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RANTS AND RAVES |
with Byron Samuels, Radford |
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 A
question often asked by coaches is, "what is wrong with our game?" In
the opinion of most, there is nothing wrong with college basketball.
Therefore, if it's not broken why fix it? Yet every year we have a few
new rules to test out in the early season. And this season is no
different.
The dimensions of a football have never changed and I am hard pressed
to remember a change in the rules of baseball, but in college
basketball there it's become an annual event to tinker. I would like
to believe that this season's experimental rules are more a product of
the growing international interest. There was a need to move the
three-point line back so I can understand the thought process with
that adjustment, but I am not a big fan of the proposed trapezoid. If
anything, I would support the NBA lane. But that is what makes college
ball different from pro ball. I would rather we not try to re-invent
the game every year. Leave well enough alone.
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NEW TALENT |
If there is a conference in America, which can restock and
rekindle its lineups without missing a beat, it's
definitely the Southeastern Conference. Last season the
SEC was a senior-dominated league. Graduation has depleted
experience, but not talent. While most programs lost as
many as three starters, the young talent is still
excellent. At some point in time every conference goes
through a change and the time has come for the SEC. But
while many of the names are not familiar to most at the
moment, come February there will be a new crop of exciting
young players that will generate a lot of talk and a lot
of excitement. From top to bottom, the SEC will be just as
talented as ever.
-
Dave Odom, South Carolina
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athlete in our
household, which should tell you something about me as a
player.
MAGARITY:
Now be honest pound for pound, who is more stylish me or
your athletic director Richard Johnson.
YOUNG:
That would have to be a pick 'em. Richard may have a
slight edge. He is in the middle of his 25th diet during
our time together, and doing well I might add. He has
bought new clothes to fit his waistline and has made some
nice selections. He needed to update his closet. The lime
green jacket he wore at The Citadel should have been
retired long ago.
MAGARITY:
When are your beloved Baltimore Orioles going to be
competitive again.
YOUNG:
After seeing them play a couple times this year, I am
resigned to the fact that we are in the midst of a
Cubs-like streak for not winning. Let's just say that if
this year's team was any indication, we are a long way
away.
CHECK OUT MAGARITY'S
MOVIE MADNESS
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ANSWER MY QUESTIONS |
with DAVE MAGARITY |
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DAVE MAGARITY:
How your first season making the transition from assistant to head
coach?
MIKE YOUNG (WOFFORD):
Richard Johnson (former
head coach) gave me a lot of responsibility here for 13 years as an
assistant, therefore the transition wasn't as "shocking" as it could
have been. However, as you know, until you slide down a chair on that
bench and everything goes through you, that does take some getting
used to.
MAGARITY:
Since joining the DI ranks, Wofford seems to have made steady
progress?
YOUNG:
We have made steady
progress while continually recruiting better players and, at the same
time, recruiting kids that are capable of the doing the work here
academically.
MAGARITY: Is it
true that the best basketball player in your house is your wife?
YOUNG:
My wife is a terrible player, but is still the best
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Western
Carolina's Kevin Martin scored 35 points in the second half
against Georgia and finished with 44. He is a scoring machine... James
Madison's Sherman Dillard (left) has a talented freshman in
Ray Barbosa who scored 28 points in 28 minutes against Furman...
Radford is off to a 2-0 start. Whit Holcomb-Faye is a
player of the year candidate in the Big South Conference.
The
6-foot-6 Julius Hodge is the only first-team all-ACC player
returning this year. The NC State junior averaged 17.1ppg and 6.1rpg
last year. He is smooth and versatile with the ability to play all
three perimeter positions. 
Over
the past few seasons, The Citadel's Pat Dennis has
been one of the most stylish head coaches in the
Southern Conference. And carefully taking notes,
Chris Gerlufsen
has now emerged as one of the SoCon's most bright
and dapper assistant coaches. Gerlufsen, now in his
third season at The Citadel, graduated from
Randolph-Macon in 1998. He is a relative newcomer to
the runway, but figures to be a fashion factor. 
For
North Carolina State freshman Engin Atsur (pictured) the
transition to college basketball pales in comparison the adjustment of
being so far from home. A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Atsur captained
the Turkish squad at the 2002 European Junior Championships. Including
his native tongue, Atsur is also fluent in French, German and English.
The transition to life in America has not 
