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Metcalf says 1984 Ags
have found the Spirit
American Express
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ayaway & Gift Certificates
By TONY CORNETT
Sports Writer
The intangible will be back on the
Texas A&M basketball team when
the 1984-85 campaign gets under
why.
That’s the word from Aggie bas
ketball coach Shelby Metcalf.
And just what is that elusive
“thing” that will make the difference
between a successful season and h
mediocre season?
“Aggie spirit,” says Metcalf,
“we’ve started to get that Aggie spirit
back.”
The Aggie coach went on to say
that team at the end of last season re
minded him of the Aggies of the late
1970s and of 1980. During that
stretch from ’75-’80, the Ags won the
Shut h vv e s t C o n f e r e n c e
championship 3 times: ’75, ’76, and
’80.
“I think we’re about a year away
from where we want to be,” says
Metcalf, “We won’t have any seniors,
and in the past, the strong teams
have.”
The youth of the team is no se
cret.
At the beginning of last season, it
was generally conceded that a re
building year was at hand. The Ag
gies would have no chance of doing
much of anything but playing for
their lives.
As it turned out, the team finished
out the season strongly, beating
highly respected SMU in the SWC
tournament and just losing to peren
nial power Arkansas by a basket.
The improvement of last year’s
team during the season was as dra
matic an improvement as Coach
Metcalf has ever seen in an Aggie
squad.
“From the first game to the last
game it was the most improved team
I’ve had at A&M.”
Consider that the Ags will return
four starters to the hardwoods.
Jimmie Gilbert wall return to the
center position, Winston Crite wall
fill one forward slot, and Kenny
Brown and Todd Holloway will re
turn at guards.
Competition for those spots could
come from the ranks of the return
ing lettermen or those of the new tal
ent. There are three lettermen re
turning: forwards Mike Clifford and
A1 Pulliam and guard Gary Lewis,
who returns from a torn ligament
that caused him to miss all of last sea
son.
As far as new' talent, the Aggies
boast a pair of junior college trans
fers in New York products Don Mar-
bury and Reggie Hayes. Incoming
freshmen Elbert Brdnch and Fred
Burton are hail from New York.
Paul Crawford, a freshman out of
A&M Consolodated High School,
will be redshirted.
“I like this team on paper,” says
Metcalf.
Texas A&M Head Basketball Coach Shelby Metcalf says the
1984-85 squad has put “Aggie Spirit” back into their game.
He smiles when he talks about
having the kind of players who go
into a game and do the grunting and
crunching it takes to win. As he puts
it, “the hard-nosed players.”
“We have more of those now than
we’ve had m the pcist,” says Metcalf.
He concedes that it’s early to tell
whether that “hard-nosed” kind of
play will actually materialize com
pletely, since the Aggies can’t begin
formal workouts until October 16.
He bases his feelings on what he calls
an “educated guess” after being
around and talking to his players.
Considering Metcalf’s record of
341-230 going into his 22nd season
as coach of the Aggies, one could call
it a very educated guess.
Aggie center Jimmie Gilbert has
played against some hard-nosed
players himself and is excited about
the prospect of rematches with some
of his annual adversaries.
Joe Kleine of Arkansas and John
Koncak of SMU will be greeted by a
beefier Aggie in the middle when
those confrontations take pldce.
Returning forward Winston Crite
has his sights set on Texas Tech.
The fiict that the Aggies didn’t chalk
up a win against the Red Raiders last
season has stdyed with him.
“Tech is a grudge match,” says
Crite.
Looking around the Southwest
Conference, it’s obvious that last
year’s powers won’t be handing out
any free lunches. Metcalf isn’t hesi
tant to name who he sees as the
toughest competition.
“SMU’s got all their starters back,”
he says, “Arkansas had the best sea
son recruiting and talent-wise, Ar
kansas may have the best team
they’ve ever had. Houston’s always
going to have a good team. You
don’t have to worry about that.”
The Aggies will have to be ready
for some stiff competition early in
the conference season. They’ll face
Arkansas, Baylor, Marquette, and
SMU all before the A&M students
return to College Station from the
Christmas break. The Arkansas and
SMU games are set for G. Rollie
White Coliseum while the Marquette
game will be in the Summit in Hous
ton. The Baylor game will be in
Waco.
“It’s a very tough schedule,” says
Metcalf, “We’re going to be iu or out
early.”
When asked about whether this is
the toughest he’s ever seen the SWC,
he replies, “I think so.”
The coaching staff for the Aggies
will consist of Metcalf, Assistant
Coach John Thornton, who is enter
ing his fourth season with the Ag
gies, Assistant Coach John Widdi-
combe, who will be coordinating the
recruiting, Graduate Assistant
Coach Randy Knowles, and Student
Assistant Coach and former Aggie
Player, Willie Foreman.
A recruiting coordinator is some
thing that the Aggies have not had
before. John Widdicombe will be on
the road evaluating the talent that
the Aggies will compete for on sign
ing day.
“Thdt’s one thing that Coach
Sherrill (Texas A&M Athletic Direc
tor and Head Football Coach) has
done for us,” says Metcalf, “We have
a larger staff than we’ve ever had.”
Noticing that A&M’s roster only
has three players from Texas on it,
it’s not surprising that Metcalf is
pleased with having a coach w'ho can
devote his time to surveying the tal
ent-rich areas of the country.
And what are the Aggies doing
while they wait for the start of for
mal workouts?
They’re pumping iron and get
ting that Aggie spirit.
Sooners won’t rebuild in ’84
United Press International
NORMAN, Okla. — No one can
decimate the Oklahoma Sooners —
not even the National Football
League.
On the surface, the Big Eight
Sooners can be expected to have a
down year detensively. Why not?
The NFL took five players from
their 1983 defensive unit in the first
36 picks of the 1983 draft.
Oklahoma’s All-America tackle
Rick Bryan and linebacker Jackie
Shipp were selected in the first
round last spring and tackle Bob
Slater, safety Scott Case and line
backer Thomas Benson all went
high in the second round.
That leaves (Oklahoma with only
five starters returning from a unit
that ranked seventh in the nation in
total defense a year ago. But Coach
Barry Switzer doesn’t plan to rebuild
that defense in 1984; he’s plans to
reload.
Heading the list of returnees is
1983 Big Eight Defensive Player of
the Year Kevin Murphy, an end who
lead the Sooners in tackles last year
with 144. The only other returning
lineman is 6-3, 272-pound nose
tackle Tony Casillas. And that’s one
heckuva a start.
“No one in America has anyone
better at those two positions than we
do,” Switzer said. “They’re All-
Americas. Murphy is as good a de
fensive end as we’ve had since I’ve
been at Oklahoma. And Casillas is
probably is good a player at this
time (junior season) as any down
lineman we’ve ever had at Oklahoma
... and that includes Lee Roy Sel-
Everyone returns in the second
ary this season except Case: safety
Keith Stanberry and cornerbacks
Brian Hall and Jim Rockford. But
Hall isn’t even starting. He has lost
his position to redshirt freshman
Andre Johnson, who is “as fine a
first-year cornerback as we’ve had at
Oklahoma,” according to Switzer.
Johnson is one of three redshirt
freshmen currently holding down
starting spots. The other two are end
Darrell Reed and linebacker Brian
Bosworth.
Bosworth has the biggest shoes to
fill in trying to step in for Shipp, who
went to the Miami Dolphins. But the
6-2, 228-pound Irving, Texas native
may have already filled them.
“I think Bosworth will be as good
a linebacker as we’ve ever had at Ok
lahoma,” Switzer said.