COMMENTARY

Like Gonzaga, Big Dance can make SoCon champ a fixture in national picutre

James Nix - Sports Beat

With March Madness in full swing, we are once again reminded of the upsets and Cinderella stories that go along with it.

In the NCAA Tournament, anything can and will happen. That’s why we watch with anticipation as 64 teams battle their way through the opening two rounds, Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight en route to the coveted Final Four.

That is the wonder of the “Big Dance.”

A few years back, one team impressed the nation with back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances, despite a low seeding.

The Gonzaga University Bulldogs became everyone’s favorite underdogs.

Now in 2002, complaints flew when the Bulldogs received a sixth-seed slot in the tourney.

This shows the magnificence of the NCAA Tournament. It took a no-name team and gave it a name.

In the upcoming years I expect Gonzaga’s fate to fall upon another team. The tournament will once again work its miracles.

In the past four seasons, four members of the Southern Conference have won the conference tournament and advanced to the “Big Dance.”
The College of Charleston made it in 1999, Appalachian State University in 2000, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2001 and now Davidson College.

The conference saw six regular season co-champions this year, three in the North Division and three in the South.

Out of this competitive pool of teams, I believe one will emerge as the next Gonzaga.

The Southern Conference is rising and it will see better days.

This season, Jason Conley, a freshman at the Virginia Military Institute, led the nation in scoring with an average of 29.3 points a game.

Kevin Martin, a freshman at Western Carolina University, was ranked as high as fifth in the nation in scoring before falling to 11th late in the season.

Conley and Martin, along with other players such as Jeff Bolton from C of C and Dimeco Childress of East Tennessee State University, are slowly raising the standards of the conference.

It is players like these who will lead a SoCon team storming into the post season, and like Gonzaga, the publicity will follow.

With the publicity comes better recruitment, which leads to higher caliber players. Once your name is out there, players will come.

I read an article in the Raleigh News and Observer a few weeks ago stating a majority of the top 25 high school players out there list Duke University as their number one choice to play college basketball.

I don’t doubt this.

Duke got its name out a long time ago and established a tradition of excellence. Now it is one of the best collegiate basketball programs in the nation.

It is players like Conley and success stories like Gonzaga’s that lead me to believe there is a future for Southern Conference teams in the NCAA Tournament and beyond.

I’m not saying a SoCon team will ever reach the caliber of Duke, but it is possible that in the upcoming years we will see a team like the College of Charleston or Davidson make it past the first few rounds of tournament action and win the respect of the nation.

The NCAA Tournament will once again catapult a team to success like it did with Gonzaga.

Hopefully next time that team will be from the Southern Conference.

Returning starters lead young team against competitive SoCon

Josh Dernosek - Sports Beat

Snow is on the ground, temperatures are below freezing and the wind is incredibly strong, but spring is right around the corner. To sports fans, spring means afternoon double-headers in the sun because baseball season has finally arrived.

At Appalachian State University the story is no different; baseball is here, but it seems that the warmth will never arrive. The weather in Boone puts the Mountaineer baseball team in a rut from the beginning in the form of an annual 18-game away stint to start the season.

“We are not only playing away, we are playing tough teams,” said head coach Troy Heustess. “It’s mentally tough, and it will only make us stronger.”

In years past, this scheduling conflict has proven vital in the team’s success. The team has gradually improved since Heustess began his tenure three years ago, but that does not change the fact that they have not had a better than .500 season since 1996, and the last winning mark before that came in 1991.

“There is no excuse for us not to have a better than .500 season this year,” said Heustess.

With only three starters returning on the Appalachian men’s baseball team, Heustess will look for leadership and maturity from a young squad in hopes to improve on a less-than-par 2001 season and get the team above that anticipated .500 mark.

The Mountaineers finished the 2001 season 21-32 overall and 12-14 in the Southern Conference, giving them a sixth-place finish within the conference.

The loss of All-Southern Conference first-team shortstop Wes Timmons will be the biggest hole in hitting for the team. Timmons is in the top 10 on numerous career categories for the Mountaineers including runs scored, hits and base on balls.

The team will look to senior outfielder Chris Downard to continue his record setting numbers this season and step up to a leadership role.

Downard, one of three starters returning, started every game last season in route to his .312 batting average and eight home runs. He also led the Mountaineers with 215 at-bats and 46 RBIs.

A junior college transfer from Johnson County Community College in Kansas, Downard’s first season with Appalachian was last year, and he has proved to be a major addition to the team since his arrival.

The gradual improvement of Graham Thompson, the returning right fielder for Appalachian, will prove to be beneficial in a young lineup.

Thompson, a junior from Dunn, will be looked at as a leader this year as the right fielder in a strong outfield core. He started 45 games last season while accruing his solid .287 average, up from .093 in 2000.

Solidifying the outfield is newcomer Ty Racette, also a transfer from Johnson County. Racette’s speed and athleticism will make him the perfect fit for left field and a possible lead-off man.

He hit .304 over his last two seasons of junior college play.

Adam Ennis is another player to look for this year on the young squad. Ennis will play most of his innings at third base, the hot corner, where he played most of last season. He will also pick up time on the mound and at first base.

Ennis, a transfer student from North Carolina State University, has been a consistent player in his two seasons at Appalachian. He started 54 games of the 64 in which he played in the last two seasons, and hit .244 with 25 RBIs.

Pitching is going to be the biggest concern for the Mountaineers this season.

Monty Fast, the Mountaineers’ top left-handed pitcher, will be a good arm on the hill this season. His 5.12 ERA last season needs to be lower for the Mountaineers to accomplish what they would like and to be a key factor in this young pitching staff.

Adam Ennis will also move over from third base to pitch some this year. The lack of pitching depth is forcing Heustess to find strong arms where he can. Ennis pitched three games last season en route to a 7.36 ERA and only three strikeouts.

“We don’t have weaknesses as a team; we are a group of guys playing like a team, and hitting the ball well,” said Heustess. “But our pitching needs more consistency.”

In the conference, The Citadel and Georgia Southern University are preseason one and two, but Appalachian looks to do well in a good conference.

Heustess said he believes the conference is more competitive this season than in years past, a fact that could lead to an exciting season for the Mountaineers.

Paul Sherar - Chief Photographer

Running backJimmy Watkins will return to the Mountaineer football roster for the 2002-2003 season. The Mountaineers’ first full-pad scrimmage is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Mountaineer Spring Finale offers first glimpse at 2002-2003 roster

Chris Boyce - Sports Beat

It might just be one of the weirdest events in college football.

Watching a football game at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning in the warm sun of March in Boone. It is the annual spectacle known as Appalachian State football’s “Spring Game.”

Now entitled the Appalachian Outback Steakhouse Spring Finale and set to kick off Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium, the full-pad scrimmage is the first glimpse of next season’s Mountaineer football team.

The event will feature both offensive and defensive additions to this year’s squad as well as veterans from last season’s NCAA-playoff team.

But the Spring Finale is much more than just a football game.

After the scrimmage ends at 11:30 a.m., Kidd Brewer Stadium will hold a punt, pass and kick competition in which fans of all ages can show off their football skills in a variety of challenges all monitored by both Appalachian State coaches and players.

In addition, fans can dine with players and coaches courtesy of Outback Steakhouse under the tent at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

But as much as this season’s spring game is an attempt to appeal to fans, it also gives coaches a serious look at the early stages of their team.

“It’s always serious,” said Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore. “We haven’t had a lot of injuries in spring practice; they’ve all been over the winter, reconstruction surgeries.”

Injuries, as is usually the case in college football, headline the concerns for Appalachian State football.

Out for the spring game are offensive lineman Michael Porter, nursing an injured finger and Joe Patrick, suffering from an injured right knee.

Also out of the lineup will be tight ends Jason LeMay and Tommy Perry as well as defensive back Steve Kitchens, sidelined with a sore left knee.

The Mountaineers will also miss the services of wide receivers Michael Fiebernitz and Dusty Carmichael as well as running back Julius Pickett.

Key starters return for the 2002 Appalachian State Mountaineers both on offense and defense.

A youthful receiving corps from last year returns a season wiser with starters DaVon Fowlkes and Sterling Hayward back in the mix along with key contributors from last season, sophomores Andrew Layton and Jermane Little.

Tailback Jerry Beard and quarterback Joe Burchette return for their senior seasons to round out the offense.

Despite a couple of losses due to graduation for the Mountaineers’ defensive unit, the squad looks strong again, bolstering a front line of seniors Josh Jeffries and John Mannino in addition to junior K.T. Stovall and sophomore Jason Hunter.

The loss of Wes Hunter and Justin Seaverns from the linebacker unit will hurt, but key contributor Sam Smalls will try to fill the void from the outside.

The Mountaineer backfield returns seniors Kitchens and Crutchfield and junior Nygel Rogers.

Appalachian State hopes all their early preparation leading into the summer will ready a nine-win team from last season into national championship form.

First on the list is a familiar opponent in Marshall University on Aug. 31 at Marshall. But perhaps the main advantage to spring practice is the chance it gives coaches to evaluate young talent.

“What we’re trying to do is develop young kids, and so far we’re progressing along on schedule,” said Moore.