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■ FANFARE
8 • The Red and Black • Thursday, February 1, 1990
SPORTS
Intramural basketball
title battle convenes
By ROBERT McDONALD
Sports Writer
Stegeman Hall has certainly
seen its share of sweaty people
over the past three weeks as 180
student intramural basketball
teams have been hitting the
hardwood in search of titles in
the men’s, women’s and men’s
5’10 and under leagues.
On top in men’s play are the
Hell Boys. The Boys have rolled
to a 2-0 record by presstime and
look ready to avenge their loss to
the Wreckin’ Crew in last year’s
championship game.
Led by football players Arthur
Marshall, Sean Hummings,
Damon Evans and Mike Jones,
the Hell Boys are both athletic
and talented this year.
One team they will have to
contend with are the ever-dan-
gerous Sr. Speedboys who have
been a force in intramural bas
ketball for the past six years. The
Speedboys made it to the Final
Four last season and have won
the title three times.
Other teams with a chance at
the title are Sigma Alpha Ep
silon, Kappa Alpha, PWT and the
Knights of the Roundball.
For the women, Essence, 41-9
and 35-4 winners in their first
two games and last year’s cham
pion the BSU Assault look like
the teams to beat, but Crush,
Zeta Tau Alpha and Delta Zeta
could also make runs at the title.
The men’s 5’10 and under
league may be the most compet
itive. Challenging for the title
should be the Moby Boners, Born
to Run and the Jr. Speedboys, but
many other clubs could make
some noise come showdown time.
Basketball supervisor Frank
Crumley said the season has
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been trouble-free and fairly com
petitive.
“Everything has gone great,”
Crumley said. “We haven’t had
any serious problems with any of
the games. There have been a few
technicals called, but no one has
been thrown out of a game yet.”
Games continue for the next
two weeks at Stegeman Hall.
The Georgia Track team competed In a non-scoring meet in Ten
nessee and three Bulldogs walked away with first-place finishes:
Kell Butler In 5000 meters, Trisha Carter In 400-meter dash and
Jolly Earle In 5000 meters.
Spikers’ coach lams ‘sets’ up a winning team
When Georgia’s new volleyball coach Jim
lams arrived on our sacred athletic grounds,
his team simply began to soundly whip all
comers — and it’s not going to stop.
Let the point be made clearly, lams has
ushered in a new era of Georgia volleyball, one
in which the Lady Spikers will continue to es
tablish itself as not only the dominant team of
the South, but as a perennial national
championship contender.
This season, he led his charges to an impres
sive 30-4 record and second-place, regular
season SEC finish (7-1, behind LSU). His team
competed in the first-ever Women’s Invita
tional Volleyball Tournament and narrowly
missed the playoffs due to a grueling five-game
match loss to Boise State.
How was he so successful in only one year?
He calls it “intensity coaching.” I call it am
azing.
“People began dubbing my style of coaching
as ‘intensity coaching* because as a player, I
was very intense,” lams said. “I was very fo
cused and I just carried that philosophy with
me into coaching. When I enter the gym, all I’m
thinking about is how to make practice better.”
Whatever the name, he brought a unique
coaching style, a huge amount of determin
ation, and a thick resume when he arrived on
campus last spring. He previously coached the
men’s and women’s club teams at Stanford. He
graduated from Cardinal land with a degree in
economics and a minor in history. He earned
his masters in education at Portland State,
where he assisted the women’s team.
lams got his first head coaching job at Or
egon State where in only his first season, he led
the Beavers to a 24-9 record — good enough for
a second place finish in their conference and a
berth in tne NCAA tournament.
Clearly, he was destined for greater achiev-
ments.
After two successful season at OSU, he was
Chris
Lancette
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National Team. Not surprisingly, the team cap
tured the bronze medals in both the Pan Amer
ican and Goodwill Games.
Terry Liskevych, both then and now the head
coach of the U.S. national team, said lams is
one of the finest coaches, both professionally
and personally, he has ever known.
"He is a master of his task of designing a
system for the team he has," Liskevych said.
Coaching isn’t the only accolade Liskevych
offers about lams.
“I remember when I first met him, I quickly
saw what an honest and forthright person he is.
He’s a good coach and good friend.”
After his four-year stint coaching at the in
ternational level and living the hectic lifestyle
the task entails, lams began looking for an aca
demically sound school with a strong athletic
reputation. He also wanted a good place for he
and his amiable wife Darcy to raise their sons,
Dane and Travis. Fortunately for the Univer
sity, the “Classic City” fit the bill.
After one season on the job, lams said the
University and the city have met all of his ex
pectations.
“My experiences here have all been very posi
tive,” lams said. “Academically, the Univer
sity’s standards and achievements are
increasing. Athletically, Georgia is a team that
was rich in talent before I got here. Personally,
the family likes Athens a lot. Darcy is enjoying
her teaching job at AthenB Academy. My sons
are making friends. And now we’re building a
house here.”
The Georgia volleyball program wasn’t as
rosy as his life in the South.
He arrived to take over a program that was
clearly in disarray. Throughout its history,
Georgia has always been talented but, at the
time of lams’ arrival, seemed to lack a strong
sense of direction. There were all sorts of ugly
rumors about disharmony in the program — of
athletes wanting to sue trainers and of much
dissention between the athletes and coaching
staff.
Sid Feldman, Georgia’s only previous coach,
decided it was time for a career change and re
signed.
By the time lams arrived, he barely had
enough time to learn his charges’ names before
practice began. But he quickly whipped the
team into shape, seemimg to make the women
believe the truth, that they can compete with
the West Coast teams.
Now that the season is over, lams is doing
the administrative work necessary to build a
champion, scheduling tougher competition and
recruiting. The former is difficult because so
many of the great teams are on the opposite
coast. The latter is becoming easier largely be
cause of his assistant, Julie Hermann, lams
says.
“She does a great job,” lams said. “The kids
were in love with her before I met them.”
Asked where he sees himself five years from
now, lams said, “I see myself still coaching here
... and 1 hope that people are talking about how
Georgia was the next team to break through
and become a perennial Top Ten power.”
I hope they have an extra trophy case in
Butts-Mehre. lams’ Dogs will be moving in.
Chris Lancette is the sports staff writer of The
Red and Black.
Dogs raking in verbal commitments;
Latest is number three prospect in Ga.
By CHRIS CHILTON
Contributing Writer
The Georgia football team re
ceived another outstanding verbal
commitment on Wednesday as
Dalton High offensive lineman
Steve Roberts announced his plans
to play for the Bulldogs at a
morning news conference.
Roberts, a 6-3, 260-pound guard,
is the 16th player to verbally
commit to the Bulldogs. He was
listed as the number three prospect
in the state and the 24th best in
the country by the Atlanta Consti
tution.
Roberts runs the 40 in 5.1 sec
onds and can bench press 350
pounds. He was also strongly con
sidering Auburn and Florida State.
Dalton head football coach Bill
Chappell said Roberts has all the
necessities to be an outstanding
college player.
“Steve is an extremely strong
young man,” Chappell said. ‘That
is his biggest strength. His attitude
is also a real plus. He’s a hard
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worker and he’ll do what it takes to
get the job done.”
Georgia also received verbal
commitments from three other
players earlier in the week: Joe
Dupree, a 6-2, 195 QB from South
west Macon, Charles Pledger, a 6-
0, 180 DB from Clarke Central,
and Derrick Witherspoon, a 6-0,
190 pound running bock from
Sumter, S.C.Dupree passed for
over 1,800 yards his senior season
and is considered the top drop-back
passer in the state.
Pledger was one of the stalwarts
of a defense that played a big part
in propelling Clarke Central to the
AAAA State Championship game
last year. He had seven intercep
tions as a junior.Witherspoon
rushed for over 1,300 yards and 12
TD’s while being named area
Player of the Year in Sumter as a
senior.
With the early exit of Rodney
Hampton, no position needs more
immediate help than running
back.
Georgia has an excellent shot at
three in-state running backs and
one out-of-state. The in-state run
ning backs are Garrison Hearst of
Lincoln County, Micheal Thornton
Hill, S.C. is the out-of-state pros
pect.
Hearst, Georgia’s Player of the
Year, is also considering South
Carolina and Tennessee. He used
his 4.37 speed to rush for nearly 2,-
100 yards and 36 TD’s. He will
make his official visit to Athens on
February 10th.
Thornton and Harvey, who both
visited this past weekend, are also
considering South Carolina.
Harvey, who also has Auburn on
his list, will reportedly make his
decision in the next few days.
Burris is also considering Penn
State and Notre Dame.
Some other in-state players still
considering Georgia include: Greg
O’Neal, a 6-6, 305 pound OT-DT
from Baldwin County; Charles
Bostic, a 6-0, 180 pound QB-DB
from Thomasville; Travis Jones, a
6-2, 220 pound LB from Wilkinson
County; Elihue Foskey, a 6-6, 225
LB from Winder Barrow; Reggie
Ingram, a 6-2, 190 pound DB from
Coffee County; Gary Downs, a 6-2,
195 pound RB from Spencer; and
Greg Tremble, a 6-2,195 pound DB
from Warner Robins. Morrow’s
of Albany and Frank Harvey of
Terrell County. Jeff Burris of Rock
great WR Andre Hastings report
edly has not totally eliminated
Georgia either, although he is
strongly leaning toward Notre
Dame.
The out-of-state prospects still
considering Georgia include: Matt
Campbell, a 6-5, 240 pound TE
from North Augusta, S.C.; Kevin
Mays, a 6-5, 265 pound OT-DT
from Kingston, Tenn.; Bernard
Williams, a 6-9, 260 pound DE
from Memphis, Tenn.; Andre
Washington, a 6-2, 205 pound LB
from Jacksonville, Fla.; Marvin
Jones, a 6-2, 225 LB from Miami,
Fla.; Mitch Davis, a 6-4, 240 DE
from Mobile, Ala.; Patrick McNeil,
a 6-3, 272 pound DT from Bra
denton, Fla.; and Todd Matthison,
a 6-5, 285 pound OT from Weather
ford, Tex.
Georgia recruiting coordinator
Bob Pittard said the recruiting
process seems to be progressing
smoothly.
“So far we feel like it’s going
pretty well,” Pittard said.
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