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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1998)
1951 Tuesday • February 24, 1998 Sport en o\ Texas A&M Hoop Dreams ^Southern Comfort\ Sharpe Shooter / Basketball Jones Schmidt adapts to Texas life \ Timing perfect for Sharpe in sophomore year / A&M junior gaining respect tie 1 that da nchmai -raged* 're. :rv t a betu linaska her wo: shi tWi By Katie Mish Staff writer eatt: 56, en Michael Schmidt started playing basketball in the seventh _ . V* grade, he was forced to give up v&uedi mother sport to do so — hockey. / rely o “j use( j to pi a y hockey, but I started to me ; j jet too tall for hockey, so I decided to O’Brie iwitch over to basketball,” Schmidt said, frey. h Schmidt, a freshman education major ^ornpaa railing from Toronto, was the No. 1 - ranked a acthi ligh school player in Canada and was i for bus lamed to the 1997 Canadian mem. inder-22 National Team, showini Schmidt said his most ittlewa nemorable moment was isease igning his letter of intent a mom olexas A&M after be- menta n 8 recruited by ^Ugl Minnesota, I)~ .^^faul, Syracuse d South- f«fSt BUt r , iigned wdth Texas A&M be iongta| ore even setting at nead oot in the state of jedwhis [exas. -tion. "i came to A&M y spoke iccause of the peo- organia lie and the great at- lasasti nosphere, and it’s wouldk he college life that tativeo wanted,” dtofai khmidtsaid. Schmidt cred- spoke his mother dioaitt ^ his hi g h ttlemei cho °! . coacl i- ilist Gai ,teve Re P lc ’ as mo overt infl uences in his early play. ,e ' 7 lere at A&M he looks o his recruiter and his :naiBi ^^5 on campus, prograi Schmidt said the ty ^ ilay at the college lev- is more physical lan play at the high chool level. “Day to day you’re playing against great players," Schmidt said. “Every day you're playing someone who might be going to the NBA or be an All-American candi date. In high school, maybe you have one tough player per team.” Schmidt said he would like to forget his first season at Texas By Chris Ferrell Staff writer Jeff Schmidt Staff writer which the first losing season of his career. He said he hopes next year to win the Big 12 Con ference and go on to the NCAAToumament. Shanne Jones, a sophomore forward, said Schmidt is a good guy to be around, and he has really eing around Prissy Sharpe, you get the feeling that timing is every thing. There is her timing on the basketball court, something which, along with her desire, has led her to become one of the nation’s top rebounders. Sharpe has recorded 15 dou ble-doubles for theTexas A&M Women’s Basketball Team this season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. While her scoring has been big, it is her rebounding that sets the 6-foot-1 -inch sophomore apart from other players. “She is a great re bounder,” senior center Kim Linder said. “Her was \ scoring is huge for us, but her rebounding is just unbelievable. She’s not tall, she’s j not a great leaper but she rebounds really well. I think it’s her de sire for the ball. I don’t know anyway else nose for the ball. Rebounding is something that you hav e to have an instinct for. You have to want the ball. You have to have the I-want-the- ball attitude. You have to say, ‘when the ball | Shanne Jones comes off, I’m going to go get it.’ Some /could borrow a line people have it and some people don't" /from Rodney Danger- Sharpes emergence this season ,ic,* n^ith^r has been critical for the Aggies, but / get anv re spect. Dur- not completely unexpected. She /j n „ Jones’ first season was the teams leading returning / at A&M , his sophomore rebounder and shot blocker I he averaged l2A and second leading s “ re r lp oints a me * k , ague coming into the season. After ■ putting up such impressive numbers as a freshman, ■ , ^ u ^ 1 nearly five rebounds a game yet was not named to the Big 12 Newcomer team. Despite averaging 19.1 points per confer- Jplay, second among con- fference newcomers, and stepped up offensively as well 1 to explain it.” as defensively. \ Sharpe said her ability to “He plays aggressively on de- \ rebound is something that fense; he’s one of our better defen- \ she works on relentlessly, sive players and he’s a real tough per-\ “That’s something that son who doesn’t back down from \ can help my team,” she said, anyone,” Jones said. “For a freshman, 1 “On this team, it might not he came ready to play every game.” 1 be my responsibility to lead Jones said that he has been im- \ the team in scoring. 1 think pressed at the level of Schmidt’s \ its my responsibility to re play, especiaUy for being a freshman. \ bound. My team looks to “At the beginning of the season 1 me to rebound and I take his shot wasn’t falling, but now that 1 pride in doing that, it is you can just see how well he’s play- \ “I’ve said this a lot I ing,” Jones said. “Tie’s playing at what we \ think it > s just having a expected him to play all year. He s just a * Sharpe said that she want ed to become more consis tent this season. “I just wanted to play good and I definitely _ wanted to average a dou- / ence g a me this season, ble-double. Now I’m actu- /8 ooc ^ f° r fifth in the Big ally doing that. /12 Conference, Jones will “It was my goal to do /probably not garner as well as I’ve been do- / an y all-conference ing. You always have /notoriety, confidence in yourself. / "Not with our So, yeah, I expected to /record. It’s a team do well. I’m very/game,” Coach Tony pleased with how I’ve /Barone said. “You’re been playing. /a victim of your team It’s a mind-set re- / in terms of its won-loss ally. Consistency is/record as well as the something that /profile of it. He should’ve has come into play, /been on the all-newcom- In the past I wasn’t as consistent /ers team last year.” as I am now. In a game I pretty / This season has been much know that I’m going to go /tough on all the players, out and get my double-double /especially Jones. Jones or whatever. I’ve been really /has attempted to consistent and that is the dif- /shoulder the offensive ference between this year and /burden but the Ag- lastyear.” /gies continue to Last season Sharpe start- /struggle, ed 23 of 27 games for an / “ H is only real A&M team that relied heav-/p ro bi ern IS ^e ily on freshmen. Those /gg^s down on freshmen have now been /himself too eas- playing together for two | ily He shou i dn > t his effort has been at the top of the line,” Barone said. However, Jones almost never became an Aggie. Jones played his freshman year at Stetson and left when his head coach took the head coaching job at Akron. He was ready to follow his coach to Akron but he was not granted a release by Stetson. Jones felt that his former team would not be successful with a new coach. “I thought that there was going to be chaos after he left,” Jones said. Eventually, he obtained the release and became an Aggie instead. Under NCAA guidelines, Jones was forced to sit out his true sophomore year and redshirt. During that season Jones received the team’s “Mr. Hustle" award at the annual basketball banquet even though he did not even play that season. This season, Jones has been on fire. He started off the season with 27 points against Stephen F. Austin University. He has led the team in scoring in 13 of its 24 games, in cluding a career-high 32 points against the University of Texas. Despite these accom plishments, Jones still sees things he can im prove upon. “I could re bound a little bet ter and get better at three-point shooting and perimeter defense,” Jones said. really good player.” Please see Sharpe on Page 8. Ido that because Please see Jones on Page 9. PHOTOS BY RYAN ROGERS AND BRANDON BOLLOM/The Battalion tits Marine Officer i :r Platoon iu Officer Selections 113 BOYETT ST. STATION, TX. 77840 Marines THE CHANGE IS FOREVER The Platoon Leaders Class is a commissioning program that requires no interruption of your academic year, and pays approximately $3,000 for 10 weeks of training and two six week summer sessions. • Is open to female and male freshman through seniors. Officer Candidates class open to seniors and college grads. • GUARANTEED AVIATION for qualified students (both male and female) with 20/30 or better uncorrected vision. 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