THE BATTALIA
Sports
The Battalion
Page IB • Friday, May 2, 2003
A&M sends five to NCAA championships
Men's team lands record number in singles tournament
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THE BATTALION
JOHN C. LIVAS • THE BATTALION
Junior Roberta Spencer is one of five Aggies selected to the 2003 NCAA
Individual Tennis Championships held in late May.
The Texas A&M men’s and women’s ten
nis teams will send five players to the 2003
NCAA Individual Tennis Championships
held in late May.
Three A&M men were selected to com
pete in the field of 64 players from around
the country, marking a school record.
Senior All-American Ryan Newport and
sophomores Lester Cook and Ante
Matijevic will represent their squad.
A seeding at the NCAAs meets the
Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s crite
ria for being named All-American.
Newport received the honor a year ago,
but it is the first All-America recognition
for his two sophomore teammates.
“This is truly a great honor for all three
guys,” said men’s Head Coach Tim Cass.
“Ryan has had a tremendous senior sea
son and continues to be among the
nation’s elite. Lester and Ante have played
very well all season and beaten some very
good teams.”
Last year, Newport reached the round
of 16 in singles competition. The senior
from Houston defeated five top-25 oppo
nents in 2003 to close the season with a
No. 13 national ranking.
Cook was an All-Big 12 selection in
singles and doubles, as was Matijevic.
The No. 10 men’s team has not sent
more than one player to the champi
onships since 1985 when Grant Connell
and Greg Hill made the trip.
From the women’s team, juniors
Jessica Roland and Roberta Spencer will
compete in the individual tournament.
“I’m very excited for both Jessica and
Roberta,” said women’s Head Coach
Bobby Kleinecke. “They have worked
very hard this year, and I’m glad they are
being rewarded for that.”
This year marks Roland’s second
appearance in the tournament. Roland led
the Aggies this season, posting a 23-13
record while playing No. 1 singles and
No. 1 doubles. Last season, Roland com
peted in doubles play with Ashley
Hedberg, but the pair was eliminated in a
first-round match up with Fresno State.
“Jessica’s experience last year will
give her more confidence going into this
year’s tournament,” Kleinecke said. “She
knows what to expect, and her experience
will also benefit Roberta.”
Roland and Spencer finished the year
ranked 71st in doubles play by the 1TA.
The women’s championship is slated
for May 19-24 at Linder Stadium in
Gainesville, Fla. First serve for the men is
scheduled for May 21 at the Dan Magill
Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
“Every match is going to be tough,”
Kleinecke said. “But (our athletes) are
competitors, and I know they will go out
and make the most of their opportunity.”
Meanwhile, both A&M teams will host
the NCAA team championships beginning
Friday, May 9 at the A&M Tennis Center.
The men will take on Maryland-Baltimore
County at 4 p.m., while Kleinecke and the
women will match up with Louisiana
State at 7 p.m.
Texas’ All-American point guard declares draft eligibility
By Jim Veftuno
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — T.J. Ford, the All-
American point guard who led a resur
gent Texas team to the Final Four for the
first time in 57 years, announced
Thursday he will leave for the NBA.
“It’s been a real tough decision,” Ford
told a news conference as he sat next to
coach Rick Barnes. “I will be in the
NBA draft and forego my final two
years.
Ford said he didn’t make his final
decision until Wednesday night although
published reports as early as Tuesday had
speculated that he would leave.
“I feel like I’m making the right
decision. I’m not shaky about it at all,”
Ford said.
He said it was difficult to give up a
college career he enjoyed but ultimately
decided to chase a life-long dream to
play in the NBA. Ford raised eyebrows
in the room by wearing the football jer
sey of his friend Longhorns junior wide
receiver Roy Williams, who spumed his
chance to turn pro early and will return
for his senior season.
Ford said the gimmick was merely to
try to promote his friend.
Ford, who said he has not hired an
agent, is projected as a lottery pick in the
June 26 draft and is likely to be among
the first guards selected.
During the season. Ford said he was
“110 percent” sure he would return.
After Texas lost to eventual national
champion Syracuse in the semifinals,
center James Thomas said, “We’re going
to have the same team all over again.”
But Ford soon made it clear he would
consider leaving for the NBA.
He had an injury
scare two weeks ago
when he spent four
hours in an emergency
room after taking a fall
during a pickup game
on campus. Ford
downplayed the injury
as a “spill” and the
medical treatment as
precautionary but did
not disclose details.
Before Ford’s freshman season at
Texas began in the fall of 2001, he was
diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a narrow
ing of the openings of the vertebra the
FORD
spinal cord runs through. After consult
ing with doctors, Ford decided against
surgery to fix the problem, and tests later
showed that the condition had improved.
Ford said that did not play a role in his
decision.
Ford was considered the key player to
elevating Texas from a solid but unspec
tacular program into one that could com
pete for a national title.
“He has done more in two years for
Texas basketball than anyone who’s
come before him,” Barnes said.
The most highly-touted recruit Texas
had ever signed, the crafty 5-foot-10
point guard was the catalyst for Texas the
past two years. He earned the Naismith
and John R. Wooden awards as national
player of the year.
“I accomplished a lot of things in col
lege. The only thing I didn’t do was win
the national championship,” he said.
Barnes said he expected this deci
sion before the season even started.
“I knew all along that if he had the
type of year he was capable of having,
he would have to make this decision,”
Barnes said. “It’s the right thing to
do. This is his dream.”
With Ford, Texas figured to be a
favorite to win the 2004 NCAA
national championship.
Barnes said Texas will still strive to
return to the Final Four, even without
Ford.
“This junior class that is getting
ready to become the senior class,
they’re the foundation for this program.
They raised the bar,” Barnes said.l >
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