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Friday, April 12,1991
| The Battalion
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Douglas Pils
Asst. Sports Editor
Pils: take your
time and do it
right. Coach B.
0,
pen letter to Texas A&M's
new basketball coach Tony Barone:
Save our basketball program.
Nothing more, nothing less.
You've got all the time you need.
Lay the foundation and do it the
which president
William Mobley and Athletic
Director John David Crow talk about
so much.
Aggie fans have suffered through
too much heartache and turmoil in
the last year and a half for you to do
it the wrong way.
A year ago, we all sat and listened
to someone else give us the same
spiel about building a solid program
with honesty and integrity.
It's still unclear if that's not what
was happening, but what is clear is
that the engineer of the master plan
was just a too bit naive to know a
shady character when he saw one.
Having coached in Chicago, I'm
sure you have a pretty good judge of
character. However, the statistic
that proves it is that 18 of 24 players
graduated from your program at
Creighton.
What makes that important is that
those same Bluejays became
winners on the court as well as in
the classroom.
Anyone thinking that teams with
brains can't have successful
programs can look no further than
in-state rivals and Atlantic Coast
Conference powerhouses. North
Carolina and Duke.
Of course, to expect A&M to one
day mirror Dean Smith's and Mike
Krzyzewski's programs would be
the best-case scenerio. But consider
this — we've endured the worst-
case side of the fence, so anywhere
in between will do just fine.
Last season, the little things went
unappreciated. Things like holding
NIT-nnalist Oklahoma to 86 points
or being a handful of free throws
away from beating Texas.
But this team made great strides
all year long. Very rarely did they
ever give up and most importantly,
they all grew up very fast in the
midst of a very hectic situation.
So happy hunting. Coach B. I
hope you can find two or three more
guys who "fit into your mix" on the
recruiting trail. But even if you don't
find those you need, the players you
inherit have shown they can adapt
to almost anything.
You were definitely right when
you said this program is a sleeping
giant. All it needs is a swift kick in
the rear to get it rolling down the
road to recovery.
P.S. — To Brooks Thompson:
Stick around long enough to help
turn the program around and don't
be selfish with your talents by taking
them elsewhere. I guarantee you'll
be much more appreciated if you
stay. It's just the classy thing to do.
Hard-luck A&M baseball team faces big test this weekend
Aggies travel to Rice for crucial SWC series
By Anthony Andro
The Battalion
The Texas A&M baseball team trav
els to Houston today to take on the
Rice Owls in a three-game series.
The Aggies, who were swept by Bay
lor last weekend, have a 3-6 Southwest
Conference record, and a 31-16 mark
overall. The trio of losses to Baylor
dropped the Aggies into last place in
the conference, four games behind the
league-leading Texas Longhorns.
Texas A&M baseball coach Mark
Johnson refused to answer to specu
lation that he might leave his post to
take the Mississippi State job. MSU
skipper Ron Polk announced earlier
this week that he would be taking over
as director of the American Baseball
Coaches Association after this season.
Johnson coached under Polk for six
seasons before taking over the A&M
helm in 1985.
Rice enters the series with a 16-25 re
cord, 6-9 in conference play.
The Owls lost the first two games
last weekend in Austin before winning
the final game, 11-5.
The probable starters for today's 7
p.m. game are Ronnie Allen, who is 6-
2 with a 2.93 ERA for the Aggies, and"
Darrell Richardson, a Rice freshman
with a 6-6 record to go along with a
4.89 ERA.
Last year, Allen shut out the Owls
on a three-hitter, 10-0, and the Aggies
swept the Owls in a three game series
at Olsen Field.
Saturday, freshman Jeff Granger (4-
2, 3.78) is slated to start the opener. Ei
ther junior righthander Jason Hutchins
or freshman lefthander Kelly Wunsch
will start for the Aggies in the night
cap.
Granger ranks fourth in the nation in
strikeouts per inning. The lefthander
has racked up 70 strikeouts in 50 in
nings, giving him an average of 12.6
strikeouts per nine innings.
The leading hitters for the Aggies are
Brian Thomas, who is hitting .341 and
Conrad Colby, with a .328 average.
SWC Standings
Conf.
Season
Taam
w
L
Pet.
W
L
Pet.
Texas
7
2
.778
34
12
.739
Texas Tech
7
5
.583
36
11
.766
Baylor
4
4
.500
30
9
.769
TCU
4
4
.500
25
15
.625
Houston
4
5
.444
26
12
.735
Arkansas
5
7
.416
29
14
.674
Rice
6
g
.400
16
29
Texas A&M
3
6
.333
31
16
.660
Friday’s games
Houston at Baylo
r, 2 p.m.
Arkansas at TCU
3 p.m.
Texas A&M at Rice, 7 p.m.
Texas Tech at Texas, 7 p.m
Saturday's games
Arkansas at TCU
(2), noon
Houston at Baylor (2), 1 p.m.
Texas A&M at Rice (2). 2 p
m.
Texas Tech at Texas (2), 2 p.m.
J. JANNER/The Battalion
SWC opponents have not exactly rolled over for the Aggies this season. A&M has dropped
five of its last six conference games and is mired in the league cellar with a 3-6 mark.
Aggie netters host 'Horns, Hogs
Unranked A&M
closes out home
slate Saturday
From Staff and Wire Reports
The upset-minded Texas A&M
men's tennis team faces a tough week
end. They face the No. 11 Texas Long
horns today at 1:30 p.m. and No. 25
Arkansas Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Both
matches will be held at the Omar Smith
Tennis Center.
Despite an overall 13-8 mark on the
season, the Aggies are undefeated at
home. Six of those losses have come
against ranked teams. A&M, 2-2 in
Southwest Conference play, knocked
off No. 24 Rice earlier in the week.
Aggie coach David Kent said the up
set was nice, but that his squad has
been underrated.
"We played well, but we certainly
weren't playing over our heads," Kent
said. "We were consistent in singles
and doubles and that's just what we
have to do to be successful.
"We have a good team, but we have
to start knocking off the big teams. We
match up well with Texas and these
guys are not going to be intimidated,
especially with our home crowd be
hind us."
Kent said that this is a good time to
face tough competition.
"We're playing extremely well right
now, and we'll nave to keep it up to
beat the Longhorns," he said. "We're
very familiar with their players and
them with us, so there snouldn't be
any suprises out there.
S. ROBBINS/The Battalion
Steve Kennedy and the rest of the A&M tennis team have a big weekend ahead. The Ag
gies host Texas today and Arkansas Saturday, with both matches starting at 1:30 p.m.
"I expect a fight-to-the-finish
match."
The weekend matches will be the
Aggies' final home matches of the
season.
Team Records
Singles
Weaver, Mark 18-4
Phillips, Scott 18-4
Brown, Doug 17-2
Johnson, Clayton 14-7
Kennedy, Steve
Zisette, Matt
Barsalou, Blake
Phillips, Scott
Brown, Doug
Kennedy, Steve
Weaver, Mark
Barsalou, Blake
Zisette, Matt
Doubles
11-8
6-16
2- 5
8-2
9-5
9-6
8-5
3- 4
3-4
Warriors
sink Rockets
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) —Golden
State broke open a close game in the
fourth quarter by intentionally foul
ing Houston's Larry Smith, who
missed six straight free throws, and
Chris Mullin scored 26 points in a
111-99 victory Thursday night.
Golden State made a team-record
33 free throws without a miss, the
third-best showing in NBA history,
while the Rockets made only 18 of 34
foul shots, including 7 of 17 in the fi
nal quarter.
Houston trailed just 88-82 before
the assault on Smith began. After
Tim Hardaway's two free throws
put the Warriors up by six points
with less than eight minutes remain
ing, Golden State coach Don Nelson
sent reserve center Paul Mokeski
and backup guard Vince Askew into
the game to carry out the plan.
Alter Smith was fouled and
missed two free throws, Mullin hit a
3-point shot. Two more Smith
misses led to another Mullin jumper
and a 93-82 lead with 6:40 to play.
Smith missed two more free throws
and was finally taken out of the
game for good, as the Rockets never
got closer than seven points the rest
of the way.
Houston fell two games behind
Midwest Division leader San Anto
nio with six games to play. Golden
State moved a full game ahead of
Seattle in the race for the seventh
Western Conference playoff spot.
Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon led
all scorers with 28 points, 21 in the
second half, and added 12 re
bounds. Sleepy Floyd scored 25 for
the Rockets. Hardaway finished
with 24 points and Mitch Richmond
had 23 for Golden State.
coffeehouse
friday
april 12
in rumours
8:00 p.m.
it’s free
... bring only your open mind
-‘-MSC Town Hall
(Dance STrts Society
( Te?cas University
presents
DANCE EXPRESSIONS
Sunday
April 14, 1991
8:00 p.m.
Rudder Theater
Admission $1.00