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July 15, 1996
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A Display of Talent
Seventy-five college recruiters turned out to scout female
basketball prospects at the Whataburger Shootout
By Ross Hecox
The Battalion
F or the second consec
utive weekend, hun
dreds of female bas
ketball players invaded the
Bryan-College Station area for
the Whataburger Southwest
Shootout Tournament.
But unlike the week before, the
new batch of teenagers had more
than just interested spectators
and loved ones watching them.
Dozens of college recruiters
from across the nation were also
on hand to spot potential
prospects at the tournament's
second installment.
After hosting the 13- to 15-
year-old bracket July 4-7, the
tournament invited teams of 16-
to 18-year-olds this weekend to
showcase some of the most high
ly touted basketball players in
the state and surrounding area.
Recruiters from 75 colleges —
including representatives from
Auburn University, University
of Colorado, Vanderbilt, Kansas
State, University of Miami and
Washington State — came to see
prospects play in the largest
state-run tournament in Texas.
Eighty-eight teams — the ma
jority of them from Texas, with a
few traveling from Oklahoma,
Arkansas and Louisiana — com
peted Thursday through Sunday.
"It's a great opportu
nity for the kids. It's
a chance to get expe
rience and exposure
to major colleges."
— LYNN HICKEY
A&M Associate Athletic Director
Rice head coach Cristy McK
inney, who was on hand to eval
uate talent, said the large num
ber of Texas recruits in the tour
nament makes it easier for re
cruiters to track down prospects.
“It brings a lot of Texas talent
together at one place,” McKinney
said. “You can see most of the
Texas kids right here, and that’s a
big plus in terms of convenience.”
The Shootout is not only con
venient for recruiters, but it also
provides a golden opportunity
for the players.
“It’s a great opportunity for
the kids,” A&M Senior Associate
Athletic Director and Co-Chair
of the Chamber Sports Commit
tee Lynn Hickey said. “It’s a
chance to get experience and ex
posure to major colleges.”
“If I were a player I would
want to be here,”
McKinney said. “If
you want to play col
lege ball and want to
be seen, then this is
definitely a good
place to come.”
Hickey said
Bryan-College Sta
tion schools provid
ed an adequate
number of courts for
the tournament.
“We have really
good facilities in
both cities,” Hickey said. "They
are all air-conditioned and are
real easy to get to.”
Tournament Director J. Gor
don Loucks said the proximity of
all eight gyms at the seven area
schools is convenient for re
cruiters who need to go from one
gym to another to watch differ
ent players.
“Just look at the map,” Loucks
said. “There is not one gym that is
more than 10 minutes away from
another. If you have to go from
one place to another, you can get
there very quickly.”
It is conveniences such as
these that make Bryan-College
Station a natural host site for
the tournament. The area does
not go unrewarded either — last
year the Shootout brought $1.6
million into the local economy.
Erika Gilbeaux, a high school
senior from Jennings, La. and
player for the Acadiana Stars,
said the tournament provided
her new opportunities.
“A lot of times scouts can’t
come and see you play during
the season in high school be
cause they have their own sea
sons going on,” Gilbeaux said.
“But they can come here during
the summer. This is just a great
opportunity for all of us.”
Hickey said the tournament
also benefits the A&M basket
ball program because many high
school students become familiar
with the University during their
stay in the area.
"It’s a chance to get us some
exposure,” Hickey said. “A lot of
people come here, and then they
go see the campus.
“And later, if any of them
hear the name Texas A&M, then
they can associate what that
means. It makes (A&M) pretty
easy to sell.”
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Gretchen Hall (#21) of the Arkansas Kamikaze goes up against Tiffany
Dirks (#32) of the San Antonio Lightning. The Kamikazes won.
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The Lady Aggies are spending their summer recruiting and preparing fdr the Big 12
By Ross Hecox
The Battalion
It is not the regular season — there are
not any long, grueling practice sessions and
the grind of playing five-game matches is
still a month-and-a-half off.
But the summer off-season is no cake
walk for the Texas A&M Volleyball Team.
The Aggie coaches and players are busy
preparing for the upcoming fall season. Players
spend their summers lifting weights and run
ning, while the coaches travel across the coun
try looking for future Aggie volleyball stars.
Head coach Laurie Corbelli said she
spends the majority of her time in the sum
mer on the road in search of top recruits.
“We like to recruit around the nation and
find the best players,” Corbelli said. “I think
it’s very hard to evaluate a high school play
er in a high school game because the compe
tition is not as good as it is at the club level,
so we have to go all around the country. We
go to huge tournaments in June that take up
the bulk of our time.”
A&M assistant coach John Corbelli said
the coaching staff s work is never done.
“We recruit all summer long,” John said. “It
involves a lot of travel. We also talk to coaches
and we write a lot of letters to the recruits.
“It’s a lot of long hours. All of the phone
calls and recruiting is very demanding.”
The coaching staff also busies itself
throughout the summer months by running
three different volleyball camps at A&M.
“We put out the brochures, get the
campers in [and] register them,” John said.
“It’s long work, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s nice
to get to meet a lot of different kids and
work with them and help them improve
their game.”
Some of the Aggie players that are in town
for summer school work the camps as coaches.
Junior outside hitter Farah Mensik said
coaching at the camps is a good experience be
cause it helps her to become a better player.
“The girls (in the camp) really look up to
you,” Mensik said. “It makes you feel good
and you learn. I’m actually coaching myself
when I’m coaching them.”
Both Laurie and John Corbelli said
learning through coaching is a great bene
fit to the players.
“It helps them to take a more in-depth
look at how they should work on their own
skills,” John said.
“I always encourage players to work
camps,” Laurie said. “They need to see how
coaching is and see our side of things. It
opens up a lot of understanding.”
Mensik said the Aggie players have a dif
ferent relationship with the coaches during
the summer camps.
“We can go in (to the coaches’ office) any
time,” Mensik said. “We just kind of hang
out with them. We’re on the same level with
them in the camps — we’re all coaching. It
brings us closer together as a team.”
While the coaches spend time recruiting,
the players voluntarily work out to stay in
shape for the coming season.
“We work out every day,” Mensik said.
“It’s up to you to be there every day. (The
other players) keep an eye on me and I do
the same for them.”
Senior middle blocker Page White said the
players’ system helps the team prepare for
two-a-day workouts scheduled to start Aug. 7.
“It’s pretty much up to us to take care of
business,” White said. “Two-a-days are ap
proaching fast. When you’ve gone through
two-a-days and been that sore, you make
sure you’re in shape.”
John said the coaching staff will spend
about a week in Atlanta later this summer
to watch the Olympics.
“We are going mainly to watch the wom
en’s (volleyball) competition,” John said. “We
want to see what the best teams in the world
are like.”
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Free agent frenzy continues with
mmors of Hardaway joining Rockets
(AP) — The Miami Heat gave
§200 million in contracts to two
players, Gary Payton stayed
with Seattle and Charles
Barkley said the NBA killed his
proposed trade.
Business was brisk in the NBA
free agent market Sunday with a
flurry of signings. Agreements
Were reached in several other cas
es, and bargaining was taking
place all around the league.
The New York Knicks com
pleted a trade for Larry John
son, sending Anthony Mason
and Brad Lohaus to the Char
lotte Hornets.
The Heat reportedly agreed to
a seven-year, $98 million deal
with free agent forward Juwan
Howard and agreed to terms with
Alonzo Mourning on a seven-year
contract worth $105 million.
Payton agreed to a seven-
year, $85 million contract with
the SuperSonics, the team he led
to the NBA Finals last year. The
Heat were the last team to have
a shot at Payton after the
Knicks, Hornets, Rockets and
Bucks dropped out, but they lost
out when Seattle increased its
offer. The signing was to be an
nounced Monday.
“Gary wanted to do every
thing possible to stay in Seattle.
His heart was there, and they
moved real well to keep him,”
agent Aaron Goodwin said.
Barkley told NBC Sports that
the NBA had quashed a pro
posed three-team trade because
the teams involved had violated
the moratorium on negotiations
that expired last Thursday.
“One of my agents said the
league wouldn’t let the deal go
through because too much tam
pering had been involved,”
Barkley said.
“I think that’s gutless on the
part of the NBA because every
body has tampered. To hold me
hostage because they’re trying to
prove a point is unfair.”
Barkley expected to be trad
ed to Houston in a three-team
deal that would have sent
Robert Horry and Sam Cassell
to Denver and Dikembe Mu-
tombo to Phoenix.
Mutombo is a free agent, how
ever, and may be able to get a bet
ter offer than the $8.5-$9 million
annually that the Suns would
have paid him. The Atlanta
Hawks were believed to be offer
ing close to $10 million annually
for seven years, and Detroit was
in on the bidding as well.
Indiana was said to have the
best shot at re-signing Reggie
Miller, who has drawn interest
from the Lakers and Pistons.
Miller had expressed a prefer
ence for playing in New York and
the Knicks were ready to make an
offer Saturday, but they signed
Houston after he accepted their
offer Saturday morning.
That left Detroit without a
shooting guard, and the Pistons
were pursuing Hersey Hawkins
of the Sonics.
The Knicks had to renounce
their rights to Derek Harper, and
Miami was in the running to sign
him. Heat point guard Tim Hard
away was said to be close to
reaching a deal with the Rockets.
Connell moves up to No* 3
The former A&M tennis player and partner
Byron Black lost in the Wimbledon finals
Staff and Wire Reports
Former A&M All-American tennis player Grant
Connell is starting to make some noise on the ATP
Tour — and the world is beginning to take notice.
The native Canadian’s recent appearance in
the gentlemen’s doubles final at Wimbledon has
vaulted him to the No. 3 ranking in the world in
doubles play.
Connell and partner Byron Black were run
ners-up to top-seeded and defending champions
Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, losing in
the finals 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
Connell had just as much success in the mixed
doubles competition. Teaming with partner Lind
say Davenport, Connell made another impressive
run before bowing out in the semifinals.
The 31-year-old Connell has stockpiled 3,755
ATP doubles points this year along with winning
three doubles championships. The former A&M
standout has earned over $307,000 in 1996.
Connell played the 1984 and 1985 seasons at
A&M under former head coach David Kent. He
compiled an overall dual match record of 51-13 in
singles and 36-20 in doubles while being selected
All-American in both seasons.
Connell has captured 20 doubles titles during
his 11-year professional career en route to an ex
cess of $2.6 million in career earnings.
Photo courtesy of the sports information department
Former A&M tennis All-American Grant Connell
is making a name for himself on the ATP tour.