'The Battalion
PORTS
ednesday, November 1,1989
Sports Editor Tom Kehoe 845-2688
Even SWC players
- like to trick or treat
in scary costumes?
Richard
Tijerina
Assistant Sports Editor
jjjS It happens every year on Oct. 31. Kids
Everywhere dress up in silly costumes and
Uv; wander around neighborhoods, asking for
andy. On the college scene, Halloween
arties are held every year.
So what would happen if the Southwest
conference held “The Second Biggest
arty in Texas” on Halloween, and only
Invited football players and coaches to
Jrttend?
Here’s how some Texas A&M players
nd personalities from other SWC teams
light have dressed up for the big
lalloween bash. Trick or treat.
• Aaron Wallace (A&M linebacker):
arth Vader. Wallace is tall, powerful and
Imposing. He’s also a definite “force” in the
WC.
• Darren Grudt (A&M offensive
—.neman): “Norm Peterson” from
^‘Cheers.” If you’ve seen Darren, you’d
nderstand. He could be Normie’s twin.
Darren Lewis (A&M running back):
he Invisible Man. Lewis, a Heisman
fophy candidate before the season, soon
topped out of the picture after the Aggies’
irst three games — two before live
television audiences. Some games he’ll rush
for 60 yards, other games he’ll bust open
for 150.
• Lance Pavlas (A&M quarterback):
izard. Pavlas has engineered some pretty
iraculous drives this year. His
erformances were instrumental in the
Aggies’ upset over Houston and the
winning drive against Baylor.
iy|' • Robert Wilson (A&M fullback): A
Bull. “Bull” is Robert’s nickname. Besides,
il at 6-0, 240 pounds, Wilson is built like a
bull, so he won’t even have to dress up.
• Mike Jones (A&M tight end): A 6-4
Sheet of Flypaper. Jones has been “Mr.
ependabihty” for the Aggies this season,
atching 25 passes for 385 yards and two
u touchdowns. He waited until the Baylor
I game before he dropped a pass.
Jli • Bucky Richardson (A&M
quarterback): Captain Ahab. Richardson’s
knee injury suffered against Texas last year
forced him to redshirt this season. When he
Comes back next year, he’ll find himself
[ fighting Pavlas for the Aggies’ starting
quarterback position.
• Jeroy Robinson (A&M linebacker):
k: The Incredible Hulk. Robinson, a senior
I \ linebacker from Bryan, is reported to have
the largest biceps in the Southwest
onference.
• William Thomas (A&M linebacker):
imself. There’s always that one joker who
h W“ st s ^ lows U P f° r the candy. After spending
||iis first two years as a safety, Thomas now
See Tijerina/Page 8
Ags begin recruiting wars for 1990
Photo by Mike C. Mulvey
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum leads the Aggies onto Kyle Field in the sea
son’s first game — a 28-16 victory over Lousiana State. A&M hopes to
win a recruiting war in the SWC in 1990 by signing the state’s top high
school prospects. Slocum said he’d like to sign 25 players in 1990.
Slocum has a lot
of holes to fill in
By Richard Tijerina
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M (4-1), Texas (3-0) and Ar
kansas (3-1) all are in a Southwest Confer
ence race that looks like won’t be resolved
until the final week of the season. But
there’s another, perhaps more important,
race the SWC is going through.
The Recruiting Wars.
Coaching staffs from SWC schools are
courting top high school prospects in
Texas. A&M is no different. After this
weekend’s game with Southern Methodist,
Aggie coaches will hit the road — watching
their top prospects in action.
A&M Coach R.C. Slocum said the Aggies
will be looking to fill key areas in next year’s
recruiting class. Last year, the Aggies were
SMU at Texas A&M
• site: Kyle Field (72,387 cap.)
• Kickoff: 2 p.m.
• Ranking: A&M (20th), SMU (—)
• Records: A&M (6-2), SMU (2-5)
• SWC Records: A&M (4-1), SMU
(0-5)
• Series Record: A&M leads 34-29-
6
• TV/Radio: The game will not be
televised live; KTAM (AM 1240)
hurt badly after a season of adversity.
In 1988, A&M started the season being
slapped with an NCAA probation which
eliminated any bowl appearances and lim
ited scholarships over the next few years.
Then, Coach Jackie Sherrill resigned dur
ing the crucial time of recruiting season.
During the press conference when he
was named as Sherrill’s successor, Slocum
was asked if Sherrill’s resignation and the
probation would affect the Aggies’ reertuit-
in s-
“Give us a chance to get in your home, sit
down and tell you what we’re all about,”
Slocum said last December. “I hope we’ll
get enough of those players, and I think we
will. This is a strong enough institution.
“I can go into a young man’s home and
look him in the eye and tell him what our
direction is going to be at A&M. One of the
things I’ve always tried to stress to young
men in recruiting is you go to that school to
get an education. We’re getting out of line
if we go in there and say football is the only
reason to come to Texas A&M.”
But the Aggies were hurt. After three
years of banner recruiting seasons, A&M
only managed to sign 13 players, none of
whom have made a significant impact this
year.
Many of last year’s top recruits shyed
away from A&M, fearing that it may receive
the NCAA death penalty like SMU in 1986.
However, Slocum said Tuesday at his
weekly press conference that A&M’s re
cruiting problems are over, and that he’s
looking forward to a successful year.
“We’ve had very strong responses (from
recruiting prospects),” Slocum said. “We
will have a good recruiting year. They’re in
terested in the program here.”
Nine Aggie coaches will travel across
Texas in the coming weeks to look at pro
spective recruits. Slocum said Secondary
Coach Tom Hayes will recruit in Dallas, De
fensive Coordinator Bob Davies in Fort
Worth, Defensive Line Coach Greg Matti-
son in West Texas, Running Backs Coach
Jim Helms in Austin, San Antonio and Cen
tral Texas, Receivers Coach Robert Ford in
Houston, Tight Ends Coach John Pearce in
Houston, Offensive Coordinator Bob To
ledo in Houston and its surrounding area,
Offensive Line Coach Mike Sherman in
Beaumont, Southeast Texas and Southeast
Louisiana and Outside Linebackers Coach
Kirk Doll in Northeast Texas and North
east Louisiana.
“They’re all guys that have good reputa
tions as recruiters where they’ve been,” Slo
cum said. “They’re good people that will go
into a high school and represent us well.”
Slocum said the Aggies will place em
phasis on recruiting linemen and defensive
backs. He also said the Aggies need another
receiver to replace senior Percy Waddle,
some young running backs (Darren Lewis
will be a senior next year) and a quar
terback.
The one area where A&M surprisingly
will be strong in 1990 is the same one which
was so suspect in 1989 — linebacker. Next
year’s group should be extremely strong
with William Thomas, Anthony Williams,
Quentin Coryatt, Tyrone Malone and
James Webb.
Thomas and Williams are starting this
season. Coryatt (6-4, 238) is huge and ex
tremely physical, but will have to get over
sitting out his first two years at A&M be
cause of academic problems. Malone is a
transfer from Louisiana State and Webb is
senior Aaron Wallace’s backup this year at
the outside linebacker position.
Still, the Aggies won’t be as fortunate in
other areas of the team. Next year’s squad
will field a lot of seniors, and this year’s
weak recruiting class makes next year’s
more important.
“We lost some players last year in recruit
ing that we usually should have gotten,”
Slocum said. “Our squad has been depleted.
We’ve got to go out and get some guys.”
A&M recruiters can’t actually visit with a
high school recruit until December. The
time from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 is designated as
an “evaluation period.” Coaches can’t talk
to recruits until either Dec. 1 or after the
player’s end of his high school football sea
son if his team is in the playoffs.
Slocum said the Aggies have narrowed
their list of players they’d like to recruit
down to about 200 names. They’ll bring in
about 50 or 60 recruits in for campus visits.
Slocum said he hoped to sign at least 25
players in 1990.
Slocum said he doesn’t trust so-called “b-
lue-chip recruiting lists,” which supposedly
name the best high school players in the
state. He said it’s up to the coaches to mold
a player, and that blue-chip players develop
into college stars only 50 percent of the
time.
“I’m not going to just recruit somebody
because he can jump high and run fast and
looks at college as a side thing,” Slocum
said. “I’m willing to take some time with a
guy. Some coaches take good players and
they screw them up.”
Zimmer wins award tank m« xamara
by Jeff Millar & Bill Hinds
NEW YORK (AP) — Don
Zimmer was named National
League Manager of the Year
Tuesday for leading the Chi
cago Cubs to the East Division
title, his first championship as
a manager.
Zimmer, who was run out
of Boston for not leading the
Red Sox to a division title in
the late 1970’s, recieved 23 of
24 first-place votes from a
panel chosen by the Baseball
Writers Association of Amer
ica. San Francisco’s Roger
Craig, a close friend and for
mer teammate of Zimmer, got
the other first-place vote.
“You feel like you want to
share it with everybody who
played a part,” Zimmer said,
“the players who did the play
ing and Jim Frey, who hired
me and got criticized for
doing it. It just seemed like ev
ery move he made helped out
the club.”
Zimmer got 118 points in
See Zimmer/Page 8
CLASS Of 91
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