October 2 1
hda
Tuesday • October 28, 1997
S The Battalion
.PORTS
'Ath
^Aggies open door to fans
'Basketball Mania’ to showcase men’s, women’s teams
By Jason Whitcomb
Staff writer
lary to worh
youngsters fe|
city and caret#
grant worken
i planned anafiffj
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/here Jones tool®
to hear Martin n ' 8^ 1 ’ the Texas A&M basketball program
speech titlcc ^ jump start the season with “Midnight Mad-
e Revolution ness” at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The event
1968, bytiiei wiN start at 9 p.m. with free admission and will
i would donatf 6 # 1116 both the men’s and women’s teams. The
march festivities will include player introductions, the
s through (litAggie Band, Reveille and the yell leaders, con-
3rKingwasa'dests, and a slam dunk competition,
olitics no lorii I [It was a great event last year that was well or-
i, Clinton is it gapi/.ed and a lot of students came out and had a
ore acceptangood time,” men’s coach Tony Barone said. “It
ulicans of 1 was real fun last year and we are really looking for-
husband got ward to doing it again. We think it’s a plus from
1 vote in 19S:thl standpoint of getting students out to see the
percent in 19i players and get to see a slam dunk contest.”
ot always sersHl'he event was originally planned for last Sat
is our first lacurday but Barone changed the date because he
here,” May fell the team needed more practice.
3publican,si|B“Sometimes ‘Midnight Madness’ can get in
finitely impri the way of practicing”, Barone said. “It was said
been in 1' that we didn’t have the event because the band
s criticism was not able to be there, but that was not the
[Me are ven "case at all. We felt that at that particular time it
g home." was more important to have practice that night.
‘Midnight Madness’ tends to become a two-day
event for us because we have to actually recov
er from it the next day. The band is a very intri-
£ £ ATHE^ 1 >art w ^ iat we are doing but our choice not
y to nave the event last week was because we felt
d from Pagtwe needed to practice.”
■As for the upcoming season, the Aggies are
lers said dooking to improve on a team that showed signs
DePauwUn of becoming a contender in the Big 12 last sea-
idents asagnS
)ice.
students arts
ave enough it:
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tudents knon
son. They consistently played games that were
very close and competitive, but could not quite
find a way to win in the end.
“Some people say that losing those close
games hurts our confidence, but I think that
those experiences will have the opposite affect,”
Barone said. “Knowing that we played good
teams close shows us that we can be competi
tive. We lost those games because we just
couldn’t find a way to win, not because we ex
pected to lose or lacked the ability.”
This season, one of the team’s main goals
was to be in excellent physical condition and
have a great work ethic. So far, Barone is
pleased with the personal initiative that each
player took to stay in top physical condition in
the off-season.
“We are thrilled with the physical condition
of this team,” said Barone. “Getting in great
shape was key issue for us in the preseason and
these guys really made a tremendous commit
ment to work hard in both the post-season and
preseason. The reality of it all is that you can’t
practice the way you want to practice if you are
not in great shape. You can’t raise your produc
tion and have greater success without being in
top physical condition.”
After another good recruiting class this past
off-season, the Aggies are taking full advantage
of the perks that come with being in the Big 12
and having Reed Arena finished in ’98. These
advantages could help push A&M basketball to
a higher level.
“Being in the Big 12 and having Reed Arena to
show off has alleviated a lot of recruiting prob
lems,” Barone said. “It was always hard to recruit
players to G. Rollie, but now, with Reed Arena, we
have the ability to show that we are committed to
becoming a top basketball program.”
The Aggies will be led once again by junior
forwards Calvin Davis and Shanne Jones, senior
center Dario Quesada, and sophomore guard
Jerald Brown. Important contributions are also
expected out of junior center Chris Richards, a
transfer from TCU, and sophomore forward
Aaron Jack, a transfer from Penn State. Also
added to the mix is freshman guard Michael
Schmidt, who was regarded as the best high
school basketball player in Canada. Schmidt,
along with Davis and Brown, heads a group of
young talent that could push the Aggies to the
top of the conference for the next few years,
and, possibly even farther into the future.
“Michael is a phenomenal athlete and he is
starting to adjust to basketball in the states,”
Barone said. “Michael is going to have to adjust
to the quickness and the physicalness of Amer
ican college basketball. What Michael could do
in making a one-handed pass or grabbing a re
bound in Canada, he cannot do here without
getting knocked to the ground, and he has ad
justed to all of that in practice. We are just wait
ing to see what he can do in game situations.”
The Aggies are looking to what has been
called “The Basketball Yell Practice” to give
them the spark needed to tip-off the season.
The team hopes that this could be the year that
the Aggies break through.
“Last year the ball just hit the upright and
went the other way,” said Barone. “Maybe this
year the ball will start to hit the upright and
come back our way.”
RONY ANGKRIWAN/The Battalion
Sophomore Jerald Brown drives the ball last season against Iowa State.
Brown and the Aggies will be on hand tonight at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
Soccer set for tournament after clinching title
Stephen
Boudreau
staff writer
said although NOTEBOOK
as gone thro,
as theMp. - ’
ithers always!
lent and its p.
' far the besi
he said. "He * dd one more trophy to the case. At-
/vas a studenij tending a University that boasts such
dm as astude x V-prowess in athletics, it’s good to see
te.” that Texas A&M has finally regained cham-
ers said he pionship status.
diis but feels' J With the Big 12 Championship on
ivs to A&M he their resume, the Aggies now have the
uatefromAt national championship in their sights.
■ a varietyo: For many teams, such a goal would be
are vital to.f unre alistic, but the Aggies have the talent
nehaddiffere and momentum to carry them all the way
.dd ever bet t 0 the top.
sary iirf
r made. Success is nothing new.
ts said A&II Since the inception of NCAA Division I
ove in theft-- soccer at Texas A&M, coach G. Guerrieri’s
look at det: teams have compiled an outstanding 82-17-3
ie national overall record and a 17-2 Big 12 record,
idressingtk®
rket today,
needs to 4
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ese types otj
th technc •
ring.”
The team’s incredible consistency is
among the best in the nation.
A&M is currently
ranked No. 6 by Soccer
News, No. 7 by the
NSCAA/Umbro, No. 7 by
Soccer Buzz and No. 8 by
Soccer America.
Big 12 Tournament.
Texas A&M will be
the top seed in the
Big 12 Tournament
in San Antonio,
Nov. 6-9. The
Aggies re
ceive a
first
round
bye and
will play the winner of the first round
Baylor vs. Texas game.
Earlier this season A&M defeated
Texas 4-1 in Austin, but fell to Baylor 2-1
in a controversial overtime loss.
Last season the Aggies reached
the championship game of the
tournament, but came up short in
overtime against Nebraska 1-0.
The end of the road.
When the post-season
comes to a close, the Texas
A&M Soc
cer Team
must bid
farewell to
three of its all-
time greatest
players.
Sonia Ibanez, Diana
Rowe and Bryn Blalack
will conclude their careers
with the conclusion of the
NCAA National Cham
pionship Tournament.
Ibanez has scored 8
goals
and 20 as
sists in her four
years of play. She
ranks 10th in goals
scored, ninth in points
accumulated and sixth
' in assist made on the
Mtlll A&M career-leaders lists.
^yfrV ^ Edition, Ibanez is fifth
^fflr in shots taken with 115.
Asa sophomore, Ibanez
received the Aggie 12th Man Award, recog
nizing the player who makes the largest con
tribution to the team’s success even though
not among the starting lineup in every game.
Diana Rowe has accumulated 51
points from 14 goals and 23 assists. She
ranks fourth, sixth and third in those cat
egories, respectively. Rowe’s 90 shots rank
eighth among Aggie career leaders. For
her efforts, Rowe was named a third-team
All-American last season. She was also on
the National Soccer Coaches Association
of America/Umbro All-Central Region
Team, the All-Big 12 Conference Team
and the All-Big 12 Conference Tourna
ment team.
Last, but in no way least, is Bryn
Blalack. Blalack has led the team in scor
ing in each of her four seasons of play. She
scored 11 goals as a freshman, 23 as a
sophomore, and 28 as a junior. This sea
son she has 14 goals for a career total of
76, which leads the career goals list.
Blalack also leads the career points list
with 183 and the career shots list with 353.
Her 33 assists rank her third. Blalack is the
first first-team All American for Texas
A&M and was a finalist for the Hermann
Trophy, which goes to the nation’s top
player. She has scored seven hat tricks in
her four years as an Aggie and a finalist for
this year’s Missouri Athletic Club Sports
Foundation Collegiate Player of the Year.
Stephen Boudreau is a sophomore
business major
TT’s Rogers earns
honor after kick
DALLAS (AP) — Missouri quar
terback Corby Jones, Iowa State
nose guard Greg Schoon and Texas
Tech kicker Tony Rogers are the Big
12 players of the week.
lones earned top offensive hon
ors for tying a school record with
four touchdowns while running for
two more — including the game-
winner from 15 yards — as Missouri
upended then-No. 12 Oklahoma
State 51-50 in double overtime.
Jones was 13-of-25 passing for a
career-best 231 yards and ran 12
times for 85 yards. With 316 yards of
total offense, he upped his season
average to a conference-leading
227.9 yards per game.
Schoon had a career-best 13 tack
les, including six solo, in the Cyclones'
24-17 victory over Baylor. He also had
three sacks for minus-27 yards while
helping Iowa State rack up its highest
sack total (seven) since 1987.
Rogers, who was beaten out last
September by Jaret Greaser but got
the job back after Greaser broke his
leg against Nebraska, hit field goals
of 40, 19 and 47 yards, the last one
giving Tech a 16-13 victory over
then-No. 20 Texas A&M. The victo
ry gave the Red Raiders a tie for the
Big 12 South lead.
Ace in the Hole
Cox has chance to become one ofA&M’s all-time best
By Jason Whitcomb
Staff writer
a;
Ithough Texas A&M golfer Ty Cox is
only a junior, he’s already had the
opportunity to experience a life
time of memories for a golfer. It all start-
| ed when he picked up a golf club at the
bright age of three. With years of groom
ing under his belt, Cox then packed his
bags and came to Aggieland, where he
I soon experienced three of the greatest
moments of his life.
In 1995, as a freshman, Cox had the op
portunity to partner up with Tiger Woods
at the Windon Memorial Classic in Chica
go. Being able to play with someone who
would eventually win The Masters was a
tremendous learning experience and a
major confidence booster.
“Tiger is a real nice guy,” Cox said. “At
first, he was real locked into his game, but
then we started to exchange some words
and it was pretty cool. It was a great expe
rience playing with him. And, then, here I
was playing here as a sophomore and he
was out winning The Masters. I thought it
was neat to look back and know that I com
peted with him.”
This past summer, Cox qualified for the
1997 U.S. Amateur. He managed to ad
vance to a second day of competition and
lost in a playoff to advance to match play.
His ability to compete with the best ama
teur players in the country served as an
other indicator of his mental and physical
your special ability.
“I learned a lot about pressure in that sit
uation,” said Cox. “It was real nerve-rack
ing playing in front of thousands of people
and being around 22 of the best golfers in
the country. I told Coach Ellis afterward
that it might have been the greatest experi
ence of my life. I really got a lot out of it and
I think it gave me a lot of confidence going
into this year.”
Today, Cox and the other golfers will
the
at Bool
“As good as Ty is,
he has the oppor
tunity to be one of
the best players
I’ve ever had.”
BOB ELLIS
A&M GOLF COACH
illlfil
have the opportunity to meet and play with
PGA golfer, and former Aggie, Jeff Maggert.
Cox feels that Maggert’s mere presence on
the course and his personal contact with
the players will have a very positive impact
on the entire team.
“We’ve never really had a chance to be
able to sit down with him and ask him
questions,” Cox said. “With him being in
the Ryder Cup this year, it’s kind of neat
that we will get to talk with him and learn
from his experiences. I consider him a leg
end in golf.”
The combination of experience and
natural ability has boosted Cox to the top
of the collegiate golf world. This fall, Cox’s
biggest accomplishment was when he fin
ished in fourth place at the Missouri Bluffs
Intercollegiate among a very strong field
of players.
“Ty is an outstanding player,” scoach
Bob Ellis said. “As good as Ty is, he has the
opportunity to be one of the best players I
have ever coached. It’s totally up to him on
how far he will go.”
Despite his personal accomplishments
and dreams of becoming a PGA golfer, Cox’s
priority at the moment is with his team, who
he also calls his best friends. He feels that his
ability to exhibit a great deal of cockiness in
his game rubs off on the other players and
allows them to have more confidence with
their game.
“In college athletics, there can be no
singling out,” Cox said. “I think that this
year’s team is special in that we are all
good friends and hang out with each oth
er. We are all real supportive and ready to
offer a helping hand to each other. I think
we a real good team that will contend in
the spring.”
With the spring competition around the
corner, Cox and the rest of the Aggies will
no doubt be licking their chops to go out
and show the golfing world that they are a
force to contend with. He came to A&M for
the traditions and, hopefully for him and
the rest of the team, the tradition of golf ex
cellence will continue in Aggieland.
ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion
Junior Ty Cox watches his shot during practice at Pebble Creek Country Club.