Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1979)
Page 10 THE BATTALION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1979 Godine Former Aggie says he made wise decision By SEAN PETTY Battalion Staff It was February 3, 1976. Then a freshman, Karl Godine was prepar ing to play against the Texas Long horns in another Southwest Confer ence basketball game for the Texas Aggies. Godine scored 24 points that night to lead the Aggies past the Horns. It was a year the Aggies would win the SWC championship and Godine and his fellow high school teammate, Jarvis Williams, would help lead the Ags to the title. That was three years ago. It seems so long ago when the an nouncer would say, “At guard, from Houston Kashmere, No. 24, Karl Godine.” It was a time when the two high school all-America sensa tions Were living up to expectations and Texas A&M fans were drooling in anticipation of the next three years of Godine and Williams. BUT THE GLORY YEARS of the Kashmere tandem were not to be. Even their premier season was marred by investigations of recruit ing violations and eventual suspen sion from conference play just be fore the SWC post-season tourna ment. The Aggies would lose the championship game of the tourna ment by two points to Texas Tech and thus, end an otherwise great season. But the problems had just started for Godine and Williams. The SWC forced them to sit out their sopho more year. Then came the 1977-78 season. Godine and Williams began working their way back into the Aggie bas ketball picture. Midway through the SWC schedule, the Aggies were playing Baylor at G. Rollie White Coliseum. Late in the first half, Godine brought the ball down the left side of the court and quickly broke to the lane. But as he drove in, he turned his knee and in great pain, limped off the court. It was the last time he would handle the ball for the Texas Aggies. FEBRUARY 1, 1979. Karl Godine was in Huntsville preparing to play the Sam Houston State Bearkats in another Lone Star Con ference basketball game for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The road to SFA was not a pleas ant one for the young man from Houston. Knee surgery followed his injury against Baylor and he had to do a lot of work to get back to his old form. But the important thing is that Karl Godine, a junior in eligibility, is happy and playing a lot of basket ball for the Lumberjacks. “I made a wise decision when I left A&M, I don’t regret it all,” Godine said before the game in Huntsville. “I didn’t want to sac rifice a year on the bench at A&M because I knew that they (the coaches) would be telling me my knee wasn’t ready and I knew it Battalion file photo Godine last year as an Aggie against SMU. would be. I just couldn’t have played enough at A&M.” Godine is the only bright spot on a rebuilding team with new players and a new coach at SFA. “I’M HAPPY I’M PLAYING a lot now,” he said. "My knee’s doing all right. It’s not exactly where I want it to be but it will come with more work. I worked all summer to get it right. I think next year will be my year; I’m gonna be ready. “We got a new group of guys from all over and a new coach. We’ve gone through a lot of adjustments and really haven’t had too good luck. A couple of our best players quit and things haven’t gone too well.” Godine has gone from a team that won the SWC to a team that is 5-15 for the year and is struggling to keep out of the cellar of the LSC. “It’s a lot different playing in the LSC,” Godine said. “They don’t have the real tough players like the SWC. There’s not the same quality of player either. I guess you could say they play a more controlled type of game in the LSC. “When I was at A&M, there were a whole lot of real good athletes on the team, ’ Godine said. “It’s not the same here. You have a few good athletes in the conference but no one like Vinnie (Johnson) or Sidney (Moncrief). “BUT THERE IS ONE THING: the LSC may be as physical as the SWC. if not more physical. The refs let you get away with a lot more here. Godine showed signs of the old flash against the Bearkats Thursday night scoring 12 points for a losing cause. But it was Saturday night in Nacogdoches when the “Go” was at his best. He made a layup with 19 seconds left in the game to secure the 76-74 victory over Texas A&I. Godine was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points. Godine is the floor leader and you can tell by watching the Jacks play that the team revolves around him. Therefore, most teams double team the former Aggie the whole game. “I guess they focus on me a lot around the conference. They double team me pretty much. But I really don’t feel any pressure from the fans to perform or anything. I got quite a few fans who like to come out and watch me, he said laughing. F,\S “Where Everybody Bryan-College Station 9 s Big City Disco 813 Wellborn Rd. W ' 696-1100 WEDNESDAY NIGHT IS NIGHT! Greeks No Charge TONIGHT! ^ brinks SOON: LORD OF THE RINGS PLITT Southern 7^ UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER 846-6714 & CINEMA GODINE HAS BEEN ABLE to laugh a lot more now because his situation is more relaxed. He doesn’t hear all the razzing from fans around the conference like he did in the SWC. And the environment of the 11,000 student school suits his slow, easy going style just fine. “I really get off to the environ ment at SFA. You could say they have more of my type there,” he said laughing in reference to the number of blacks on the A&M cam pus compared to SFA. “They have a lot of fraternities and sororities here and just more things to keep people satisfied. It’s really nice.” Things are going well for Godine now but he still has some bad feel ings about his past and some posi tive feelings about his future. If Karl Godine was a senior in high school, what would he do differently? “I would have stayed in Hous ton,” he said emphatically. “Yea man, I would have stayed in Hous ton and gone to the University of Houston to play ball there.” Of course, anyone that went through what he and Williams went through at Texas A&M would prob ably say the same. “IT WAS SOMETHING they had to do and something we had to abide by,” Godine said of the SWC action taken against him and Williams. “They had a job to do and I guess they thought they were doing their job. I just don’t think it was right but that’s all behind me now.” What does Godine think about his former coach Shelby Metcalf? “Metcalf is an all right coach,” he said. “I just don’t think he was doing me justice sitting me on the bench so I had to go. “Jarvis is pretty upset he’s not playing but he will be graduating this summer so at least he’s getting something out of the whole deal.” Godine has another year of eligi bility left at SFA and will graduate after that. “I’m hoping I can get a shot at playing pro ball somewhere if I’m lucky,” he said. “But if not, I’ll be graduating in a year and maybe I can coach basketball at a junior high. We ll see how it goes.” After that sentence it was time for Godine to put on his uniform and play another game. Yet as he walked away, it seemed like there was something he hadn’t done, some thing he would have done differ ently and something he could never have again. MANOR EAST BERMUDA TRIANGLE 7:35-9:45 EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE 7:20-9:45 WILDERNESS FAMILY PART 2 7:30-9:30 SKYWAY TWIN WEST DEATH DIMENSION PLUS FEARLESS FIGHTER east SUNSET COVE PLUS GIRLS IN TROUBLE CAMPUS ANIMAL HOUSE 7:45-9:45 ENDS THURSDAY ■ranrrprT some da i ly The best two-houfr ga i ly vacation 7 :00 9:25 No AA»tln«e Prices - No Passes^ 'Guest Admission Tickets Accepted Get Ready FOR VALENTINE MASQUERADE PARTY AT PRICE DRINKS .25 RED BEER HELIUM I BALLOONS ALL COSTUMES GET 1 FREE DRINK & BEST COS TUMES WINS $25.00 PLUS CHAMPAGNE WED. FEB. 14 AGGIE DIAMOND SPECIAL!!! Beautiful Full-Cut 5-point Diamond for Your Aggie Ring — just 30.00. Call Pat at 693- 1647. Diamond Brokers Diamond Importers & Wholesalers College Station, Tex. fU« ft* M AA pm m« fU« fU« fUMUl VUMm fU« fU« RA M AAfmMM! 1 trir