Page Q/The BattalionATuesday, January 29, 1985
Raider's Myers conjures
quiet West Texas magic
Associated Press
LUBB0CK — There is a colle
giate basketball magic man in West
Texas called Myers, but he’s a house
hold name only to purists of the
game and followers of the Southwest.
Conference,
Bobby Knight of Indiana has
called Gerald Myers one of the top
four coaches in the nation.
Arkansas Coach Eddie Sutton
agrees, saying, “He’s as good as
there is in the conference and one of
the most respected in the country.”
Myers has been at Tech 14 years
but no victory was any sweeter than
Saturday night’s 64-63 upset of No.
2 ranked Southern Methodist.
The win made basketball fans
from the Atlantic to the Pacific sit up
and take notice of the news coming
from Lubbock, Texas. You know-,
the hotnetown of Mac Davis who
sang of looking at Lubbock through
his rear view mirror.
Down in the southwest, fans just
nodded and said “Well, of Gerald
has done it again. ’
They know Tech holds a series
advantage over every SWC school
except Houston. They know Myers
gets the most each year out of a tal
ent-limited band of scrappers.
Myers, 48, is 240-148 at his alma
mater where he still holds the ft ee-
throw shooting record he set as a
feisty, crew-cut guard back in the
1950s.
So why has Myers won only one
SWC title — 1973 — if he is such a
good coach?
Lubbock’s relatively isolated loca
tion works against him in recruiting.
It’s hard for him to sell big city kids
even though author James Michener
described Texas Tech as “the most
beautiful campus in the West — ’til
you get to Stanford.”
Tech’s Gerald Myers
Texas Tech also has to play in
Lubbock Muncipal Coliseum, built
in 1965, which is also used for ro
deos and tractor pulls and doesn’t
have the sparkle of some basketball
houses.
The city-owned “bubble” has been
improved in recent years with a new
floor, lighting and seats — but it’s
still a recruiting liability.
Myers has difficulty mining the
Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston bas
ketball mother lodes.
He has to recruit well in other
areas such as Eastern New Mexico
where he found Bubba Jennings,
Vince Taylor, and Tony Benford lor
the current Red Raider squad.
However, Myers made the mis
take of scheduling New Mexico in
December and the local paper called
the New Mexico players traitors.
Even in New Mexico, Myers has to
flit from shadow to shadow.
Other coaches like to recruit
against Myers by saying he teaches
slowdown, boring basketball.
He has the same theories as
Knight and Sutton but what would
you do if you couldn’t recruit a true
center? His last one was Rick Bul
lock. That was 1976.
What Myers does teach is oppor
tunistic basketball. His teams play
tough, hard-scrabble defense and
will fast-break an opponent dizzy if
given the chance.
His teams have discipline. They
are sound in fundamentals.
Other schools know this and have
tried to hire Myers, the most recent
being Iowa State. Myers almost
went, but came back to where his
heart is.
“Gerald almost went to Iowa
State,” said Tech Athletic Director
John Conley. “He just couldn’t bring
himself to leave Texas Tech and
we're glad he didn’t.”
Myers, the first Texas Tech player
in any sport to earn All-SWC honors
(1958), said, “It gets frustrating not
being able to recruit with the big
schools but we do OK. All you have
to do is get a player out here and he
sees how great Tech can be.”
Tech has a senior-dominated
team this season and Myers will have
to rebuild the squad into a contender
once again next year.
Somehow he always manages.
’I K .p ’ ; '
Announcing
The Texas A&M Writing Contest
Undergraduates and Graduate Student,
Poetry and Short Stories
Entries should be sent to the Englisl
Dept. Mail Room from Feb. 4-15
Sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, Publisher of Nine Poems
Questions: Contact Melissa Romine 693-1904
Dan Bitting 589-3145
Aggies (9-x, 2-5 in SWC) vs. Rice (4-(1,2-4 in SWC)
Autry <'-ourt -- Housum. Texas ---7.00 p.m
■
iStltPilil!!
iilliiliillllii
Angela Atkins, Fiona Conner. Susie Eaccini and Patricia Gonzales.
Luisa won the team title, with University of Florida ami Oklahoma State coming in second and
: mug the individual title was Yoko Uo of OSU* {' ' 'V
Gua-
were
third. Win*
Texas A&M
Flying Club
COME LEARN TO FLY WITH US
Interested people are urged to attend our meeting Jan. 29 at the Air
port Clubhouse
Jan. 29
7:30 P.M.
Camp Counselor Interviews
Camp Champions, a private summer camp for boys and girls
will interview prospective counselors at 1-31-85 from 10:00
am - 3:00 pm.
Champions is located on beautiful Lake Lyndon B. John
son in the Texas Hill Country. We feature swimming, sailing,
skiing, horseback, football, baseball, soccer, tennis, basketball
and many other fun activities. We are looking for college stu
dents who enjoy working with children (ages 7-15) and the
out of doors. Being a summer camp counselor is one of the
greatest experiences you can have. Our facilities are excellent
as are the working conditions and salaries. If this sounds like
what you are looking for this summer, please contact the
Placement Center for an interview time.
CAMP CHAMPIONS
RT. 1 BOX CC
MARBLE FALLS, XX. 78654
PHONE: 512-598-2571
Battalion Classified 845-2611
E
UCm EXTENSION
ARN COLLEGE CREDITS
WHILE EXPERIENCING
THE CAMBRIDGE
the Fifth Annual
Cambridge/ucla
PROGRAM
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
Live the academic life in a commu
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learning through lectures, lively
small group discussions, and
field trips.
Your residence is TRINITY HALL,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, located
at the center of the historic
colleges and the ancient City of
Cambridge. A countryside of
Summer 1985
medieval market towns and
villages surrounds it, and London
is only 60 miles away.
COURSES PLANNED:
Celts, Romans, and Saxons •
English Country Houses • The
World of the Book • Shakespeare's
England • British Intelligence
Operations • Fine & Decorative
Arts in England • Class and
Society in Britain Today • Post-War
British Drama • British Contributions
to Science • Archaeology of
Britain • Landscapes and Gardens
• Dickens • Shakespeare's Plays •
Churchill and His Times • Tudor
England • British Politics and
Economics • Medieval English
Society • Architecture of England.
Two three-week sessions are
scheduled: June 30—July 20 and
July 21—August 10, 1985.
Enrollment is also open for the entire
six-week period.
FOR A DESCRIPTIVE BROCHURE,
write or call Cambridge/UCLA
Program, Department TAM,
P.O. Box 24901, Los Angeles,
CA 90024; (213) 825-2085.
*Y;VT0