SPORTS
The Battalion I 3.25.15
3
VIEWS
Keep Kennedy
A&M has improved each
season under Kennedy. Time
to let him finish the job.
Igglgg mmm?.
Cole Stenholm
@C_StenJ
1 1 ive losses in the last seven
r-^ games. That alone has many
JL among the A&M men’s bas
ketball fandom questioning why
head coach Billy Kennedy’s isn’t
searching for residency elsewhere
than College Station.
And I understand it. Aggies
want to win and Kennedy has had
more than his fair share of time
in Aggieland. In this day and age
where we’ve seen coaches rou
tinely ousted before the custom
ary three-year grace period, it’s
almost a miracle his contract has
survived this long.
But let’s not be too quick to
launch the basketball program
back into the “hit or miss” ty
phoon that is the college coaching
carousel.
Kennedy is a proven program
builder. At every stop along his
coaching tour, Kennedy has left
his programs in better places than
when he adopted them, whether
that be guiding Southeastern
Louisiana to its first NCAA
tournament appearance or raising
Murray State from 16-14 in 2006-
07 to 31-5 in 2009-10.
Under his leadership, a similar
transformation unfolds in College
Station for the A&M program.
In his first year as head coach in
2011, A&M went 14-18. From
there A&M earned winning re
cords of 18-15 in 2012 and 18-16
record in 2013.
And then, of course, there’s
this year. With the emotional
highs following a 2-5 closure to
the campaign, it’s easy to forget
that this squad won 21 ballgames,
the most victories since 2011. It
was another progressive season in
the Kennedy era as die Aggies ad
vanced to the second round of the
National Invitation Tournament.
The NIT is no NCAA tourna
ment, but it is often thought of
as a springboard for developing
Cody Franklin —THE BATTALION
Billy Kennedy will have a strong crop of freshmen next season.
programs toward future NCAA
tournament appearances and suc
cess. Take, for instance, Wichita
State University.
In their development under up
and rising head coach Gregg Mar
shall, the Shockers appeared in
the first round of the NIT in 2010
and then won the tournament the
following year before advancing
to the NCAA tournament four
consecutive years, including this
year’s current Sweet 16 run.
It’s not hard to fathom that
A&M is in an “NIT phase” of its
own under Kennedy. A&M was
never outmatched in any contest
this year, it swept NCAA tourna
ment team LSU and it took No. 1
Kentucky to the brink of defeat in
a double overtime thriller at Reed
Arena.
Obviously, A&M fans will
hope their team’s “NIT phase”
will be a year shorter than
Wichita State’s, and I think that’s
- i in .
quite realistic.
The Aggies expect to have
both of their most productive
players back next season in juniors
Danuel blouse and Jalen Jones.
House led the Aggies in scor
ing and was their best player, but
missed his last four games, which
fell right in the thick of that criti
cized 2-5 closing stretch. Jones
was the team’s second-leading
scorer and leading rebounder.
A&M also molded freshmen
Alex Robinson and Peyton Allen
into contributing roles. Robinson
received key minutes orchestrat
ing the offense and Allen offered
a 3-point threat coming off the
bench.
Lastly, and perhaps most
importantly, the Aggies have
assembled, under Kennedy’s guid
ance, the No. 3 recruiting class in
the nation for the upcoming sea
son. All four members are ranked
inside the ESPN top 70.
Are you sure that’s the head
coach you want to can?
Like I said, I get it. Aggies
want to win, and they want to
win no^. But don’t let what was
an unforeseen, bitter conclusion
tdThe ^(jl4-15 campaign hafig
over the big picture.
Kennedy’s got the ball moving
on his master plan. Now, let’s let
him see it through.
Senior DB
; Devante
Harris
said he is
excited for
the shift in
defensive
culture at
I A&M.
AGGIES TALK REVAMPED
DEFENSE AT SPRING BALL
At spring practice Tuesday,
secondary coach Terry Joseph
broke down what fans will see
from the Aggie defense under
coordinator John Chavis.
"Watching from a fan's
standpoint it'll be a lot more
aggressive, a lot closerto the line
Jena Floyd — THE BATTALION
of scrimmage," Joseph said. "One
guy will be responsible for one guy
and one route and we want you to
win that one-on-one battle."
Senior cornerback Devante
Harris said he is excited about
the transition.
"I love that," he said. "Just
guard the man in front of you."
Alex Scott
MORE AT TX.AG/BATT21
No. 1 track and field teams
set for Texas Relays scrum
By Seth Stroupe
K. The Texas A&M track team will
make the short trip to Austin to
compete Wednesday in the Texas
Relays, a unique event that draws
athletes from the high school, colle
giate and professional ranks.
More than 6,625 athletes are slated
to compete over the four-day sched
ule of events. That includes represen
tatives from 687 high school squads,
208 college teams and 134 invita
tional athletes, making it likely the
only event of the season to see com
petitors from Southlake Carroll and
the Japanese national team running
on the same track. The massive field
encompasses 34 states and over eight
countries.
The Aggies debuted at No. 1 in
the men’s and women’s divisions in
the first set of outdoor track rankings
released Tuesday. The outdoor sea
son is still in its infancy, but the Ag
gies are already well represented on
the collegiate leaderboard with the
top marks in three individual events
and two relays.
Senior Olabanji Asekun leapt to
the No. 1 spot in a very literal man
ner last week in Tempe when he re
corded a mark of 24 feet, 9 inches in
the men’s long jump. That distance
was 11/4 inch better than anyone
else this season.
Junior Lathone Collie has also
found himself atop the early season
standing in the men’s triple jump
after recording a mark of 52 feet, 4
3/4 inches. But the most dominant
individual performance from last
weekend’s opener belongs to Junior
Shelbi Vaughn, who now holds the
top three spots in the women’s discus
with spins of 195-2, 195, and 187-5.
Her best toss of 195-2 is the seventh-
best in school history.
The Aggie men also lead the
country in both the 4x100 and 4x400
relays. Fresh off a new indoor colle
giate record for the mile relay at the
NCAA championships, the quartet
of Josh Hernandez, Bralon Taplin,
Deon Lendore, and Hector Her
nandez wasted no time setting the
pace again last weekend with a time
of 3:06.67. Taplin and Lendore also
had their hands in the 4x100, join
ing Devin Jenkins and Shavez Hart to
post a nation-leading time of 38.98
seconds.
The event will be televised exclu
sively on the Longhorn Network.
General admission for Friday and
Saturday is $10. Onlookers can take
in Wednesday and Thursday’s com
petition free of charge.
Place an Ad
Phone 979.845.0569
Suite L400,
Memorial Student Center
Texas A&M University
When to Call
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Newsday Crossword
SEW IT UP by Carolyn Stewart
Edited by Stanley Newman
www.stanxwords.com
ACROSS
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ingredient
5 Dashboard
instrument
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purchase
14 Creme-filled
cookie
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16 Mischievous
sprite
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22 Bowling-alley
button
23 Get the
ground floor
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announcement,
for short
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(to)
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runners
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35 Loud slap
37 “Steady as
goes”
38 Moisten, as
certain cutlets
41 Employ
42 Stingless bee
43 Bronze
medalist’s
place
44 Meal at the
base
46 Peculiar
47 Paving pieces
46 Pantry invader
50 Fret
51 Sci-fi author
Jules
54 Be indecisive
59 Zinc _
7 Honeycomb
35 Wearing
ointment
section
footwear
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8 Achilles’ weak
36 Young tabby
61 “That hurts!”
spot
39 Jogging pace
62 Placed a
9 Quick increase
40 Dine, so to
bandage on
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speak
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inaptitude
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64 Used to be
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material
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assistance
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clarinet
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“Forget if
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for one
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DOWN
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picking
1 Lincoln in-law
law
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2 Vicinity
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salon
3 Evil glance
31 Welcome at the
55 Otherwise
4 Most hokey
door
56 Donald Duck
5 Walk stealthily
32 Way over
nephew
6 From China
yonder
57 Land measure
or India
33 Transmits
58 Make sharper
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ANSWERS
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