The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 06, 2001, Image 3

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    Eium
Vednesday, June 6, 2001
Sports
Page 3
THE BATTALION
iggins to lead Aggie men's golf team
ormer New Mexico coach replaces Hall of Fame coach Ellis after 27 years at A&M
» m ■ n ^ AO A /T ! J TT . T7' 11 A /T r ‘ 1 CC T T 11 • *1/^11 O . •
Mark Passwaters
The Battalion
□FLUTE
OJ U'RfO
Replacing a coach who is a member of
iie Golf Coaches Association of Ameri-
la Hall of Fame with 27 years on the job
h no easy task. Texas A&M thinks they
lave found that man in University of
('Jew Mexico golf coach J.T. Higgins.
I “I am extremely pleased J.T. Higgins
:jbas accepted our offer to become the
mens golf coach at Texas A&M,” said Ada-
letic Director Wally Groff. “1 think he will
I ie a tremendous recruiter and an excellent
| it for our program. He was the choice of
ur search committee and 1 had a good
;el for him after our interview.”
“J.T. will do a fantastic job for Texas
A&M,” said retiring coach Bob Ellis.
“I’m very excited for him and the golf
program.”
Higgins became the Lobos head coach
I'm thrilled to hove the
opportunity to be the
men's golf coach at Texas
A&M.”
— J.T. Higgins
new A&M men's golf coach
in 1998 after being the assistant coach at
UNLV from 1991-97. Higgins’ New
Mexico team never finished lower than
fourth in the Mountain West Conference
tournaments and advanced to the NCAA
regionals in 1999 and 2001. In 1998 and
2000, the Lobos advanced to the NCAA
championships.
This season, UNM finished 17th na
tionally in the Golfweek and the College
Golf Foundation polls, and Higgins was
named the 2001 Mountain West Confer
ence Coach of the Year.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to
be the men’s golf coach at Texas A&M. I
had heard great things about the tradi
tions and the pride in the school and the
city,” Higgins said. “I was thoroughly im
pressed with the facilities. And, to top it
off, I fell in love with College Station.’
Higgins’ goals for the Aggie golf pro
gram are not small. “We have a good nu
cleus and a lot of young talent,” he said.
“We can compete right away.”
“If we can compete for the Big 12
championship, we’ll have a great chance
nationally. In the long term, I want to win
some national championships.”
Higgins said that Traditions — the Jack
Nicklaus designed course in Bryan, which
will become the Aggies’ home course in
2002 — will be a great asset in recruiting.
“The addition of Traditions will enable
us to recruit the best players in Texas and
will naturally be a great asset to the pro
gram,” he said.
The Higgins Record
:; ^at New
Named 2001 Mountain West
Conference Coach of the Year
Led UNM to its first-ever West
Regional championship in 1998
UNM finished third at the WAC
Championships in 1998 and 1999,
second at the Mountain West
Championships in 2000 and
fourth in the MWC in 2001
Led UNM to four straight NCAA
regionals and two NCAA
Championship
appearances
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion .
Adriar
^ USE
;>NE OF
> HOTS
: THAI...
tggie basketball fills out roster with new recruits
r atkins optimistic about incoming junior college point guards, Bryan High School standout Daryl Mason
lichael Blahoff andMatthew Thigpen we think we have addressed that with the addition versatile player who played all five positions, was team that has been lacking the last couple of years.
The Battalion °f th e two junior college transfers.” the 13-5A MVP last season and the 16-5A MVP Gardener, a 5-foot-10 inch point guard, aver-
“ £ ^ TTTTTT 1 i 7, 77 Watkins said he focused was on junior college this season, shooting 59.6 percent from the field. aged 13.4 points and 7.7 assists while leading Gar-
“Daryl is a winner,” Watkins said. “I would
think it’s going to be very difficult to keep him sit-
wlib
Michael Blahoff and Matthew Thigpen
The Battalion
During the 2000/01 basketball season, Texas
t&M head coach Melvin Watkins realized that
[he team would need a significant upgrade of
[he guard positions to see an im
Vovement.
In order to see that im-
jrovement, the Aggies have
ligned Bryan High School
■tandout .Daryl Mason and
lunior college point guards
lichael Gardener and
radley Jackson, three players
/ho hope to improve the pro-
Juction and depth of the
ruard spots.
“We felt like the guard spot was the
Biot spot for us in terms of what our immedi-
Bte needs were,” Watkins said. “We surely
Biad some concerns, especially
dth the point guard position and ruben deluna/7he battalion
aryl Mason (Bryan'High) - SG
21.9 points 8.3 rebounds 4.3 assists
1.5 steals 16-5AMVP 59.6% FG
Michael Gardener - PG
Garden City Community College
13.4 points 7.7 assists
Bradley Jackson (Southern Idaho) - PG
4.5 points 4.6 assists
3:1 assists to turnovers
we think we have addressed that with the addition
of the two junior college transfers.”
Watkins said he focused was on junior college
players because of their advantages over high
school players.
“We feel their skill level will make
their transition a lot smoother
than we probably could have
gotten out of the high
school ranks, and their ma
turity level will hopefully
make an adjustment a
. shorter process,” Watkins
said.
Watkins said he saw a
talent in Daryl Mason that
he simply could not pass
up.
The 6-foot-6 inch Mason aver
aged 21.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists
and 1.5 steals while helping Bryan to a 3 3-
4 record and a berth in the state
championship game. Mason, a
ii We feel we have
a chance to have
what we would
call a breakout
season."
WATKINS
w
ting beside me because I think he’ll do things that
say, ‘Hey, coach, I need to be out there on the
floor.’ We are very excited to have Daryl, and I
think our fans will see why we’re excited.”
In signing Michael Gardener, who will have
three years of eligibility at A&M, Watkins hopes
he has a player who will bring the leadership die
team that has been lacking the last couple of years.
Gardener, a 5-foot-10 inch point guard, aver
aged 13.4 points and 7.7 assists while leading Gar
den City Community College to a 25-6 record,
earning second-team all conference honors. He
was a high school teammate of Aggie forward
Jesse King in Detroit.
“[Gardner] brings a lot of energy to the game,
and plays at a pace that we would like to get to,”
Watkins said. “He plays very fast.”
Watkins did not want to get caught short-hand
ed at the point guard position and began pursuing
Bradley Jackson late in the recruiting season.
Coming out of high school two. years ago,
Jackson was rated as the eighth best point guard
in the nation. This past season, Jackson posted a
3:1 assist to turnover ratio while helping South
ern Idaho to a 29-4 record.
“The thing about Bradley is that he might not
play as fast as Michael, but he’s just so solid in his
play in terms of running the team and getting into
See Basketball on Page 4.
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