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8 I Friday, November 17, 2006 | The Red & Black
SPORTS
Men’s basketball
brings back Brown
FAME: Induction symbolizes
teaching success, not stats
By SAM STEINBERG
ssteinber@randb.com
After two games of sitting on the
bench in dress clothes, junior forward
Takais Brown will finally get his chance
to suit up in a basketball uniform when
Georgia takes on Valdosta State at home
on Saturday.
Georgia basketball head coach Dennis
Felton said Thursday afternoon from his
desk that Brown’s indefinite suspension
for academic reasons had been lifted.
“Obviously, he has been doing better
academically,” Felton said. “He has been
turning a corner.”
Last season for Southern Illinois
College, Brown averaged 19.3 points, 9.4
rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
Saturday’s game will a welcome debut
for the 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward.
“He is a really critical part of our
team’s attack,” Felton said. “It will help
us tremendously. He is big and powerful
and good.”
Sophomore guard Mike Mercer
expects Brown will free up the perimeter
and is excited about having him play.
“That is going to help out our team a
lot,” Mercer said.
Brown will join improved sophomore
Rashaad Singleton and freshman Albert
Jackson in the low post.
“Right now with the addition of the
new players and the development of our
current players, we are better inside than
we have ever been,” Felton said
Brown’s introduction comes as much-
GAME
INFORMATION
Men’s Basketball (1-1) vs. Valdosta
State
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
TV: None
Radio: Bulldog 103.7
needed relief to a team that just lost two-
year starter Channing Toney, who decid
ed to transfer earlier in the week.
In a previous interview on Thursday
before Felton announced Brown’s playing
status, he said that “when you lose a
player to suspension for instance, it is a
distraction to your team that you would
rather not have.”
Georgia heads into the game 1-1 after
suffering a 70-67 loss to Western
Kentucky in which the Bulldogs blew a
10-point lead with six minutes left in the
game.
“Not to take any credit away from
Western Kentucky, but we beat our
selves,” sophomore guard Billy
Humphrey said.
The Valdosta State Blazers, who play
outside Division 1-A in the Gulf Coast
Conference, are coming off a season
opening 130-62 win over Carver on
Wednesday.
>- From Page 1
“We coach players. We don’t
coach games. People say you
build a program. You don’t real
ly build a program. You don’t
have a program without play
ers.”
Those players, past and pres
ent, couldn’t find his statement
truer to form.
“(Coach Landers) played a
huge part in me coming here,”
freshman guard Ashley Houts
said. “I came from a high school
program where the coaches
were just like he is. The intensi
ty, yelling all the time between
the lines, but once you step off
the court he’s just like a second
dad. He makes you feel at home
and at ease with yourself. He
creates such a good environ
ment.”
La’Keshia Frett is in her sec
ond year as an assistant coach
for the Lady Dogs after a four
time All-SEC career as a player
in Athens and a seven-year stint
in the WNBA.
“He just expects the best out
of (his players),” she said. “And
he does a great job of actually
teaching the game to young
ladies, of teaching them right
and wrong on the court and
instructing them on the right
way to do things.
“Once you put those two
things together these are the
results you get,” Frett said.
When asked why his current
and former players hold him in
such high esteem, Landers
shows a soft side rarely seen
while he stalks the sidelines.
“I hope it’s because every
single one of them knows I care
about them,” he said. “I tell
people all the time that we may
not have the best basketball
team, but we do have the best
people team. I think the kids
understand that and enjoy
being a part of it.”
Landers further clarifies that
his induction is more symbolic
of his years of teaching rather
than his numeric successes.
Being selected into the
Women’s Basketball Hall of
Fame is an honor, Landers said.
But the real honor is coaching
young people and teaching
them how to be successful.
Throughout his run, the
players also have seen Landers
himself grow and develop much
as he has helped them do the
same.
“I think that (Landers) has
just been blessed with the tal
ent of teaching basketball to
young ladies,” Frett said. “And I
think over the years he’s contin
ued to work on himself as a
coach.”
“If you think about where he
GAME INFORMATION
No. 8 Women’s Basketball (2-0)
vs. Davidson
When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday,
Where: Stegeman Coliseum
started and where he is today,
you can only think about what
he’s done to improve himself
over the years.”
After taking over a program
that had four head coaches and
went 37-85 in its first six sea
sons, Landers had the Lady
Dogs at 16-12 his first year and
27-10 a year later.
In a time when athletes’ poor
grades often dominate the
headlines, Landers has seen
almost 96 percent of his players
graduate during his tenure.
The coach himself also has
put forth extra effort to ensure
his players achieve in the class
room.
“Last year he sat here (in the
player’s lounge) and helped me
study for a test for like two
hours,” senior guard Janese
Hardrick said.
“He wants to help with any
thing. He’s like a father figure.”
Landers’ newest project is
leading a 2006-07 Lady Dogs
team that features three fresh
men and five players coming
back from injuries.
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