Page 7 • Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Sports
The Battalion
jAggies travel to Kansas State
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
In ihe first two games of Big 12 Conference
play, Texas A&M has been close to beating two
of the most prominent basketball programs in the
nation: Missouri and Kansas.
Kansas State (8-5, 0-2 Big 12) also played
Kansas and came close to beating the
Jayhawks, but to no avail. More recently, the
Wildcats gave up a 16-point second half lead,
only to lose by a single point to No. 24
Oklahoma State.
Now A&M (7-6, 0-2) travels to
Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State
Wednesday night in a battle of two teams
that feel as if they should have at least one
upset win, if not two, under their belts.
“We've come off two of the better teams
in the league, and we thought we had
chances to win us some ball games), but we
didn't get it done," said A&M head coach
Melvin Watkins. “I'm sure (Kansas State)
will be feeling the same way.”
The Aggies are hoping to get senior for
ward Jesse King back in the lineup after he
missed the team's game against Kansas due
to an injured foot suffered in practice last
week. King is the Aggies' second leading
scorer and second leading rebounder, aver
aging 13 points and 5.8 boards per game.
“He will be day-by-day,” Watkins said.
"He was pretty sore, and they did a lot of
treatment, but he was not ready to go
(against Kansas). 1 really
think we're playing better
now, and the kids are get
ting a little more confidence
in our abilities to play
against teams, but we sure
ly miss Jesse.”
King’s return would help
ease the pressure off of A&M
senior center Andy Slocum,
w ho had a tremendous defen
sive game against Kansas.
Tonight, Slocum will once
again face two outstanding
post players when he faces
Kansas State junior Jeremiah
Massey and sophomore
Marques Hayden.
Massey leads the Wildcats
with 14.3 points a game while
contributing 7.7 rebounds per
contest. Hayden owns the paint
for Kansas State pulling down
8.5 boards per game while
averaging 10.4 points.
"I've been playing as hard
as I can against every post
player 1 play.” Slocum said.
“When big men come up
against me 1 want to do the best
1 can so I can make a good
showing."
See Men on page 2
Senior
|P Beato III • THE BATTALION
forward Jesse King dunks over two Ark.-Pine Bluff defenders
Women seek first conference win on road
By Brad Bennett
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M women’s bas
ketball will look for its first
■conference victory against No.
14 Colorado tonight in Boulder.
Colo.
Tera Bjorklund. Colorado’s
6-foot-5-inch center, is the
tallest obstacle the Aggies must
overcome to grasp their first
conference win in five tries.
Bjorklund ranks second in the
Big 12 scoring, with 19.6 points
a game.
“(Bjorklund) will be a
WNBA first-round draft
choice,” said A&M Head Coach
G^BHur.-Theyrun.he.r,^
are con,ple.ely
spread out Che Colorado
offense lo overcome their shod-
comings in the paint.
•1 will be guarding
Bjorklund with a 6-footer. You
don’t win a whole lot of battles
that way” Blair said, “Unless
you are able to force turnovers
by pressuring in the ball all over
the court and not allowing
(Colorado) to get into their
sets."
See Basketball on page 8
Farmer transfers to
Stephen F. Austin
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
Texas A&M football will be
without another player next sea
son, as junior running back
Derek Farmer was not enrolled
Tuesday for the beginning of
spring classes.
Farmer will finish his eligi
bility at Stephen F. Austin
University.
"He went through admissions
today,” said SFA Sports
Information Director Rob Meyers.
"He is enrolled at SFA.”
Farmer will join a team that
finished 7-4 in the Southland
Conference in the 2003 season.
“We are excited to have
someone of Derek’s abilities,”
said SFA head coach Mike
Santiago. "He has the potential
to add more quality to an
already good football team. By
coming in this spring, it gives
Derek a chance to go through
spring practice with us, learn
our system and compete.”
Fanner started all 12 games
for the Aggies in the 2(X)3 sea
son, but his workload was sig
nificantly reduced due to the
emergence of redshirt freshman
running back Courtney Lewis.
With Lewis now the Aggie
offense’s premiere back.
Farmer said he felt he would
have a better chance at playing
time elsewhere.
“I decided it was a time for a
change in my football career.”
Fanner said. “Stephen F. Austin is a
good football program with solid
history. I’m looking forward to
being able to come over here my
senior year and help the team.”
|P Beato • THE BATTALION
Running back Derek Farmer
transferred to Stephen F. Austin
Farmer could not transfer to
another Division 1-A school
because NCAA rules state that
players who transfer from one
Division I-A school to another
must sit out a year, and lose that
year of eligibility. With only
one season of eligibility
remaining. Farmer had to seek
out a Division 1-AA school
such as SFA.
Farmer rushed for 1,582
yards in his three-year career at
A&M while scoring 11 touch
downs. In 2(X)3, Fanner carried
the ball only 82 times — 90
fewer than in 2002, for 340
yards. Lewis, meanwhile,
became the first Aggie back to
gain more than 1,000 yards in a
season since 1998.
Farmer is the second casualty
the Aggies have suffered during the
off-season due to transfers. Junior
quarterback Dustin Long transferred
to Sam Houston State in December.
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with
special guest
Dft€W WOMACK
(formally of The Sons of the Desert)
Friday, Jan. 23 BD 2004
J »
313 S. COLLEGE
846-334
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AT Traditions .
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Congratulations
to the following outstanding Texas A&M students
accepted into Teach For America. They’ve shown
they have the leadership and commitment needed
to tackle one of our nation’s most challenging problems.
Andrew Polk
Brent Lindeburg
Carrie Darrah
Jessica Hasty
Lindsay Waller
You can still apply!
Final Application Deadline: February 15
www.teachforamerica.org
TEACHFORAMERICA
One day, all children will have an equal chance at life.