■ Sports ■Wednesday, February 26, 1992 The Battalion Page 3 ** ANTHONY ANDRO Sportswriter r !^ep| No sure things weLt -/ actimu., A*^ awmm in this season's nt 1 NCAA tourney T hank goodness it's February be cause college basketball's "March Madness" will really be crazy this year. This season, unlike the last couple of years, there is no dominant team in college hoops. Sure, there are the Duke's and the Kansas's and the Indi ana's, but no one team that really stands out. I guess the only thing any one can be sure of is that the Texas A&M team will not figure in the post season hoopla. Two years ago, UNLV was the dominant team. They were the best team in the nation throughout the season and proved it in the tourna ment by mowing through the field and beating Duke in the champi onship game. Last season, it looked like the Run- nin' Rebels would be the team to beat once again. They cruised through the season and ran over their opponents in the first four games of the tourna ment. But in the Final Four, they were upset by the same Duke team they beat the year before. Duke went on to finish off Kansas to win the na tional title. That was back in the good old days when things made sense. My how times have changed. This season has gone anything but according to script. That is unless you play for A&M. The Aggies were supposed to struggle and they have. But other than that, it's anyone's ball- game. A month ago things seemed to be normal. Duke, Oklahoma State and See Andro/Page 6 A&M, SHSU play at Olsen today The Battalion News Services Texas A&M's game against Sam Houston State Uni versity will be played today at 3:30 p.m. at Olsen Field, barring inciimate weather. The game was moved to College Station because of the wet weather and the better field conditions of A&M's field. The Aggies, who are 9-4 on the sea son and 4-2 in Southwest Conference play, are ranked No. 24 in the nation by The Lady Aggies' softball doubleheader against UT-Ariington scheduled for today has been postponed due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for March 4. The first game will begin at 5 p.m. at Lady Aggie Reid Baseball America. Sam Houston State is 1-4 on the sea son, with their only win coming against the University of Illinois. The Bearkats scheduled starting pitcher is Peter Schandua, a left hander with an 0-1 record. Kelly Wunsch, (0-0, 2.70 ERA,) a lefthander from Houston, is scheduled to start for the Aggies. The matchup with the Bearkats will be the final game of a six-game homestand for the Aggies. Aggies 'have to' take win from Rice The Battalion News Services The future is now for the Texas A&M women's basketball team. If the Lady Aggies win their final two Southwest Conference games, they can finish in a tie for third place, making 1992 their most successful season ever. A&M plays the Rice Owls tonight at G. Rollie White Coliseum at 7:30. "We consider our next two games 'have to' games," A&M head coach Lynn Hickey said. "If we want a chance to tie Houston for third in the confer ence, we have to win these games. If we do, that's icing on the cake. "We have an opportunity to move up in the standings and have great momen tum going into the conference tourna ment." The Aggies are currently in a fourth- place tie with SMU at 6-5, while the Owls are in sixth place at 3-7. A&M is 14-10 overall, and me Owls are 11-12. The Aggies are coming off a 92-65 win over Baylor last week in Waco where they shot 52.1 percent from the See Lady Aggies/Page 6 Enthusiasm, improvement propel walk-on Henderson into starting role By Anthony Andro The Battalion ■ I KARL STOLLEIS/The Battalion Chuck Henderson is one of five walk-ons on the A&M basketball team this season. A walk-on is a player who plays for a team and does not receive a scholarship. Usually, walk- ons in basketball do not see any action until the game has all but been decided on the scoreboard. Texas A&M basketball player Chuck Henderson is a walk-on in title only. Henderson, a sophomore guard for the Aggies, has used a strong work ethic to make himself a starter for the young Aggie team. A&M coach Tony Barone lauded Henderson's excitement for basketball. "Chuck is a young man, and I told the team this yesterday, if all of our guys came to practice with the same enthusiasm that he comes with each day, we'd be in good shape," Barone said. "Chuck really loves to play bas ketball. "He has really spent an entire year listening to us and trying to develop as a major college basketball player." Henderson's work has paid off with the starting role. He has started the last nine games for the Aggies and in that stretch has averaged eight points a game. This season he is aver aging 5.8 points a contest. The statistics show the improve ment Henderson has made since last season, his first as a walk-on. Henderson averaged 1.1 points a game during the 1990-91 season and played in 18 games without drawing a starting assignment. Despite his recent success, Barone still sees room for growth in Hender son's play. "I'd call Chuck a park league player because he has all the park league moves," Barone said. "Sometimes he has a tendency to get out of control, but he has really played well for us. "He's worked real hard offensively and worked real hard defensively. He's going to have to work on the weights and get stronger, but I think he's a very good player for us." Henderson said ne tries to put forth more effort than other players because of his walk-on status. "In a sense I do," Henderson said. "But that's just normal because I am an enthusiastic person and an emotional person. It's just natural for me to cheer and get the guys going." Early in the season, Henderson got down because of his lack of playing time. But that has since changed. "I think I've played pretty good so far," he said. "In the beginning, I think I was down because I wasn't playing as much or as well as I wanted to. "I just started trying to work harder in practice and everything just seemed to work out O.K." Unfortunately for Henderson, A&M's NCAA probation cut the amount of scholarships to two that the Aggies could give out for next season. Henderson did not receive one but still plans to play for the Aggies. "I just feel like whatever I can do to help the team is to keep playing," he said. "The scholarship doesn't really matter. "I'm playing now and that was my main goal, to come to this University and get an education and play basket ball.'^ Tonight, Henderson and the rest of the Aggies will travel to Houston to take on the Rice Owls. A&M enters tonights game 5-17 record, 1-8 in Southwest Conference ac tion. The Owls are 17-8, 5-5 in SWC play. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Autry Court on the campus of Rice. The game will be a homecoming for Henderson and his younger brother Corey, a freshman guard for A&M. The Henderson's went to Houston Lee High School and the elder Hender son is looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd. "I have a lot of friends coming to the game and I will be especially ready to play against Rice," he said. Like most walk-ons, Henderson had to prove himself in practice. Hen derson has done so, now he is proving things on the court. Alcoholtj ek. 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He has completed all of his course work and is doing his dissertation research on "The structure and origin of Sorol Trough", an apparent axial rift zone in the sub-continental sized Caroline Ridge, located in the central Western Pacific. Sungat earned his B.S. degree in Geology from George Mason University in 1984 and entered Texas A&M University for graduate studies in 1985. During his time here at Texas A&M, Sungat has served as a graduate teaching assistant for six different courses in geophysics. In all cases the professors and students for these courses have been very complimentary about Sungat’s knowledge of the subject material and his dedication and skill as a teacher. That Sungat enjoy’s teaching is obvious and a university teaching and research career is his goal. Check presented by Mr. Phil Springer-Owner/Operator of B/CS McDonalds. 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