Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1985)
Thursday, February 14, 1985/The Battalion/Page 11 ■HOOTS nnmui I m wmmmmmitmmmmmmm • • • inillli Louisiana blue chippers top A&M's 23 player recruiting list <i Press By CHAREAN WILLIAMS Assistant Sports Editor ifrhe prosepects are in, but the ver dict is still out. HTexas A&M announced its 1985 On the sent'football signees Wednesday. The e Bronx Aggies signed 23 prospects, many of On televisf which could be starters as soon as asakillert next season. tive, wanie® A&M Head Coach Jackie Sherrill said the Aggies went after need — en he alt; linemen and linebackers — this year, ustin, utllH“Linemen were one of our top sstopped#! priorities,” Sherrill said. “We also oya appei#- needed linebackers.” a top-ratdf'JAldine Nimitz lineman Dave Carr everal lelt!headed the linemen signed by the ge plays. Acs. LongIsy|,|A three-year starter, Carr was the towns named second-team All-State by (terapoltlUSA Today and was considered a weanniiltcb prospect by most newspapers in alationofJthe state. ■Pasadena Dobie center John , who was!Elam, named to the Houston Post s been i and Dallas Morning News top pros- 0 crimes! 1 .pert lists, and Dallas Roosevelt de fault, r tensive end Richmond Webb are ig awitns other top linemen signed by the Ag- gies. Philip MnlSjA&M hauled in some impressive r knewAitlinebackers who could provide im- why wo. mediate help. sevenver®L J ayayette, La. (Northside) line- asmanyn backer Adam Bob was voted player of the year in Class 3A (the equiva- repliedt lept of 4A in Texas). Bob was also a lohn CtJmember of the Louisiana All-Star hontif! tepm. as an attj j.Another Louisiana product could also shore up the Aggies’ linebacking in seven cqrps. ht"andKi»basil Jackson, from Hammond, thon Ma La , recorded 103 individual tackles ithwho during the 1984 season. Jackson was ofajam. an All-State player and was selected ming in i to play in the Louisiana All-Star irectedk game. ent to .bSBSherrill said the Aggies took ad- th his hr vantage of their ties in Louisiana in towissr: signing players from that state. ingSing. From A&M’s only Heisman Trophy I, accordin' winner, John David Crow, to last otintoanr year’s first round NFL draft choice, frevinoM Bjlly Cannon, the Ags have contin- refired.ijf uaily raided Louisiana for its top blue chip prospects. r them i“We all get tied up talking about restaurant! who is the best player in the state,” aliberriltj he said. “Our best recruiting has t say wk . come from out-of-state, especially in gger.ami: with mute, ’85 A&M Football Recruits Out-of-state signees 1) Tom Campbell OL, 6-5, 245 — Baker, La. (High) 2) Wally Hartley TE, 6-5, 215 — Baton Rouge, La. (Broadmoor) 3) Basil Jackson LB, 6-2, 215 — Hammond, La. (High) 4) James Howse RB, 6-0, 185 — Mufreesboro, Tenn. (Oakland) 5) James Dotson DL, 6-2, 260 — Vicksburg, Miss. (Warren Central) 6) Troy Jones RB, 5-11, 185 — Lafayette, La. (Acadiana) 7) Adam Bob LB, 6-2, 210 — Lafayette, La. (Northside) Instate signees 1) Rod Harris WR, 6-0, 180 — Dallas (Carter) 2) Lafeyette Turner DB, 6-2, 195 — Dallas (Carter) 3) Steve Greene RB, 6-1, 195 — Littlefield (High) 4) Rodney Anthony DB, 6-4, 180 — San Angelo (Central) 5) Brian Ross TE, 6-4, 220 — San Angelo (Central) 6) LaSalle Harper C, 6-2, 230 — LaPorte (High) 7) John Elam OL, 6-2, 230 — Pasadena (High) 8) Mike Holmes OL, 6-5, 247 — Klein (Oak) 9) Billy Ford RB, 6-1,215 — Aldine (MacArthur) 10) Scott Lark OL, 6-3, 240 — Bay City (High) 11) Richmond Webb DL, 6-6, 245 — Dallas (Roosevelt) 11) Aaron Wallace LB, 6-4, 210 — Dallas (Roosevelt) 13) David Carr OL, 6-6, 260 — Aldine (Nimitz) 14) Anthony Taylor DB, 6-1, 180 — Kilgore (High) 15) Chris Scott TE, 6-3, 225 — Houston (Smiley) 16) Vantz Singletary LB, 6-1,215 — Houston (Worthing) “We uii get tied up ifi the suite. Out best recruiting Ims especially m Louisiana, of- state would be what you ers instate, ” Louisiana. The five players from Louisiana were all in-the state All- Star game. All the players from out- of- state would be what you consid ered blue chip players in-state.” The Aggies reached into the out- of-state grab bag once again and come up with a gem in running back James Howse. Howse played for Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Howse rushed for 2,400 yards and scored 29 touchdowns en route to becoming Tennessee’s High School Of fensive Player of the Year. Howse earned every All-State honor and was voted Most Valuable Player in the state championship game. The Aggies signed four running backs, but no quarterbacks. “We did not want to bring in a quarterback or running back that we didn’t feel could compete immedi ately,” Sherrill said. “You don’t need 10 or 15 quarterbacks. We would not sign more than one.” Sherrill said Littlefield running back Steve Greene could be the big gest surprise of this year’s crop. “You wouldn’t call him a sleeper since he rushed for 2,885 yards,” Sherrill said. “He is a good prospect. More people write about the fail ures, rather than the successes. You hardly ever read about the player See AG RECRUITS, page 12 SMU bums A&M Associated Press SMU 81, A&M 79 DALLAS — It took a career game from junior guard Butch Moore and some deadeye free-throw shooting for No. 9 ranked Southern Method ist to subdue Texas A&M Wednes day night and seize command of the Southwest Conference basketball race. Moore hit his First nine shots and scored 25 points as the Mustangs snapped a three-game losing streak with an 81-79 victory over the Ag gies. “I haven’t had a game like this since I played against Mt. Vernon in high school back at Newburgh, New York,” said Moore. “I felt in the warmups like my shot was going to go. So I took it to ’em. “We really played together as a team.” SMU hit 15 of 18 foul shots in the second half but went 8:29 without a field goal as the rallying Aggies al most caught the Mustangs. “The team came back from three tough losses,” said SMU Coach Dave Bliss. “The Aggies made a great comeback tit the end but we just gutted it out. The first half of this game showed what this team can do.” Aggie Coach Shelby Metcalf said, “I’m sick for our players because they put their hearts on the floor. It was a great comeback. “All I know is that Butch Mooe is the best player they have. I’ve said that all along. He’s a great compet itor.” In a Southwest Conference scrap for first place, SMU improved its league record to 9-3 while the Ag gies fell to 7-4 before a sellout crowd of 9,007 in jammed Moody Col iseum. The Mustangs are 19-5 over all and A&M is 15-7. The Mustangs, stung by consec utive losses to Arkansas, North Car olina State and Baylor, hit 16 of their first 20 shots. They made 75 percent from the field to lead 52-35 at half time. However, the Aggies refused to fold and came charging back behind guard Don Marbury, who scored 27 points before fouling out. The Aggies cut a 19-point deficit to a single point at 72-71, but center Jon Koncak hit four critical free throws and Carl Wright made both ends of a one-and-one with seven seconds to play to ice the game. Koncak scored 24 points for the Mustangs and had five blocked shots. Kenny Brown scored 24 points for the Aggies on long jump shots over the Mustang zone, while Todd Holloway added 14. There was a brief scuffle between the players at the end of the tense game but no punches were thrown and the referees quickly took con trol. TCU 81, Baylor 70 WACO — Texas Christian guard Dennis Nutt scored 22 points and Ja mie Dixon added a career-high 21 off the bench as the Horned Frogs defeated Baylor 81-70 in Southwest Conference play Wednesday night. TCU improved its record to 14-9, See SWC HOOP, page 13 TCU smells of recruiting success Associated Press The purple tinge that TCU re cruiters cast over the Southwest Conference national signing day Wednesday was just “stinkin’ unbe lievable,” according to Horned Frog head coach Jim Wacker. Wacker turned five of the state’s top blue chippers into Wacker back ers, but the No. 1 recruit in the state escaped across the Red River. Wide receiver Hart Lee Dykes of the Bay City Black Cats, the most sought-after player in the state, de cided to attend Oklahoma State. “Oklahoma State showed a per sonal interest in me,” Dykes said. “They touched my heart.” Dykes visited the Oklahoma' State campus on his own. Illinois and Texas A&M were also in the picture. “Quite honestly, it still hasn’t quite soaked in that this could be all really be true,” Wacker said in the wake of the school’s gold-plated harvest of schoolboy talent. “The response we have received this year has been just stinkin’ unbelieveaole. “No question, this is going to be an excellent recruiting class. Basically, our coaches and players here do a great job of selling the program for us. So far there are no surprises, and we don’t expect any, but we’re still keeping our fingers crossed.” TCU signed more blue chippers than the other eight SWC schools combined. Jasper wide receiver Reggie Davis, Huffman running back Greg Moore, Houston Madison quar terback Ronald Jiles, Fort Worth Eastern Hills defensive tackle Mitch ell Benson and Madison wide re ceiver Jarrod Delaney — all Texas blue chippers — will play for the Horned Frogs next season. SMU got two blue chip signees from Corsicana, running back Bill Jones, 6-1, 205, and linebacker Rob ert McDade, 6-3, 230. Navasota quarterback Lynn James, who had earlier given a verbal commitment, and Lamar Consolidated cornerback Roderick Wilson, also chose the Mustangs. Arkansas Coach Ken Hatfield helped stem the trend of losing Ar- See SWC RECRUITS, page 12 mrd €w«t.Ck Anything Your Sweethearts Desire... n luJb 813 WELLBORN 693-4045 C.S. TEXAS f. BAR DRINKS Every Thurs., Fri., & Sat. Night til Close Cover Charge: $2 Girls $3 Guys Free Beer from 8-9 p.m. Cards Gifts Apparel * o 700 University Drive East 846-0857 l