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Thursday, April 15, 2004
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Continued from page 1C
• Smith has extensive^
travel plans, with seven road
games to open the season.
The Bulls open the season
Aug. 28 against CIAA West
Division rival N.C. Central
and won’t play in Charlotte
until Oct. 16 against
Fayetteville State at Belk
Complex. Non-conference
games include road trips to
Division I-AA powers
Georgia Southern (Sept. 11)
and Wofford (Sept. 25) sand
wiched by Morehouse Sept.
18 in Atlanta.
Three home games will
close the campaign: defend
ing CIAA champion
Fayetteville State (Oct. 16),
West rival Winston-Salem
State (Oct. 23) with 2003
East Division champ Bowie
State the homecoming oppo
nent Oct. 30 at Memorial
Stadium.
Johnson C. Smith 2004 recruit
ing ciass by position, high schooi
and hometown.
Offensive line: Robert Peterson,
Gwynn Park High, Clinton, Md.;
Roscoe Wiiliams, Glenn Hills High,
Augusta, Ga.; Frederick Rice, Mount
Tabor High, Winston-Salem;
Benjamin Alford, Redan High,
Lithonia, Ga.; William Burgess,
Darlington High, Darlington, S.C.;
Ralph Manns, Frederick Douglas
High, Atlanta; Thorrias Ryans, W.J.
Keenan High, Columbia, S.C.
Receivers: Anthony Daigle, Ozen,
High, Beaumont, Texas; Travis
Johnson, Bowman High, Bowman,
S.C.; Brandon Benjamin,
High,
Orangeburg-Wilkinson
Orangeburg, S.C.
Defensive line: Johnny Sharpe,
East Chapel Hill High, Chape! Hill.
2004 football schedule
Aug. 28 at N.C. Central
Sept. 4 at Shaw
Sept 11 at Georgia Southern
Sept. 18 at Morehouse
Sept. 25 at Wofford
Oct. 2 at Livingstone
Oct. 9 at St. Augustine’s
Oct. 16 Fayetteville State
Oct. 23 Winston-Salem State
Oct. 30 Bowie State
NCAA tournament OK with no-names
Continued from page 1C
evaporate once he sacrifices
his playing eligibility. Some
folks forget that.
We have to get past this
thing in our society, especial
ly when sports are con
cerned, where we always
have to pinpoint a villain.
When it comes to the teen
agers and the NBA, there
really are no villains.
College basketball contin
ues to come out on the win
ning end of things, because
protagonists always will be
discovered during the NCAA
tournament. And as long as
that’s happening, television
ratings will continue to sky
rocket, and the NCAA will
continue to make money
hand over fist.
The NBA also prospers
with young kids going pro
because, whether the league
executives admit it or not,
every team in the league
continues to look for the next
Kevin Garnett or LeBron
James. With the exception of
a handful of players -
Shaquille O’Neal, Tim
Duncan and Allen Iverson -
the NBA’s brightest stars are
young men who made the
jump directly from high
school to the pros.
Go down the line: Garnett,
James, Tracy McGrady,
Kobe Bryant, Jermaine
O’Neal, Dirk Nowitzki. Each
turned pro as a teen. Now
ask yourself if you’ve ever
sat and given five seconds of
thought to how much better
the NCAA tournament
would have been if the afore
mentioned players had par
ticipated in March Madness.
Go ahead. Be honest. I didn’t
think so.
The truth is, even when
great young players do go to
college, the best stories in
the tournament aren’t creat
ed with their letters-of-
intent. No, the best stories
are created once the tourna
ment actually starts. The
best stories evolve; they
aren’t pulled from some
national ranking of top
prospects. College basketball
is fine, even with no-name
players.
As long as teams in the
NCAA tournament are
required to win six near-per
fect games in order to be
crowned national champi
ons, there always will be
new heroes created in
March. And it really doesn’t
matter if they never make it
to the NBA to play with the
prodigies.
E-mail sports columnist C.
Jemal Horton at seejemal-
wrlte@aol.com.
PMS
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1:00 P.M. - Shotgun Start
Ross holds
own in
postseason
Continued from page 1C
receives,” Radebaugh said.
“He had a wonderful senior
year and displayed great
leadership by always putting
his team first. He displayed
tremendous abilities on the
basketball court and provid
ed great leadership through
out the season.”
Ross, a 5-11 guard, shot 52
percent from the floor and 48
percent from three-point
range this season. He aver
aged a Carolinas-Virginia
Athletics Conference-leading
21.1 points per game. Ross
was a junior college
• Barber-Scotia made the
NAIA Elite 8 for the second
straight year.
The Sabers advanced by
upsetting No. 13 Union
fltennessee) 61-53 and No. 4
Robert Morris (Ill.) 74-61.
The Sabers lost to
Georgetown (Ky.) in the
semifinals 64-60.
Barber-Scotia took home
several honors, including
Santos Martinez (all-touma-
ment team) Ronald Rutledge
(second team all-
Ameriea);Phillip Hillstock
(honorable mention all-
America); Tony Taylor
(champion of character) and
team award for sportsman
ship.
• Elizabeth City State
guard Jonathan Harris has
been named to Daktronics
South Atlantic all-region sec
ond team.
Harris, who played high
school basketball at East
Mecklenburg, averaged 20
points a game and 5.1
rebounds for the Vikings. He
was twice named CIAA play
er of the week and voted to
the all-conference team.
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