Sports 9 ednesday, January 16,1991 The Battalion Sports Editor Alan Lehmann 845-2688 Freddie ready io give Aggies needed boost Just ask Texas A&M iasketball player Freddie Ricks where he iotthe nickname “Ready Freddie.” There’s a good thance Ricks *on’t hesitate to Jig deep inside ind pull out his kst impersona- tion of his former coach and men- tor Shelby Met- Scott Wudel calf. Sports Writer “Well...are you ready, Freddie..?” Ricks would imitate Metcalfs slow, low trembling voice, and then acknowledge agreement. “Wellcome on in..,” he’d finish. Ricks got the nickname as Metcalfs first player off the bench in his first three seasons on the A&M basketball team. He was supposed to play his most im portant role yet this year as a senior un der first-year coach Kermit Davis Jr. But Freddie ran into some off-the-court problems and his plans were put on hold. Ricks returned to the A&M lineup Wednesday after sitting out the Aggies’ first 12 games. And Davis’ team couldn’t have needed him more. Freddie found the surroundings to be quite the same in his first game back. The Aggies were hosting Texas Chris- fian University at G. Rollie White Col iseum. Freddie patiently waited and watched from the oench. This time he wasn’t the first player Davis called on, but it didn’t take the coach long to decide the Aggies needed Ricks’ help off the bench. One could only guess what Davis said lo Ricks as he pulled Freddie from the bench and inserted him into the lineup. Ricks made almost an immediate im pact on the court for the struggling Ag gies. He converted five of his first seven shots in the hard-fought loss, and fin ished the night with 1 1 points. Most importantly, he showed A&M tans he was ready to play basketball again. See Wudel/Page 10 Problems continue to plague Davis regime By DOUGLAS FILS Of The Battalion Staff The Texas A&M basketball team’s season is just over half gone and already the Ag gies have endured more trial and tribula tion than most teams would care to handle in a decade. Signs that this would be a rocky season began to show last summer. David Harris, a returning 6-10 center, was declared academically ineligible, as was forward David Peterson. Two tranfers that would have been eligi ble immediately and two incoming fresh man never made it to the first day of prac tice. Another returning 6-10 center, Carlos Marrero, could not return from a knee in jury. Then, to top it all off, guard Freddie Ricks, one of head coach Kermit Davis Jr.’s two remaining returning seniors, was ar rested and subsequently suspended from the team. Davis started the season with nine healthy scholarship players, seven of which received most of the playing time. The Ag gies then lost little-used guards Cody Blake and Darrin Terry, a transfer from Carl Al bert Junior College, who had been averag ing 5.2 points and 2.8 rebounds. Blake quit the team to pursue his degree and Terry failed to meet academic standards during the fall. The Aggies fought their way to a 4-4 re cord after a victory over Texas College on Dec. 20. However, that A&M win was not the news of the day. Earlier that day, news of possible recruit ing violations committed by the Aggie bas ketball program appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard. The Post-Standard had been investigat ing violations in the Syracuse program when it discovered the possible Aggie viola tions involving Tony Scott. Scott trans ferred to A&M last May and is currently sit ting out a year to gain his eligiblity. Davis refused to make any comment on the matter on Dec. 20, saying that Robert Smith, A&M’s vice president for Finance and administration and the head of the school’s athletic complience office would conduct a full investigation. To compound the matter, Scott publicly admitted in the Post-Standard story that all the allegations were true and that he felt he had been pushed into attending A&M — even to the point of being sold. JAY JANNER/The Battalion Texas A&M basketball coach Kermit Davis Jr. has had plenty to be upset about this season. The Aggies then fell into a six-game los ing streak. In three of those games, the A&M blew opportunities to win. The team had a chance to tie South Alabama at the buzzer and was tied with both Texas Tech and Texas Christian late in the game. “We (the coaching staff) knew coming in that we were going to have a rebuilding stage,” Davis said. “We’ve been in a lot of games. We’re 5-10, but we could also very easily be 8-7, so it’s a fine line.” The drain of players from the team has left the Aggies short on depth and because of this Davis said the team can ill-afford to not be emotionally into every game. “Our team is such a fine line,” he said. “Because of our depth situation and our physical talent that if we’re not on edge ev ery night, I mean really ready to pop and play, then we can be really bad. But if we play on that edge, and we do everything we’ve got to do then we play as a decent team and play together.” As the spring semester gets underway Ricks is once again in an Aggie uniform af ter serving what was, in essence, a semester- long suspension. Davis said that after talk ing with students, former students and players, the consensus was that Freddie Ricks had been punished enough. Then, Monday night, A&M broke that six game slide with a 103-82 victory over Centenary, with all five starters scoring in double figures. With a 5-10 record, the focus of attention on any basketball program would be on how the team will turn things around. But for Davis and the rest of the team the atten tion is being focused on the possible recruit ing violations. If the violations turn out to be true, the consequences could lead to A&M losing its program for up to two years. Under NCAA rules, if any sport at a school where another sport has been on NCAA probation within five years, that sport could receive the death penalty if found guilty of a major violation. Based on the A&M football team’s proba tion in 1988 for recruiting violations, con viction of a major violation in the basketball program could bring that penalty upon Kermit Davis and his squad. News of possible violations coincided with the Aggies’ six-game losing streak, and many wondered if the outside distractions of the investigation was having an adverse effect on the team. Davis was quick to point out that nothing could be farther from the truth. See Allegations/Page 10 Time to get the books 1990 Aggieland If you ordered a 1990 Aggieland and haven't picked it up, stop by the English Annex between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Yearbooks will not be held and refunds will not be made on books not picked up during the academic year in which they are published. If you did not order a 1990 Aggieland, you may pur chase one for $25, plus tax, at the English Annex. Campus Directory If you ordered a 1990-91 Campus Directory and haven't picked it up, get it in the Student Publications business office, room 230 Reed McDonald Building, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you did not order a Campus Directory, you may purchase one for $3, plus tax. 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