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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1983)
060 36 10 1983 illar )ULD you? CO FIND 0)1 FHINSS, Texas A8cM The Battalion Sports February 4, 1983 /Page 11 SKA/1E? iRENTS anadiani York for ■d in a UJ eld on ring was Reid Gettys’ a Cougar Mr. Cool UH sophomore just trying to help by Frank L. Christlieb Battalion Staff While his teammates at demorial High fielded scholar- hip offers from this, that and he other school, Reid Gettys ad but one direction to turn pon graduation in 1981. Eric Poerschke narrowed his ist bit by bit before Finally sign- ng with the Arkansas Razor- acks. Andrew Adair consi- ered several schools, but even- ually signed with the Vander bilt Commodores. But Gettys, captain of Memo- Manli district championship cam in 1980-81, didn't have to lie awake at night wondering here he’d attend college. Ithough he averaged 15 points game and shot nearly 65 per- Jent from the field that season, |ist one school offered Gettys a holarship. Thus, life for Gettys didn’t urn into the racehorse af fair it lecomes for many high school ,. , enior athletes. Once a scholar- lc " n ^ eP hip offer had been made by the university of Houston, all Get- ys had to do was sign his name n the dotted line, buy a new air of high-tops and get set for ollege life. And now, as a sophomore, the l-foot-6-inch Getty says his col lege basketball career hasn’t een all that bad — at least not :>r someone who received just Bne offer to keep playing after high school. "When 1 came as a f reshman,” ettys said in a long-distance in- fcrview Thursday, “there were four guards ahead of me, and three of them (Eric Davis, Rod- ey Parker and Lynden Rose) (ere going to be seniors and fher was Rob Williams. Deep own, I knew Rob wasn’t going tbstay after his junior year. So ontributesi it are : lethal tl; ’ said □rial, lity whjM riing bal; uld be on ihn C. B; re thousi lions fori ,’hich areji “the now ing prewi t! a.rP' light oo OFF Reid Gettys says Cougars still owe Aggies a beating actually, it was an ideal situation for me.” However ideal the situation, Gettys knew he wouldn’t have a chance to play much last season. As it turned out, the Cougars advanced to the Final Four and Gettys averaged about seven mi nutes and 2.2 points a game. “I either had a choice of going to school or going to school and playing basketball, and UH was my only choice,” Gettys said. “It’s always been a goal of mine to get to the college level and play basketball. At first, I thought I was going to have a lot of schools to choose from, but it was an easy choice for me. It’s not too hard to choose when there’s no choice to make.” But when UH played Boston College for the NCAA Midwest Regional title in St. Louis last season, Gettys flashed his name all around the nation for people to see. With the Cougars cling ing to a slim lead late in the game, Gettys stepped to the free-throw line and sank 10 straight free throws during the final minutes. Yes, that’s /din a row. Thanks largely to Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected, Houston won the game 99-92 and advanced to the Final Four, where it lost 68-63 to eventual champion North Caro lina. Gettys said the Boston Col lege experience gave him insight into his true ability. “More than anything, I proved to myself that I could play,” he said. “I’d known all along that I could play with the team. I’m not nearly as talented as the guys on the team, but I really needed to show myself to gain some inner confidence. “That proved, to me that I don’t have to do the running dunks and all the flying 40 feet above the rim. There are other ways to contribute to the team. It helped me realize that all I need to do is play my game.” Speaking of running dunks and the like, Gettys has several teammates who specialize in that particular line of work. And members of “Phi Slamma Jam- ma,” the Cougars’ slam-dunk fraternity, will be in G. Rollie White Coliseum Saturday after noon at 2:40 to play the Texas Aggies. Entering the 1982-83 season, Gettys said, he concentrated his efforts on working hard to gain more playing time. But even af ter the loss of four guards, he didn’t expect to start. “It’s every athlete’s goal to start,” Gettys said, “so that was definitely my goal. And I still want to start. Who knows — 1 may never start. “I was excited coming into the year, because of the opportuni ties I had. I knew about the pub licity UH was going to get be cause of its lack of guards. I was just going to come out and play my hardest.” At the start of the season, Eric Dickens and Michael Young were the starting guards, while Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Larry Micheaux opened under the basket. After 19 games, Gettys still hasn’t started. Young and fresh man Alvin Franklin are starting at guard, while Gettys and senior David Rose are consi dered the top substitutes. UH coach Guy Lewis has been using Gettys as a point guard most of the season, but the soph omore says that’s not really his true position. “I’m really not a point guard,” he said. “I really play Mike Young’s position, which is an off-shooting guard. Right now, I’m just a shooting guard who’s playing a lot of point guard. “Mike Young’s awesome. I tried to beat him out, but realis tically, I knew that Td get most of my playing time at point guard. “So, I spent a lot of summer hours trying to improve my bal lhandling, trying to keep my head up,” he said. “More than anything, I just wanted to be come solid. I’ll never be the type that can shake ’n bake some If you are a man or woman who has or is about to receive a degree in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING why not put that degree to work in the Air National Guard? 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I’ll never look pretty doing it, and when I do handle the ball it’s never graceful or anything.” With the Cougars sporting a 17-2 record (8-0 in the South west Conference), Gettys said, the team is his main concern. UH has lost only to nationally ranked Virginia 72-63 and to Syracuse 92-87. “More than anything, I’mjust pleased with the team,” Gettys said. “I would like to find myself and help the team blend together and play well. I’m not particularly concerned with playing or with contributions, but with the team’s ability to'win and win consistently. “I think the team is playing well together and meshing right now. I knew we’d have some problems somewhere along the way. Syracuse wasn’t really that much of a problem, because we went out and played hard. But against Virginia, we laid down and played dead. “We had some problems to take care of, but it was simpler thap last year when we lost four in a row,” he said. “Then, we had some problems to deal with and we put them aside and went from there. This year, we had a few problems to clear up among ourselves. We tossed all the little petty stuff aside and decided to just come out and play.” And even while standing on top of the SWC hill, Gettys said, the Cougars aren’t losing sight of reality. “People ask me if we’re get ting overconfident,” Gettys said, “and the only reason we’re not is because the conference is so full of good teams. Even though we may have beaten some of them by a big margin, every team in the conference can beat us. There’s not a team that couldn’t have beaten us on any given night. “So, I’d love to say that we have it all wrapped up, but we don’t. Unless we’re mentally ready, we won’t win it. And I’m really worried about the game Saturday night.” In the Aggies, the Cougars See GETTYS page 14 • ’ • 4. TWO-NINETY-NINER-SPECIAL BURGERS, TACO SALAD or FAJITAS <£o OO * ’ * ONLY Take off at Tecs during the month of February for lunch, dinner or late munchies. NO COUPON NEEDED — JUST COME & GET IT! FUN • FOOD • ORINKs HAPPY HOUR — 4 till Midnight WEEKEND HAPPY HOUR — 4 till 1 am