Sports News,  Past Articles,  Sports Talk,  Schedules,  Announcements

Calendar,  Sports News Elsewhere  (fresh daily from the Web)

Friday, Nov. 1

High school volleyball

[NOV. 1, 2002] 

Class A regional championships

At Niantic

Mount Pulaski def. Decatur St. Teresa 15-11, 15-1.

Mount Pulaski:  Service points, Laura Reeter 8; kills, Bethany Dulle 8; blocks, Mary Olson 8; assists, Mallory Clements 21.

Record:  Mount Pulaski 35-2.

At Roanoke

Hartsburg-Emden def. Olympia 15-8, 15-4.

Olympia:  Service points, Jaime Ahlers, Brianne Crawford 3; kills, Kristen Goebel 6; blocks, Stasia Prater 3; assists, Ahlers 10.

Hartsburg-Emden:  Service points, Megan Leesman 9; kills, Nikki Chapman, Ashley Luken 7; blocks, Leesman 7; assists, Molly Klokkenga 26

Records:  Hartsburg-Emden 27-9; Olympia 22-10.

Lincoln College men’s basketball preview

[NOV. 1, 2002]  Being rated No. 1 in the NJCAA Division II men’s preseason basketball poll doesn’t make any difference to Lincoln College coach B.J. McCullum. "Hopefully we are ranked that high because we are good," he said. "It will give our opponents something to shoot for, but we have the talent to compensate for the ranking."

McCullum begins his fifth season as coach of the Lynx, and he will be gunning for his fifth straight 20-win season. The Lynx finished 24-9 last season and return six sophomores from that squad. Two other sophomores are on the squad, one who was a redshirt last season and another who transferred to Lincoln.

Derik Hollyfield heads up the list of returnees from last year, with 523 points and a 15.8 average, along with 128 rebounds and 71 assists. Amir Major contributed 396 points, good for a 12-point-per-game average, and had 195 rebounds. James Roberson came in with 377 points, 135 rebounds and 129 assists while averaging 11.8.

Josh Clark, Michael Fowler and Loyd Bowen round out the returning sophomores from last season. Clark and Fowler both scored over 130 points for the Lynx, while Bowen saw limited action late in the season and averaged 2.5 points per game. Brian Thorsen did not play last season due to an injury but did play most of the season before. Terrance Chapman is a transfer from Moberly Community College, where he was the third leading scorer and the top rebounder on a team that finished 30-7 and placed fifth in the nation.

"We open the season against Three Rivers and play our second game against Mineral Area, both Division I opponents," said McCullum. "We will get a good test right away, and hopefully it will help us to grow.

"The conference looks to be very balanced, with Illinois Central and Lake Land likely to give us the most trouble. I feel as a team we have the physical ability, the strength and the athleticism to compete. I am a little concerned with our offense at this early stage, but I feel we’ll get a lot of points off hustle and effort.

[to top of second column in this article]

"We have experience at the point guard with James (Roberson) and Michael (Fowler) returning. They have shown an ability to handle the ball and apply pressure defensively from the point. I have been pleased with their play in the early going.

"On the wing we have Derik (Hollyfield) and Jamaal (Thompson). Derik has already declared for Eastern and will sign with them when the signing period begins. Jamaal is returning from an ACL injury and looks ready to go. We could possibly move Roberson to the wing, but hopefully we won’t need to do so. We could also get contributions from Loyd (Bowen) and Jeff (Carlson) at the wing spot. They have the ability; right now they just need more concentration and confidence.

"Amir (Major) has shown he is ready to go this season. Last year his work ethic was not very good; however, this year he has been taking a leadership role and has had as much effort as anyone on the floor. I am extremely pleased with his progress to date. Terrance (Chapman) is very intelligent and skilled for a player of his size. He needs to pick up his intensity a little. Josh (Clark) is also a skilled post player. He was our leading 3-point shooter, percentwise, last season and he creates matchup problems for the opposition.

"Brian (Thorsen) should be available by the second semester, as he is still recovering from the ACL tear. He has good hands and is a very good defensive player. Rian (Lazzerini) needs to get a better grasp of our system, but he looks like he will be a very good player for us in the post."

Coach McCullum continued, "Depthwise, I think we should be all right. The key to our season will probably be how well the wing players step up. We have a lot of possibilities, and I think our big guys will be able to step out and play the wing position if necessary."

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Brian Cook featured in new issue of Slam magazine

[NOV. 1, 2002]  Coming in the new issue of Slam magazine…

LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL: The last time Slam magazine featured a rookie class cover, it was 1996, and unproven players like Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen, Jermaine O’Neal, Stephon Marbury and Antoine Walker graced the front. Six years later, most of those players have replaced "unproven" with "All-Star." Now, the magazine does it again, featuring a 12-player gatefold cover and features on Jay Williams of the Bulls, Caron Butler of the Heat, Mike Dunleavy Jr. of the Warriors, and "Skita" Tskitishvili and "Nene" Hilario of the Nuggets.

2002-03 NBA PREVIEW: It’s time once again to head out on a limb — the one that says the Lakers will beat the Nets for the title. OK, so it’s not much of a limb…

NBA PLAYER FEATURES: With the new NBA season upon us, Slam shines some light on a few key veterans whose play will go a long way in determining their teams’ postseason success. Read up on unheralded point guard Derek Fisher of the Lakers, once-great big man David Robinson of the Spurs and newly relocated scorer Glenn Robinson of the Hawks.

OLD SCHOOL: This month, Slam goes back to the days when a consistent set shot and a strong chin could make you a Hall of Famer. Kids, meet Dolph Schayes.

[to top of second column in this article]

TJ FORD: In an issue devoted largely to the NBA, there’s still room for a feature on a college kid. Of course, the kid in question is TJ Ford, the outstanding point guard for the University of Texas. Let’s just say you might see him in the NBA someday too.

HS HOOPS: Slam goes back to school with (as usual) the best high school players in the nation: teammates Derrick Low and Bobby Nash of Hawaii, Al Jefferson of Mississippi, Tack Minor of Houston, Shannon Brown of Illinois, Martin Iti of North Carolina (via Massachusetts, California and Australia), Alexis Hornbuckle of West Virginia, and the latest "Basketball Diary" with Brooklyn’s own Sebastian Telfair.

ETC: Also featured in this month’s issue: NBA standouts Emanuel Ginobili of the Spurs, Flip Murray of the Bucks, Jerome James of the Sonics and Todd Macculloch of the Sixers; a look back at the Showtime playing days of Nets head coach Byron Scott; college stars Brian Cook of Illinois, Britton Johnsen of Utah, Marcus Hatten of St. John’s and Shereka Wright of Purdue; and WNBA love for Delisha Milton and the world champion L.A. Sparks. All that, plus Drew Gooden with his monthly "Rookie Diary," a Q&A with rapper Fabolous and Slam’s annual "NBA Rookie Predictions."

The new issue of Slam magazine is on sale now.

[Provided by Kent Brown, University of Illinois assistant athletics director and
sports information director]

Articles from the past week

By Jeff Mayfield

• Harvest mutterings, Oct. 21
• Illini finally have something to cheer about, Oct. 14
• More...

Announcements

Back to top

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Calendar

Letters to the Editor