USD Football 1993

TOUCHDOWN ILLUSTRATED Bas~etball Preview

coaches embraced and shed tears of joy. Th e Gophers aren't unique. Oth ers in seasons past have been frozen out of a spot in the 64-team NCAA Tournament only to seize upon the rejection and, properly motivated, go on to win the NIT. Haskins has the 6-4 Voshon Lenard, 6-8 Randy Carter, 6-2 Arriel McDonald and 6-9 Chad Kolander, starters in the NIT final, returning, as well as 6-1 Townsend Orr and 6-9 Ernest Nzigamasabo, a native of Burundi. Minnesota is a contender for its first Big Ten Conference crown since 1982. However, to accomplish this the Gophers must buck up on the road, where their Big Ten record was 2-7 last season. Lenard is a product of Detroit's west side. He grew up a few back doors from Chris Webber, who took Michigan to the NCAA title game in 1992 and '93. Lenard said, they played for hours at a time. "Best out of seven. We played to 10." Their paths parted later when Lenard attended a public high school and Webber a private institution, but, of course, they remained close friends. One of Lenard's teammates was Jalen Rose, who also went to Michigan. As fate would have it, the three reached national finals last season, though the NCAA and NIT are miles apart in prestige. Just the same, won't the three have stories to tell their grandkids? Georgia. C harles Claxton, a 7-footer with limitless potential, fai led to heed his own advice last season: "Don't set- tle for second best." You couldn't find a soul in the So uth eastern Conference when the Bulldogs tipped off the campaign who wouldn't have bet money that Claxton was ready to terrorize the league. It didn't happen. He averaged 11.5 poin ts and 6.6 rebounds and , when the seaso n ended, found himself on the All-SEC second team selected by the coaches.

Georgia coach Hugh Durham needs four victories to reach number 500 in his career. It's a given that he'll get those, but how far the Dawgs go in a league that has three supercharged entries (Kentucky, Arkansas and Louisiana State ) will depend on whether Claxton turns his game up a notch . People point to his brawny performance as a freshman against former Arkansas ace Oliver Miller (13 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks), but that was a one-time dea l. With Claxton will be 6-8 Carlos Strong (9.2 points and 5.2 rebounds), among the SEC's top five freshmen last season, 6-5 Cleveland Jackson (11.0 and 2.9), 6-3 Ty Wilson (8.5 points, 62 assists, 27 steals) and 5-11 Bernard Davis (9.0, 112 and 38). Durham also has 6- 6 Shandon Anderson, 6-10 Terrell Bell, 6-0 Pertha Robinson and 6-8 Chris Tiger, a redshirt last season. Two incoming freshmen could play a lot: 6-6 Melvin Drake and 6-4 Scott Rolen. Syracuse. l l ]'hat coach in America wouldn't VV want to head into a season with the trio that Jim Boeheim has in 6-4 Adrian Autry, 6-5 Lawrence Moten and 6-7 John Wallace? Moten , a junior, was among the Big East's lead- ers in five different statistical cate- gories last season, and led the Orange in scoring 16 times. He also was deadly with the game on the line. His last-second shot beat Providence. His three-pointer sent a game against Boston College into overtime. His two free throws cl inched a victory over Connecticut. Syracuse, which finished in third place during the Big East's regular season, reached the conference tournament title game, losing to Seton Hall 103-70. The Orange have won or shared four of the last seven regular-season champi- onships. This, at a time when the Big East became the Big Beast. But the league has fallen on hard times and

the r eason why the quality has dropped sharply is not mysterious. The league has been unable to recruit the number of blue-chip players it did in the 1980s. Syracuse wants t o return to the days when it was a scourge. Autry, Moten and Wallace are a start. Throw in 6-6 Lucious Jackson, plus 6-7 Otis Hill and 6-1 Anthony Harris, both of whom were redshirts last season. Incoming fresh- man 6-5 Todd Bergan also is in the picture. Autry had a hand in the Orange's vault from last place to third in the Big East. Check out his num- bers in the first 14 games (10.7 points per game average and 2.8 boards, .405 shooting from the fi eld with five three-pointers) compared to the final 15 games (16.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg, .451 shooting % with 28 treys). Wallace became the fifth freshman in Syracuse history to collect at least 300 points (321) and 200 rebounds (22 1) in a season, joining Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens, Dale Shackleford and Roosevelt Bouie. S omebody said March Madness without the Hoyas is like Ross Perot without ears. Well, listen up. The NCAA held its Big Dance last sea- son minus the steel-gray trapping defense of the Hoyas for the first time in 15 years. That's a tidy little streak that Georgetown coac h John Thompson had to throw out the win- dow. And now, hear this. When his chances of making the 64-team field were dwindling, Thompson said something that could be prophetic: "It's been so long since I've been in this position, I've forgotten the tricks you need to get out of it. I'm more concerned about the development of these players. Going isn't as much a goal for me as winning is when we get there. I want to make sure when this group gets there it has a chance to win it. We feel this is a long-term Pretty good company. Georgetown.