’ ’ V"
SPORTS
The Battalion
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Cody Franklin — THE BATTALION
Senior Jeremy Efferding celebrates after the Aggies clinched the SEC Tournament over Georgia.
The time is now
Familiar faces to
watch for as the
NFL Draft begins
The 2015 NFL Draft will commence at 7 p.m. Thursday and
will conclude Saturday. A number of Aggies hope to hear their
name called and their shot at the pros confirmed. Here's a
selection to keep an eye on.
OT Cedric Ogbuehi *
Although he was almost a lock
as a first-round pick last year, Og
buehi decided to return to A&M
for his senior yean An ACL injury
in the Liberty Bowl caused Og
buehi to miss time and damaged
his draft stock. However, Ogbuehi
will be in attendance at the NFL
Draft headquarters in Chicago, as •
he hopes to be A&M’s fifth straight
first rounder, which hasn’t hap
pened in school history. Ogbuehi
stands at 6 feet 5, 305 pounds.
RB Trey Williams
Williams left A&M after his ju
nior season to enter the draft. The
versatile running back finished his
career at A&M with a 6.8 yards-
per-carry average and 1,343 yards
with 18 rushing touchdowns. As a
junior, Williams was second on the
team in all purpose yards. Williams
was used in a rotation at running
back, never as the featured back.
Williams is 5 feet 7, 195 pounds
and ran the 40 in 4.49 seconds.
Williams ran for 15 or more yards
on 13.6 percent of his carries dur
ing the last two seasons.
DB Deshazor Everett
Men's tennis team in prime
position as NCAAs loom
By Alex Scott
he Aggies have never won
a men’s tennis national
championship. But their
time might be corning.
Ranked No. 3 in the nation —
the highest ranking in program his
tory — and with A&M head coach
Steve Denton at the helm, the team
could be poised to make its first ap-.
pearance in the round of four or a
championship in program history.
The Aggies will enter the NCAA
tournament as the No. 6 over
all seed and will host the first two
rounds in College Station. With
just under two weeks to prepare for
their 22nd straight tournament ap
pearance, the players have the time
to ready themselves.
The NCAA tournament is as big
as it gets in college tennis, and many
teams allow themselves to work it
up to the point that it becomes
more of a distraction than a chal
lenge. Back-to-back SEC Coach
of the Year Denton said the key to
advancing will be to take care of
each step in stride, as the team did
when it failed to go to the national
indoors earlier in the year.
“We’re the highest ranked team
in the country that didn’t play the
national indoors by far,” Denton
said. “As a result of that early set
back the guys just kind of put their
heads down and just kind of grind
ed it out. That’s what we’ve got to
do as we get in a NCAA tourna
ment is have that same mindset,
just grinding these matches out one
match at a time.”
Senior Jeremy Efierding — who
will represent A&M in the NCAA
singles field — has been in this po
sition before, entering the tourna
ment as a top-eight seed at home
with hopes of attaining the pro
gram’s first championship. Now,
he has a new way of thinking as he
prepares for the NCAAs.
“Take it one match at a time,
one point at a time and I think a
•trap that a lot of people get into
and one that I personally have fallen
into in the past is treating it differ
ently — putting more emphasis on
it, maybe falling to nerves a little bit
more,” Efferding said. “One thing
that I have been stressing with Ar
thur and AJ and Jordi and some of
the younger guys is just to play like
any regular match, you know, go
out there, compete your butt off
and represent A&M well. And I
think that’s what they’re doing and
I think that’s what really helped us
win that SEC title.”
Although the Aggies have been
present in the tournament for over
two decades, they have never ad
vanced to the championship match.
The mental side of the tournament
will play a big role if they are to
change that, Efferding said.
“[Denton] always has told us,
‘Eyes on the prize and your mind
tells you lies,’ and so the more we
focus on the national title, I mean,
we have to get there first. We still
have to win six or seven matches,”
Efferding said. “Last year we were
thinking national title and we lost
in the second round hosting to Cal
and that was really an eye-opener
and a learning experience and that’s
something we can’t do this year.”
Playing at outdoor venues dur
ing the tournament introduces an
other challenge for the Aggies —
the heat. Due to the conditions the
players will face, Denton said the
team will use practice time to pre
pare for the Texas heat.
“We’re going to play in the heat
of the day, in the afternoon and
we’re going to pep up our fitness
over these next two weeks since we
don’t have matches,” Denton said.
“They’ve got to get acclimated to
being out in this heat and playing a
little bit longer and training a little
harder and doing some stuff on
their ow'n as well. ”
As they prepare to enter tourna
ment play, Denton said depth is one
of the team’s biggest assets.
“We don’t really have holes in
our lineup, we’re capable of win
ning at every position,” Denton
said. “As I stated earlier in the
year, I was a litde uncertain about
where our doubles play would be
and it’s certainly been a strength
of our team. So I’d say depth and
our doubles has really been a key
component, and these guys have a
great fighting spirit. When you play
really big teams you can’t be intimi
dated by them, you can’t be afraid,
you’ve got to go out and compete
and play hard and our guys have
done a good job of that this season. ”
Play begins at 2 p.m. May 8
against Eastern Kentucky.
SOFTBAL'L
Fox goes for complete game in
bounce-back A&M home win
Tim Lai —THE BATTALION
Senior Rachel Fox threw a complete game in the
2-1 Wednesday win against Texas State.
By Milkyas Gashaw
The Aggies returned to the friendly confines of
the Aggie Softball Complex and earned some
thing that had become scarce in the last two weeks,
a victory.
The Texas A&M softball team earned a much-
needed victory by a score of 2-1 against the Texas
State Bobcats Wednesday at the Aggie Softball
Complex.
Rachel Fox pitched a complete game in the win.
“Rachel did a great job,” Evans said. “The only
thing I wasn’t happy about was the four straight
balls to lead off the fourth inning that they scored
the run off of. I thought she went out and did a nice
job and was confident out there.”
Cali Lanphear sent a Randi Rupp offering just
over the right field wall to give the Aggies the early
1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first. Ashley Wal
ters continued the home run party with another
solo home run in the third
The Bobcats (29-20, 11-6 Sun Belt) cut the lead
down to one with an RBI single from Kimberlin
Naivar, but A&M held on.
The Aggies continue their homestand with the
final SEC series of the season against the Ole Miss
Rebels on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30
p.m.
Everett finished his career as an
Aggie with 123 solo tackles and
five interceptions. The one inter
ception for which he will always
be known came against Alabama in
2012 to secure A&M’s upset victo
ry. The 6-foot, 193-pound Everett
played cornerback and safety dur
ing his A&M career. At Pro Day,
he ran the 40 in 4.49 seconds and
impressed scouts-with his 10-foot,
10-inch broad jump and 38-inch
vertical. Everett is projected .to be
drafted around the seventh round.
TE Cameron Clear
Clear did not receive much
playing time in his two-year ca
reer at Texas A&M. Clear caught
nine balls for 76 yards and had one
touchdown. Still, the 6-foot-6,
277-pound tight end has the body
and tools to become an NFL play
er. Clear ran the 40 in 4.98 seconds
at the combine and was given a
rating of 4.8 by the scouts. Sev
eral NFL teams even view Clear
as a potential offensive tackle. He
is projected to go in the seventh
round or as a free agent.
WR Malcome Kennedy
Kennedy became a household
name at the receiver position dur
ing his last two seasons at A&M.
He had 60 receptions for 658 yards
and seven touchdowns as a junior,
and despite missing games and
playing injured he had 53 recep
tions for 611 yards and six touch
downs his senior year. Kennedy,
who is 6 feet and 205 pounds,
played mainly in the slot but could
also play wide during his time with
A&M. Kennedy is projected to be
signed as an undrafted free agent.
K Josh Lambo
Josh Lambo only missed four
field goals during his time at A&M,
finishing 21 of 25 and 111 of 112
on PATs. The fonner FC Dallas
goalkeeper holds a share of the
record for most PATs in a game
and is seen by scouts as a poten
tial kicker in the NFL with his leg
strength and ability to make field
goals beyond 40 yards. His career
long as an Aggie was 50 yards.
01 Jarvis Harrison
Jarvis Harrison is an offensive
lineman full of experience who
started 38 games at A&M. Har
rison started every game block
ing for Johnny Manziel during
the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and
as a redshirt freshman in the 2011
season he saw action in 11 games.
The 6-foot-4 offensive guard ran
the 40-yard dash in 5.19 seconds at
the combine and received a grade
of 5.73 from the scouts.
Photos by Shelby Knowles, story by Lawrence Smelser — THE BATTALION