTrell
Calloway in “96, will try to earn
the starting Berth for himself as
a senior. Hell be pushed by
Keith Mack, a junior college
transfer, and sophomore Bruce
Harrison.
After a 900-yard season from
miming back Demetrius
Campbell, Smith will turn to 5-
8, 177-pound Lee Scott as the
top mshing threat. Although
he’s small and played sparingly
in ‘96, McNeill sees Scott as a
versatile back with breakaway
ability.
“He had a great offseason
workout,” McNeill said. “He’s
definitely our go-to guy going
into spring and hopefully going
into the fall.”
Even with the changes in per-
sormel, McNeill is excited about
the start of spring drills. Going
into his third campaign, he’s
looking for game-breakers who
can keep last year’s momentmn
going.
“We’re very excited to be get
ting started with the ‘97 season,”
McNeUl said. “What needs to
happen is...leadership from our
juniors and seniors.”
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Hornets goal is to break the 50-win plateau
Continued from 13A
the bench and having confidence
in all his players. It’s a luxury
that few coaches in the NBA
have.
“We haven’t proven it yet, but I
have pretty good confidence that
I can go all the way down all 12
guys and feel that even with my
two rookies, you can get some
pretty good play out of them,”
Cowens said. “I got two centers,
two power forwards, two (small
forwards) two (shooting guards)
and two point guards, plus Tony
Delk and Malik Rose and Tbrn
Chambers, the old wily veteran,
waiting in the wings.”
Geiger’s return from back
surgery has added a lot to the
bench, spelling center Vlade
Divac for key minutes. Geiger
couldn’t wait to get back on the
court.
“It’s great to be out there. It
just feels awesome to be back on
the court, be a part of what’s
going on around here,” he said.
“This is the best team Fve ever
played on.
“I want to get back to where
Tm 100 percent because it’s a
great feeling to be a part of
something really good and that’s
what we got here. 'There’s really
a lot of potential to this team this
late in the season.”
points in a game, scoring 48 in
an overtime victory over Boston.
He knows opponents will be
gunning to shut him down.
“Teams are going to come out
and go at me, they’re going to
definitely try to get me in foul
trouble,” he said. Fve just got to
be ready to go out there and
play.”
Forward Glen Rice has had a
magical season, making the All-
Star team for the second
straight year, being named the
All-Star game MVP and wiiming
the NBA player of the month
award in February. He’s third in
the league in scoring, averaging
26.1 points per game. Last week
he set a Hornets record for most
If defenses try to key on stop
ping Rice, Charlotte can exploit
other weapons.
“It’s very tough to just try and
key on me,” he said. “If you try to
just stop me, other guys on this
team are going to hurt you and
that’s what I really love about
this team.”
While Rice continues to light
up the opposition, forward
Anthony Mason continues to be
the Hornets’ heart and soul. He
picked up back-to-back triple
doubles last week in wins over
San Antonio and Boston and
expects to get more.
“(With) the team I got, the
triple-doubles, they can become
average,” he said. “1 got a bunch
of great shooters and we’re stiU
jelling, we’re stiU finding each
other and when that becomes
like knowing the back of your
hand, it’s going to get easier and
easie.”
Mason feels the best is yet to
come.
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“As soon as I get my foot taken
care of, it’s going to be another
level to go up next year,” he said.
“There’s stiU a lot more for
Mason to show, but right now
we’re trying to get as many wins
as possible to put us in a good
position for the playoffs.”
Pro leagues helps keep players on U.S. soil
Continued from 13A
She’s traveled overseas to scout
fOreign-bom players, and has
her sateUite dish trained toward
dozens of coUege games on ’TV in
preparation for the league’s
launching on June 21.
McKeown has welcomed
scouts to Smith Center to watch
his star play. He’s fielded the
caUs inquiring about Abraham’s
future. And he’s tried to aUow
her to concentrate on basketbaU
and academics.
“There’s more pressure now to
play weU, because there’s more
competition for those spots,’!"
McKeown said. “It’s kind of fun •
for kids who were always in .the
shadows of the men’s game to
say, ‘Hey, I had someone look at
me from the Knicks.’ But I just
teU her don’t be too concerned. If
you go out and vrin, more people
win notice.
“But I get calls and letters froih
agents every day. We’ve made a
decision to deal with aU that
after the season. We have to
make sure the problems the
men’s game has don’t evolve into
the women’s game. 'There’s too
much money involved.”
Blazejowski says she does not
consider the entry of agents into
the women’s basketbaU scene a
problem. “I remember when
there was just one agent repre
senting everyone who placed
players overseas,” she said.
“We’re a ways off from having a
problem with the money.”
'The WNBA, • which includes
"-the Charlotte Sting, has set its
schedule before the start of play
in June. The first 16 players
signed by the league, including
recent coUege stars Rebecca
Lobo, Lisa LesUe and Sheryl
Swoopes, already have been
assigned to the eight teams. A
pre-draft camp wiU be held in
April for unassigned players and
coUege seniors. 'The league’s first
draft wiU be held April 28, and
teams wiU hold local tryouts in
May to fill the remaining roster
spots.
'The pro leagues’ future also
includes current coUege fresh
man and sophomore stars. For
now, the ABL and the
WNBAhave poUcies stating that
they wfll aUow oiUy players who
have completed their coUege eU-
gibility to participate. But such
policies also used to exist in
men’s professional sports. And
-the potential opportunity for a
futiue pro career already has
entered the minds of young play
ers.
“My dream has always been to
play professionaUy, [even ft] that
meant going overseas,” said
North Carolina State freshman
guard Katie Smrcka-Duffy. “I
had hoped there might be some
thing here, but I was prepared to
go [outside the United States]
for a few years. I love the game
that much.”
Washington Post correspon
dents Kathy Orton and Shawn
Cox contributed to this report.
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Mills inks final deal with the Panthers
Continued from 13A
ers’ olf days, and he has Ireen a
tireless worker on Irehalf of a
number of charities in the
Charlotte area.
“He has Ireen a leader on the
field, in the locker room and in
the community,” coach Dom
Capers said. “Tb many people, he
has come to represent the spirit
of the Panthers.”
Carolina last month signed
Micheal Barrow, an imrestricted
free agent from Houston, to play
alongside MiUs. 'The Panthers
hope that when MiUs retires,
Barrow wiU take over his duties
of calUng the signals for the
defense on the field.
NCAA tournament awaits 49ers
Continued from 13A
Georgetown, seems a natural matchup.
“A big physical team with a bimch of quick guards,” he said. “I think
they like to press and get up and down, so that’s kind of our style too.
We got me and Alex down low. I think it will be a good matchup and
a good game.”
Johnson would have rather stayed closer to home.
“I wish we could have been on the east coast but you know we got to
go out west and we got to be ready to play once we go out there,” he
said.
Junior point guard Sean Colson has had his ups and downs this sea
son but came on strong in the C-USA tournament despite dislocating
his shoulder. Colson said things were looking bleak on Sunday when
the team was patching the selection show on ’TV and didn’t see their
name announced until the next-to-last pairing.
“We were just looking at the brackets and seeing where everyone
else was going and I was pretty much just really waiting,” Colson said.
My heart was beating so fast, then when we came up I was just so
happy.”
Eagle sighting
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Terquin Mott (with ball) led
Coppin State to the MEAC
title over N.C. A&T.
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Who Qualifies: An individual who has touched your life, made an
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Think of someone who has gone above and beyond the obligation of
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