The Battalion
Sports
Page 3 • Monday, August 2, 1999
Aaron Jack-F
Begins senior year
in 1999
Jerald Brown-G/F
Begins senior year
in 1999
Michael Schmidt-G
Transferring to Niagra
University in 1 999
Chris Richards-C
Quit team at start
of 1998 season
iJi
im
i
Chris Clayton-G
Completed eligibility’
in 1999
TJ. Brown-G
Not medically cleared
to play in 1999
1 I |Ljr f ^
.ftrTIMi ■ f f ' ,.J. m
w t . If k -Apr' 1 if
Calvin Davis-F
Herniated back disk ^ ar *° Quesada-C
Shanne Jones-F ended career in 1998 back disk Larry Thompson-C/F
Completed eligibility ended career in ’98 Completed eligibility
in 1999 in 1998
Brian Barone-G
Transferred to Marquette
University' in 1998
Steve Houston-G
Dismissed for violating
team rules in 1998
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
Sihce his arrival at Texas A&M University, coach Melvin Watkins has molded the Men’s Basketball Team into his own through recruiting. Only two of the 12 players from the 1997-98 squad remain on the team today.
1 Building a Winning Team
Aggie coach Melvin Watkins makes most of his first-full recruiting class at Texas A&M
BY JEFF WEBB
The Battalion
he most amazing sight outside the
Coleman High School gymnasium in
Gibsland, La., was not the few ma-
I Hon-clad basketball fans, some standing
pli their toes and craning their necks for a
bkter view inside the place on an atypical-
■frosty March evening in North Louisiana.
^ ~ ■ The person they came to see, this real-
, 'Me Jesus Shuttlesworth of Gibsland, La.,
e-strangulTM s t j ie ma j n attraction in a hotly contest-
inty woma ■ s{ate p] a y 0 ff g ame against Pitikin High
, iMhool.
st {ie j| If Th e window beside the door of the sold-
thal need^ X ramshackle gym was the only way to
'dnesd<n h see th e Division I phenom for the many
?d, is the M] 10 CO uldn’t get tickets and were left on
Me outside.
i death ro«l; Bernard King was ranked among the
i they geu i 0 p 40 recruits in most college basketball
■cent inter publications, and he had committed to
they want x ( Kas a&M in November at the request of
te senfe-r Watkins, a coach who had just
hankingG 1 - 1 completed his first year at the helm of a
es hackit'r traditionally pitiful program.
le’s Shefti M Watkins pulled a minor coup during the
? night ot ' off-season, filling all 13 scholarships by
^600 in O' stealing top-ranked recruits out from un
der the whistles of other college coaches.
; a 3-foot-WB Nine players mark the first full recruit-
mer sawntHL c i ass froj-p the long-time University of
> blamed a; North Carolina-Charlotte (UNC-C) coach.
forsomN- Watkins was wooed on April 1, 1998,
? butchered j exas a&M Athletics Director Wally
:hroat wenM ro ff an d a rich contract that makes him
nes in t|' e one of the highest paid college basketball
i pain,' f coaches in the state.
I Although the news conference an
nouncing his hiring was conducted on
■pril Fools’ Day, the joke is now on
B/atkins’ critics. The new class is expected
to come in right away and improve a team
Miat posted a mere 12-15 record last year.
ieral fuiA’l “ The y ( the recruits) are still going to be
ieeds to hq
freshman,” Watkins said. “We try to think
we can ease them into it, but the Big 12
Conference is a major adjustment. Bernard
has the confidence, but physically he’s not
strong enough. But right now, Bernard will
have the easiest time adjusting.”
The Aggies need King to contribute
minutes right away, possibly at point
guard.
Former starting point guard Clifton
Cook, named Big 12 Conference Newcom
er of the Year in 1999, was ruled academi
cally ineligible on June 30, signifying the
end of his A&M career.
Cook led the team in assists (5.8), steals
(2.5) and scoring (15.6) and was named
third team All-Big 12 by league coaches.
“When I got to the
state of Texas, I
found that a lot of
kids were excited
about A&M
- MELVIN WATKINS
BASKETBALL COACH
“It was a major setback for us, but more
importantly for the kid,” Watkins said of
Cook’s situation. “We don’t know what
will become of him. We got him a tryout
with the (Houston) Rockets, and he might
play across the water. He was our man, but
now we have to face the hardest period of
replacing him.”
His replacement will be King or 1999 re
cruit Jamaal Gilchrist of Middleburg, Va.
Other guards in the signing class include
Damon Escoffery, a community college
transfer from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jesse
King, an athletic 6’ 6” swingman from De
troit, Mich.
But the prize of the class is King, who
was recruited by more than 30 coaches be
fore he signed. He said the opportunity to
play during his first season was the reason
he chose A&M.
“Before I came in, [Watkins] said it was
going to be a young team,” King said. “It
feels good because I wanted to go some
where where I was going to get a chance
to play early. Not until this year did people
get a chance to see me play. I knew I could
be a top prospect.
“I committed early because I wanted to
concentrate on my season and try to win
the championship.”
Watkins offered the possibility of play
ing time to most of the new recruits be
cause high-school players want the
promise of early playing time once they en
roll. The large roster turnover for the Ag
gies in the last two years created a need for
new contributors.
“It happens that in the world we live in
today, there is no delayed gratification,”
Watkins said. “Freshmen are not happy
when they’re not playing, and kids don’t
want to waste their time.
“But we’re on solid ground. The bonus
is we have a lot of open spots.”
Andy Slocum is another freshman who
will fight for playing time next season. Re
cruiting analyst Bob Gibbons ranks him as
the 88th best high-school player in the
country. Slocum, from West Monroe, La.,
was persistently pursued by Utah, Auburn
and Florida State University, among oth
ers, before signing with the Aggies.
Slocum and King are just the latest
names added to a long list of blue-chip re
cruits from Louisiana who Watkins has re
cruited.
While at UNC-C, he signed Kelvin Price
(New Iberia), Kedric Smith (Alexandria)
and Charles Heyward (Alexandria). Each
player went on to become significant fac
tors in UNC-C’s last three NCAA Tourna-
Current players ones most affected
by arrival of new recruits on campus
BY JEFF WEBB
The Battalion
Texas A&M Men’s Basketball coach
Melvin Watkins signed one of the na
tion’s top 15 recruiting classes, but it
might have come at the expense of some
Aggie players.
Guard T.J. Brown will not play bas
ketball for the Aggies during the 1999-
2000 season because he was not cleared
medically to play by team trainer Mike
Ricke. Brown tore his anterior cruciate
ligament during his freshman season and
suffered another injury last year.
However, Brown’s personal doctor
said he was healthy enough to continue
his career.
“The doctor that performed my
surgery said that my bone would heal 100
percent,” Brown said. “Mike Ricke ex
amined me and wouldn’t clear me to
play. At the end of the year, we had our
individual meetings with Coach Watkins,
and he told me that I could stay on med
ical or transfer and play, but I couldn’t
play next year. 1 thought that was kind of
bizarre. ”
Watkins said Brown could not pass his
physical, but he will remain on scholar
ship until he graduates. Watkins offered
Brown his scholarship release to transfer,
but Brown said he would not leave A&M
at the moment.
“I considered it for a while, but [A&M
is] like my home now,” Brown said. “I
don’t adapt to change well.”
Change has been the one constant for
the men’s basketball program since Tony
Barone was reassigned during the spring
of 1998.
Of the 12 players on the Aggies’ roster
at the start of the 1997, only two remain
on this year’s roster.
Three completed their basketball eli
gibility and left with a degree and anoth
er two, Dario Quesada and Calvin Davis,
quit the team after back injuries made it
impossible for them to play.
However, a large number of the play
ers transferred were dismissed or quit the
team.
John McFall, Brown’s high-school
coach in Olathe, Kan., had many players
who went on to Division I college pro
grams. McFall’s son, Brett, plays basket
ball at the University of Wyoming.
He said the exodus of players from the
A&M program is a sign of the times of col
lege basketball.
see Current on Page 4.
ment appearances, although Heyward lost
time after being diagnosed with leukemia
two years ago.
“I don’t know that I have connections,”
Watkins said, “but I have worked that state
in the past. When I got to the state of Texas,
I found that a lot of kids were excited about
A&M.”
Assistant coach Bobby Kummer played
for Watkins for four years at UNC-C before
see Recruits on Page 4.
' ou ’ re “
ile often
ding is
«time,
ng backf° [l j
,re efficient J
save conn
Lawrence Phillips’ return to NFL shows people
eed only money, athletic ability to succeed
Ryan
GARCIA
verything anyone
needs to know about
u.- life can be learned
p ensuF- from the National Foot-
p „J> a11 Le a g ue.
■rnative e M if life manages to sack
sand cun | you, c j ust yourself off and
J|et back up again. Oppor-
d sqentijPMunities are created —
,menonUMhey are not just the result
t W e aredumb luck. Finally, al-
Mvays take advantage of
•oblems^whatever you can when dealing with a guy
y falls on ■he size of Randy Moss.
tnsumet 5 ' 1 ' Even now in the preseason, as the scram-
„ ale to begin NFL training camps ensues,
e utility iootball fans are still being educated. This
dobale 11 '' 11 ;; month’s lesson: No matter how bad a person
liable,”you are, athletic ability ensures you millions
at dollars.
This valuable lesson was provided by the
z /rfjP‘"BSan Francisco 49ers and its general manager
Bill Walsh, who signed troubled running
back Lawrence Phillips to a two-year deal
this month, worth an undeserved $1.75 mil
lion, including a $425,000 signing bonus.
Phillips could earn even more through in
centives.
Phillips, who Aggies may remember as
the explosive Nebraska running back who
made headlines with his suspension for as
saulting a former girlfriend, became even
more notorious in the NFL after being draft
ed by the St. Louis Rams with the sixth over
all pick in 1996.
As a Ram, Phillips was arrested three
times in a period of 19 months before being
released by coach Dick Vermeil who cited
Phillips’ excessive tardiness to numerous
practices and overall lack of discipline as the
main reasons.
In addition, Phillips’ lackluster on-the-
field performance wasn’t exactly setting the
NFL on fire.
Despite an already horrid track record,
Miami Dolphins’ coach Jimmy Johnson gave
Phillips a second chance only to release him
four weeks later after an incident in which
he allegedly struck a woman who refused to
dance with him in a nightclub.
With a hitting streak like his, Phillips
should have pursued a baseball career rather
than toil away in the NFL.
Finally, with no options left, Phillips was
relegated to NFL Europe, an overseas devel
opmental and last-chance league for the
NFL.
Amid talent that couldn’t compete in the
Big 12 Conference, Phillips finally managed
to compile decent numbers, setting single
season records with 1,021 rushing yards and
14 touchdowns.
With an overrated NFL Europe perfor
mance, Phillips’ big break came when San
see Phillips on Page 4.
MARK MCPHERSON/The Battalion