USD Football 1993

TOUCHDOWN ILLUSTRATED

Basketball Prmew

loss to Cal was nothing. It was what we put into the season. Bobby Hurley and I traveled roads over three years that people had never traveled before. I was sad because the two of us would never be able to do that again. In the 1994 season if we don't win the whole thing, my goal is to cry. Not to cry would mean I will not have given it my best effort." Hurley, bound for a brilliant NBA career as a point guard, hands the torch of leadership to 6-8 Grant Hill, who almost certainly will be a strong candidate for Player of the Year. Hill's sprained toe late in the season prevented Duke from getting a footho ld in the NCAA tournament. Coach K calls Hill "the most talented player I've had." But there is another side, which Krzyzewski explained. "Sometimes he's too nice. He's like the all-time nice guy. He was taught to stand in line. Don't butt in. With Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner around, he deferred instead of assum- ing the dominant role. I've talked to him about not deferring anymore." Georgia Tech. H ow to explain Georgia Tech's 1993 season? The Yellow Jackets knocked off top-ranked Duke 80-79, then lost sou ndl y at home to unknown College of Charleston 84- 67. Five days later, Tech lost at home by 23 to Wake Forest. Seeded sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference tourna- ment, Tech got past Clemson 69-61, Duke 69-66, and one day after Dean Smith becomes the second-win- ningest coach in NCAA history, silver- thatched Bobby Cremins beat him and his top-ranked North Carolina team 77-75 in the title game. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 1 at the time. Said Cremins of his Jackets: "This is a weird team, a really, really weird team." Tech gave Cremins his third ACC championship in nine years and returns four players from that lineup:

6-8 James Forrest, 6-7 Martice Moore, 5-11 Travis Best and 6-4 Drew Barry. Before the game, Smith told Cremins, "You've got a pretty good team." Said Cremins, "I thought he was t ryi ng to con me. I told him, 'You've got a pretty good team, too.' And he said, ' No, I mean it."' That said, and with the ACC championship tucked in his back pocket, Cremins accepted the coaching job at South Caroli na, his alma mater, where he had played for Frank McGuire. Then, in a turbulent 18-hour period, he changed his mind and removed his name from a list of candidates at South Carolina, saying, "I'm never looking back. Somebody once said it's better to love and lose than never love at all. I do things instinctively, whether right or wrong. I've been at Georgia Tech 12 years. I wanted a change, a new challenge. I don't know why those things happen." A few days later, acknowledging that he'd made a turnover, Crem ins returned to Tech. His wife, Carolyn, and son, Bobby Jr., did not want to leave Atlanta. Temple. O wls coach John Chaney looked up and exclaimed: "I keep asking, what am I doing here?" Temple was a year early. What he was doing was cutting a wide swath through the NCAA West Regional with victories ove r Missouri, Santa Clara and Vanderbilt, and he was doing it with 6-5 Aaron McKie and 6-6 Eddie Jones, two players who are no longer hidden gems. In mid-February, Temple was 10-10 and apparently going nowhere. Although their grudging matchup zone was not weapon enough to bring down Michigan in the regional title game, Chaney's team played like angels in the tournament. There will be more of the same this season. Santa Clara coach Dick Davey, for

Jimmy Kiug, aka "Jimmy Jam, » 111ill be the Jam Mastcrfo,· Michipau, 111/Jich looks toget to thefr th11·d stmiphtfinal, only this time 111itho11t Chris Wcbbe1'. recruiting was outstanding. He's bringing in 7-0 Rasheed Wal lace, 6-6 Jerry Stackhouse and 6-4 Jeff Mcinnis. With the Tar Heel's collec- tion of talent, the Deandome is once again th e centerp iece on Tobacco Road. Duke. A fter five successive Final Fours, three consecutive appearances in the national championship game and two titles, the Blue Devils' dynasty took a right to the chin. They were eliminated on an acrobatic shot by Cal freshman Jason Kidd in the NCAA Midwest Regi ona l. Duke wept. Unashamedly. Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils coach recalled: "In the locker room we cried uncontrollably. I'll always remember Bobby Hurley hugging me and me hugging him. For two minutes we cried. With each player, we embraced and cried. At the press conference, I cried again. If I didn't cry, something was wrong. The