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These ’Canes should be able
BY JOANNE CANNELL
STAfF WRITER
With a year in anew conference
under its belt, the Miami men’s bas
ketball team has set its sight on a
new goal: the NCAA Tournament.
“We talk differently to this team,”
says head coach Frank Haith. “Now
we talk to this team about playing
in the NCAA Tournament as an
attainable goal. Those talks didn’t
start until midway through the
ACC season last year.”
Some ACC veterans realized
they might have underestimated
the new additions. N.C. State and
Maryland should recognize Miami
all three teams finished last
season tied for sixth in conference
play.
“We definitely surprised some
people and showed some people
that we deserve to be in the ACC
and could compete with anybody
in this league,” says senior guard
Robert Hite.
Haith and his players spent last
year adjusting to anew conference
and the competitive nature for
which the ACC is famous.
“Maybe our teams were
unknown,” he says. “They didn’t
know what type of team we had. I
can’t put my finger on one thing,
but we were able to be competi
tive. I never once talked to my team
about winning; I talked to my team
about competing.”
The competition paid off and
only can make Miami more dan
gerous this season. Now that their
foes know what the Hurricanes
are capable of, the team must stay
focused.
“We’ve got to understand that
we’ve got to continue to work hard
er because now teams do know
you,” Haith says. “They’re going to
try to take things away.”
Junior guard Guillermo Diaz
was selected to the preseason All-
ACC team and joined the ranks of
players such as Duke’s J.J. Redick
and Shelden Williams. But Haith
New-look Yellow Jackets feeling green
Ga. Tech returns 1 senior, no starters
BY JONATHAN CARL
STAFF WRITER
If you called Georgia Tech’s
2005-06 season a rebuilding year,
you would be 75 percent right.
Suffering the second-largest exo
dus of starters in the ACC behind
North Carolina, the Yellow Jackets
must field a team of players who
spent more than three-quarters of
last season on the bench.
The only returning player with
starting experience is senior center
Theodis Tarver, who started three
games as a freshman in Georgia
Tech’s 2003 NIT bid.
After playing an average of nine
minutes a game last season, Tarver
is now the team’s most experienced
player and its only senior.
“I was always one of the young
est guys,” he says. “And now, to be
the oldest guy of the group, it feels
kind of weird.”
Despite the vacancies, head
coach Paul Hewitt says that he is
optimistic and that he thinks the
Yellow Jackets will be better in
rebounding and more consistent
in scoring this season.
Sophomores likely will see the
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■ THREE POINTERS
i > 2004-05 Record:
J 16-13 (7-9 ACC)
i Coach: Frank Haith s jj
Players to Watch;
Guillermo Diaz, ghaAj; \
s Robert Hite, Sr./guafd; Yst
Anthony King,
knows Diaz won’t let the expecta
tions get to his head.
“He’s one of those guys that
doesn’t like the limelight, likes to
be in the background” Haith says.
“He doesn’t want that attention.”
Diaz averaged 19 points per
game last season, and along with
Hite, they form a backcourt that
is probably one of the best in the
country.
“We’ve been playing together
for two years now,” Hite says. “If
one of us is having a bad game,
the other one definitely will pick
us up.”
Diaz and Hite aren’t the only
stars of the team. Junior post man
Anthony King shows a lot of prom
ise, especially for a team with such
a strong backcourt.
“Having a double-figure scorer
that plays in the post will help our
team, because the bulk of our scor
ing will continue to come from our
perimeter guys,” Haith says.
And King’s teammates see his
determination to improve.
“He’s definitely worked really
hard and gotten a lot better with his
offensive game,” Hite says. “You’ll
see when the season starts the
hard work is going to show.”
After an early exit from the
NIT last year, Miami isn’t limit
ing itself to the goals it hopes to
reach.
“(The NCAA Tournament) is our
biggest focus this year that’s our
main goal,” Hite says. “We’ve been
working extremely hard to be pre
pared for this season, and we’re
getting ready.”
most playing time, with 6-foot-5
guard Anthony Morrow, 6-9 cen
ter Ra’Sean Dickey, 6-6 forward
Jeremis Smith and 6-0 guard Zam
Fredrick expected to fill starting
roles.
Morrow is the team’s top return
ing scorer, with an average of 5.7
points a game.
“I don’t worry about him,”
Hewitt says. “He’s such a competi
tor, and obviously he understands
(the game).”
Hewitt is concerned, however,
about the inexperience of Fredrick
and Dickey, who will shoulder much
of the team’s leadership responsi
bilities. Still, the coach says he is
optimistic about the improvement
of both since last year.
Fredrick saw the least amount
of game time of the four last year,
playing an average of seven minutes
a game —but he will be counted on
to be the team’s point guard. And
after losing 25 pounds since last
season, Fredrick can play longer
without needing a breather.
“I’m the hardest at the end of
practice, because that is the time
that most of the games in this
Basketball 2005-06
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DTH FILE PHOTO
Miami star Guillermo Diaz (13), one of the best guards in the ACC,
looks on as UNC's David Noel shoots in the Smith Center last year.
‘THREE POINTERS ’
2004-05 Record:
* 20-12 (8-8 ACC)
i> Coach: Paul Hewitt % J
J > Players to Watch; A
jj Ra’Sean Dickey, So., cenl!fer;\
Anthony Morro\ty Sq/,gu4rd;_
i Jeremis Smith, So., fbf|ggß|
league are decided,” Hewitt says.
“Now, (Fredrick) can push through
a lot of that stuff.”
Expectations are also high for
Dickey, who had key performances
in late-season ACC games against
Miami and Virginia last year.
“He is talented,” Hewitt says.
“He can really score. I think he’s
capable, other than Chris Bosh,
of being the best low-post scorer
we’ve had.”
Tarver says that Dickey had
trouble last year adjusting to ACC
play but that fitness training and
practice have helped him with his
confidence.
“He’s been working on his game
the whole offseason,” Tarver says.
“He is going to be really good.”
The Yellow Jackets also added
four freshmen: 6-9 center Alade
Aminu, 6-5 guard D’Andre Bell, 6-
“I was always one
of the youngest
guys. And now, to
be the oldest ...it
feels kind of weird.”
THEODIS TARVER, GA. TECH FORWARD
3 guard Lewis Clinch and 6-6 guard
Paco Diaw, who redshirted last year
but is eligible to play this season.
And with less than one-quarter
of last year’s game time to share
between them, this year’s starters
will have to rely on ability rather
than wisdom to win games.
“My primary concern is experi
ence,” Hewitt says. “Talent is not
my primary concern. I think we’re
talented.”
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005
Virginia Tech
faces several
big challenges
NCAA Tourney
berth is possible
BY KRISTIN PRATT
STAFF WRITER
After leaving the Atlantic 10 and
Big East conferences for greener
pastures, the Virginia Tech men’s
basketball team has proven it has
a home in the ACC.
The Hokies went 16-14 and
finished fourth in the conference
with a record of 8-8 last season.
They defeated Temple but lost to
Memphis in last year’s postseason
tournament.
There was just one problem.
That tournament was the NIT, not
the NCAA.
“Man, I couldn’t be more proud
of our team,” says junior guard
Zabian Dowdell. “We were glad
to be in the postseason (last year),
but we hope to be in the NCAA
Tournament.”
Despite losing swingman
Carlos Dixon to graduation and
sophomore swingman Wynton
Witherspoon to a fractured left
foot, the Hokies hope to build
on the success of their inaugural
ACC season this year.
“Carlos, you know, coming
into games you knew you could
count on him,” Dowdell says. “A
big question mark for us is how
to overcome that. But after a few
games, we’ll learn to play without
him.”
Coach Seth Greenberg, the
reigning ACC Coach of the Year,
agrees that it will be hard to
replace Dixon, but says that the
Hokies will have an experienced
backcourt this season nonethe
less with Dowdell and junior
guard Jamon Gordon running
the show.
Dowdell was the team’s star,
averaging 14.4 points per game
and earning honorable men
tion All-ACC honors. Gordon,
though often overlooked because
of Dowdell, quietly put together
an excellent season. He started
all 29 games he played in, com
piling 10.9 points and 4.1 assists
per game.
“The ACC is a guard league any
way, and we have great guards,”
says Dowdell, who shot better than
42 percent from 3-point range last
season.
Although the frontcourt will suf
fer without Witherspoon, who was
expected to play a much larger role
this season after averaging just 10
minutes a game as a freshman,
some of that loss will be offset by
the presence of junior forward
“We were glad to
be in the postseason
(last year), but
we hope to be
in the NCAA
Tournament.”
ZABIAN DOWDELL, va.tech guard
THREE POINTERS
i 2004-05 Record:
J 16-14 (8-8 ACC)
Coach: Seth Greenberg i
s Players to Watch; -
Zabian Dowdell, Jt, ggardk \
i Jamon Gordon, Jr., \j|
Coleman Collins, Jr.,
Coleman Collins. Last season
Collins averaged seven rebounds
a game and had a .452 field goal
percentage.
Aiding Collins on the inside is
sophomore Deron Washington, a
returning starter who will see time
on both the wing and the interior
this season.
Virginia Tech also welcomes
three freshmen this season,
including A.D. Vassallo, who
played on the Puerto Rican
National Team this summer
in the FIBA Under-21 World
Championship.
Greenberg says Vassallo’s inter
national experience is a positive,
and both Dowdell and Greenberg
have gushed about his shooting abil
ity. But like all freshmen, Dowdell
says, Vassallo will have to learn the
ins and outs of Hokie basketball
first before he can be a star.
“A lot of them came in talk
ing about their high-school days,”
Dowdell says. “I told them to forget
them. I told them they’re in college
now.”
But the Hokies already have lost
a freshman, Hyman Taylor, who
will transfer after violating undis
closed team rules.
Plus, they face yet another hard
ship, as one of their leaders, senior
forward Allen Calloway, has been
diagnosed with cancer.
And speaking of hardships,
Virginia Tech’s biggest might be
a grueling ACC schedule that
includes away games against Duke,
Boston College and Wake Forest
the top three teams in the ACC.
“Our first ACC game is at Duke
in December,” Collins says. “We’ll
definitely find out early on what
we’re made of.”
7