The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, December 05, 2000, Image 9

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    pdex: Section B
orts 2B, 3B; Classified 4B; Opinion 7B
ueilay, November 5, 2000
Sports
Page IB
THE BATTALION
Vggie men to take on Lamar
jfASON Lincoln
’ Battalion
"here will be no dead week for
^ie basketball this year. As the rest
[he Texas A&M campus prepares
[finals, the Aggies prepare for a
Ferent kind of test, with a season
liopes waiting on the results.
Tuesday’s matchup against Lamar
l) will be the Aggies’ (2-3) last
bee to prepare for the toughest
Jiconference stretch of games an
ggie basketball team has faced in
1 Melvin Watkins era.
one-month road stretch that
bus with No. 14 North Carolina
jins this Saturday in Houston and
jshes with the Rainbow Classic in
Inolulu.
[ForA&M’s heralded group of un-
rclassmen, the easy part is almost
er. But the Aggies must first look
fee game at hand against Lamar.
[The Cardinals may not hold the
[stige of the Top 25 opponents
A&M is preparing for, but are more
than worthy of respect. Last season
Lamar shocked A&M in a 76-69
66-,
But right now
we're going to fo
cus on who we are
and what we can
do as a team to
get better”
— Melvin Watkins
Texas A&M men's
basketball coach
overtime decision in Beaumont. It
marked the fourth straight time the
Cardinals downed A&M in the Mon-
tagne Center.
“We’re going to look at Lamar
and we’re going to break the tape
down,” Watkins said. “But right now
we’re going to focus on who we are
and what we can do as a team to get
better.”
Tonight the game will be played
in Reed Arena, where A&M has
blundered just once this season.
Meanwhile, the Aggies have gone
winless on the road. The latest defeat
was in double overtime against Vir
ginia Commonwealth.
Despite a pair of three-pointers in
the final five seconds by guard
Bernard King, VCU held on to the
one-point win.
King scored 22 points and was the
only A&M starter not to foul out in
the record game that featured more
points in the second overtime than
any other in NCAA history.
King’s first breakout performance
in his 1999 rookie campaign came
against Lamar, when he posted 31
points.
A&M now has another top re
cruiting class with star potential.
But Watkins needs his rookies to
grow up fast, the same way King did
a year ago at approximately the same
point in his career.
True freshman Nick Anderson
and sophomore transfer Keith Bean
are a pair of newcomers who were
thrown into the starting lineup and
are looking to make an immediate
impact on the team.
They add a physical presence un
derneath the basket that has not been
a characteristic of Aggie basketball
in recent years.
However, with injuries up and
down the Aggie roster, the newcom
ers have been forced to take a much
larger share of the load with little
time to adjust.
Forward Tomas Ress is returning
from a staph infection, but forward
See Revenge on Page 2B.
CODY WAGES/Thi; Battalion
Keith Bean and the A&M men's team take on Lamar tonight at 7 in Reed.
ndy Bowl showcases one of nation’s most intriguing matchups
NOTEBOOK
0JEDJil3
r he conjecture is over — A&M will
face its former coach Jackie Sherrill
in the Sanford Independence Bowl on
pw Year’s Eve in Shreveport, La.
A&M coach R.C. Slocum told the Asso-
ated Press he is pleased to get the oppor-
fiity to play his former boss.
Slocum is one of the best spin doctors in
; coaching business, unleashing coach-
leak in every answer he gives when asked
bw he feels about one opponent or another.
When asked how he felt about playing
prill’s Mississippi State Bulldogs, he
gave the predictable answer, pointing out
the fact they are a quality team from a qual
ity conference.
Sherrill said all the right things too,
pointing out the good memories he had of
his time at A&M, including five straight
wins over Texas and his first Aggie Bonfire.
That warm fuzziness is a bit of a change
for Sherrill, after he reportedly lit up when
told he might take on his former employers.
Not to imply there is any animosity be
tween the two coaches. Slocum was Sher
rill’s assistant head coach and defensive coor
dinator at A&M and both of them professed
their respect for each other to the AP.
But for Sherrill, this game could mean
redemption for the past.
Sherrill came to A&M in 1982, at a time
when the Aggies had not been to the Cotton
Bowl in 15 years, when Gene Stallings was
at the helm.
mmmmmimk
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La.
Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
Within four years, Sherrill had the Ag
gies back in Dallas on New Year’s Day. Be
fore he was done after the 1988 season,
Sherrill had won three consecutive SWC
Championships from 1985-1987.
But Shem 11 did not leave on good terms.
He left the program slapped with
NCAA probation that would haunt the Ag
gies into the ’90s for allegedly paying a
former player to keep quiet about recruit
ing improprieties.
Even though the player later recanted his
accusation, Sherrill’s legacy was complete
and he was viewed as a bad boy until Mis
sissippi State scooped him up in 1991.
Although he has stayed clear of any
more NCAA rules violations, he has not
completely shaken his bad reputation, and
for good reason.
In 1992, before a game with the Univer
sity of Texas, Sherrill castrated a bull in
front of his players to motivate them to play
the Longhorns.
Guess he never got over the whole UT
rivalry thing — and he never even worked
for the folks in Austin.
That begs the question, will Jackie’s
next move be the neutering of a collie
Let’s hope not, but regardless of his mo
tivation techniques, he should have his team
ready to take on the Aggies in Shreveport.
In other business, for anyone wanting to
see the I-Bowl, they better get in line now.
The south end zone of Independence Stadi
um is under construction for renovation, re
ducing capacity to 37,000.
Regular seats are already sold out and
each school will get 12,000 tickets. A&M
students will be allotted 2,000 of those and
the rest will go on sale to the general public
after season-ticket holders’ orders are filled.
Ticket prices range from $25-$35 and will
be distributed by the A&M ticket office when
they arrive from Shreveport later this week.
Blaine Dionne is a senior journalism major.
im
m
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