The Battalion
Thursday
October 5, 1995
SPORTS
Mavericks sign Iowa
State center Meyer
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Maver
icks believe they've added some of the
frontcourt toughness lacking in recent
years with the signing of Iowa State
center Loren Meyer Wednesday.
Meyer was the second big man the
Mavericks selected in the June draft
behind Duke's Cherokee Parks. The 6-
10, 261-pounder averaged 15.7 points
and 8.9 rebounds last season for the
cyclones.
Meyer is the bulkiest Maverick, 30
pounds heftier than the 6-1 1 Parks,
who will play both forward and post.
Meyer will wear No. 40 in honor
of Chris Street, the Iowa player killed
in a car wreck in 1993.
Air Swoopes soon to hit
shoe market
LUBBOCK (AP) — The basketball
shoe Nike named for former Texas
Tech star Sheryl Swoopes-Jackson is ex
pected to hit stores next week.
Retailers in Lubbock predict strong
sales for Air Swoopes, the "S"-embla-
zoned footwear billed as the first sports
shoe named for a female athlete.
"I just think it's a real cool shoe,"
Swoopes-Jackson said in a recent inter
view. "I have several pairs. I've played
in it and I love it."
Swoopes-Jackson, 24, said she can't
talk about terms of the shoe deal that
placed Air Swoopes in the footsteps of
Michael Jordan's Air Jordan.
"I never thought this would happen.
People come up to me and say, 'Cosh,
Sheryl, I want your shoe,' " she said.
Starting secondary Jones’ primary goal
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Freshman safety Toya Jones chases a Tulsa receiver out of bounds during the Sept. 6
meeting at Kyle Field.
□ The two-sport star from
Refugio has seen plenty of
special-teams action at A&M.
By Tom Day
The Battalion
Like most track and field athletes who
play football, Toya Jones has all the
weapons.
Blessed with superb speed, quickness
and athletic ability, Jones fits the mold of
a typical two-sport athlete.
But A&M Defensive Backs Coach Lar
ry Slade said Jones has something most
track stars don’t have on the gridiron —
toughness.
“He has great speed and ability,” Slade
said. “But what’s been very surprising
about Toya is how tough he is and his in
tensity as a player.
“A lot of the time, you get guys that
run track that aren’t tough or track guys
playing football. Toya is a football player
who runs track.”
As a two-sport standout at Refugio
High School, Jones was nothing short of
spectacular. As a senior, he earned Prep
All-American honors in football and track
and field.
Jones lead Refugio to three straight
Class 2A team championships and also
set Class 3A records in long jump and the
100 and 200 meters. The most decorated
track athlete in state history, Jones won
13 gold medals at four state meets his fi
nal year.
Jones was just as much a force on the
football field. Catching 15 passes for 308
yards, rushing for another 504 yards and
posting 103 tackles on defense, Jones was
named Second-team All USA by USA To
day and was selected a Dream Team
member by Blue Chip Illustrated Maga
zine.
Needless to say, Jones was pursued by
several top-notch collegiate athletic pro
grams, including the University of Ten
nessee, Notre Dame and the University of
Arkansas. However, A&M was Jones’
first choice.
“I grew up in a small town,” Jones
said. “1 wanted a small-town atmosphere
that was close to home and had a big-time
football program, so A&M was the place
to go.”
Accepting a reserve role this season,
Jones has taken his time learning the Ag
gies’ defensive system while excelling on
special teams and seeing limited playing
time at safety.
Two weeks ago, the freshman made
quite an impression against Colorado
when his third quarter sack of quarter
back John Hessler forced a fumble and a
Buffalo turnover.
“He’s coming along,” Slade said. “It’s
been slow at times for him to get accli
mated to the different coverages and re
sponsibilities of a defensive back. But,
right now he’s big on special teams and
he’s one of those guys you love to have at
that position.”
After playing on both sides of the ball
in high school, Jones has had to adjust to
playing one position, something he didn’t
anticipate would be so difficult.
“There’s a lot of listening and learn
ing,” Jones said. “In high school, I played
everywhere, but now there’s more empha
sis at one position that you have to know
everything.”
Jones said he doesn’t mind waiting in
the wings this season.
“I like it right now,” Jones said. “Usu
ally, in the spotlight, people are looking
for you to mess-up.
“I’m low man on the totem pole right
now, so I’m working hard to make my
way up. Once I get my plays down, I’ll be
in there.”
Jones said unlike track, he can release
a lot of steam on the gridiron.
“In track, you can relax a lot,” Jones
said. “But, sometimes you have to let it
all out and I can do that on the football
field.
“Football is my first love.”
Communication key to upbeat Slade’s success
Shane Elkins, The Battalion
Secondary coach, Larry Slade, instructs defensive back Sedrick Curry
during practice at Kyle Field on Tuesday.
□ Slade brings champi
onship experience to
the Aggies.
By Philip Leone
The Battalion
Everyone likes Texas A&M sec
ondary coach Larry Slade - his play
ers, his fellow coaches, even the re
ceptionist in the A&M football office
thinks Slade is a “real cool guy.”
For over 20 years now, Slade’s
winning personality, positive atti
tude, and sense of humor have
keyed his success and his ability to
get the most out of his players.
Junior cornerback Donovan
Greer believes Slade’s charisma
and laidback approach to coaching
have been definite assets to the Ag
gie defensive backfield the past two
seasons.
“Coach Slade is a trip. He does
things even that crack us up every
day,” Greer said. “We all enjoy play
ing for him, and I think that if you
don’t like your coach and don’t get
along, you’re not going to play as
well as you could. We don’t have
that problem with Coach Slade.”
Slade is a firm believer that a
football coach must focus on more
than just the rudiments of the
game. From his perspective, a good
coach should also be a good teacher
and must establish a steady level of
communication with his players.
“You’ve got to be able to transfer
what you know as a coach,” Slade
said. “There are a lot of coaches
who can dazzle you with Xs and Os
on the chalkboard, but they fail be
cause can’t relate to their kids.”
Slade began, his career in 1973
as the offensive line coach at Shep
herd College in West Virginia. Nine
years of seasoning at NAIA Shep
herd fostered an ambition to coach
at the Division I level, and Slade
jumped at the chance to move on to
coach tight ends at the University
of Richmond.
After only one season, however,
Slade left Richmond to join the staff
at Howard University where he
coached defensive backs for the
first time.
“I had this big fear of coaching
defensive backs before I went to
Howard because up until then I al
ways coached up front,” Slade said.
“I tell my guys that I didn’t have
any gray hairs until I started coach
ing the secondary.”
Slade’s first Division I job was in
Seattle where he took a job under
Don James at the University of
Washington in 1986. During his
tenure as secondary coach at Wash
ington, the Huskies beat Michigan
in the 1991 Rose Bowl to win a na
tional championship. The Huskies
produced a number of future NFL
defensive backs like Dana Hall of
the San Francisco 49ers and Lelo
Lang of the Buffalo Bills.
But after five years of sunshine
at Washington, the clouds rolled in
and the skies got dark for Slade in
1992 when he became the defensive
coordinator at the University of
Maryland. Lack of major college tal
ent made it difficult for Slade and
his Terrapins to achieve anything
but losses.
“When I went there, I was
shocked to find out that the talent
just wasn’t there,” Slade said. “I can
remember the first time I saw guys
work out during the offseason pro
gram. I said to myself, ‘Oh my God,
what have I done?’ We did the very
best we could do, but it just didn’t
work out.”
An offer from R.C. Slocum in
1994 brought Slade to Aggieland
and rescued him from the losing
ways of Maryland. Slade enjoys the
CEunaraderie of the Aggie staff and
feels fortunate to be working for a
quality coach like Slocum.
“You have to look a long way
to find any negative things that
he’s done,” said Slade. “I think
that the big thing that he does is
surround himself with quality
coaches and quality players. He’s
not afraid of having strong peo
ple around him, and that’s a sign
of a good manager.”
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