- The honors continue to roll in for Devan Downey. FoxSports.com and CBSSports.com both named Downey First-Team All-SEC. The U.S. Basketball Writers Association named the 5′9 senior point guard to their 10 member All-District III team, which includes players from North and South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. The Sporting News named Downey a Fourth Team All-American.
- South Carolina head men’s tennis coach Kent DeMars will be among the 10 inductees to the Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame on May 26, 2010. Having already announced his retirement at the end of this, his 37th season as a college head coach, DeMars will cap a distinguished career with his profession’s highest honor.
“It’s the highlight of a career when your peers select you for this kind of honor,” DeMars said. “I’m humbled by the selection. It’s a terrific group of people that I’m going in with, and I’m ecstatic to join those that have been inducted before me as well.”
- Sticking with tennis, the women’s team won its fifth consecutive match Tuesday at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center, by defeating Wake Forest 5-2. The 20th-ranked Gamecocks improved to 7-3 with the win.
- Former Gamecock great Mike Dunleavy is out as general manager of the Los Angeles Clippers, barely a month after relinquishing his head coaching duties. The team announced it had parted ways with Dunleavy late Tuesday afternoon. Assistant general manager Neil Olshey will take over Dunleavy’s job.
- According to a reliable source, the Miami Heat have expressed interest in Tre Kelley as a possible replacement to Rafer Alston, who has gone MIA from the team. The Heat signed Tre back in September of 2008, so the staff is very familiar with his abilities and the high character and professionalism he could add to the organization.
The Southeastern Conference announced its 2010 coaches postseason awards this morning with Devan Downey and Sam Muldrow receiving postseason honors.
Downey has been named to the coaches’ All-SEC first-team for the third straight year, and he and Muldrow have both been named to the SEC All-Defense team.
Downey’s selection marks the first time a South Carolina player has been named to the first team in three consecutive seasons. It is his second-straight unanimous selection to the squad and his second-consecutive selection to the All-Defensive Team.
Downey finished the regular season as the leading scorer in the conference, with 22.6 points per game. He also led the conference in steals, and is among the national leaders, with 2.77 per game.
Muldrow finished second in the conference in blocks-per-game, at 3.07.
Austin Steed was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
Steed has participated in After School Kick Off at Alcorn Middle School, Ronald McDonald House Day, Columbia Parks and Recreation SEC Can Food Drive, NCAA Diversity Workshop Participant, Dodie Academic Enrichment Center Ambassador and is an SAAC Representative.
Here’s the complete list of awards.
SEC All-Freshman Team
Tony Mitchell – Alabama
Marshawn Powell – Arkansas
Kenny Boynton – Florida
Eric Bledsoe – Kentucky
DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky
John Wall – Kentucky
Reginald Buckner – Ole Miss
John Jenkins – Vanderbilt
SEC All-Defensive Team
Patrick Patterson – Kentucky
Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State
Devan Downey – South Carolina
Sam Muldrow – South Carolina
Jeffery Taylor – Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Mikhail Torrance – Alabama
Courtney Fortson – Arkansas
Erving Walker – Florida
Tasmin Mitchell – LSU
Chris Warren – Ole Miss
Dee Bost – Mississippi State
A.J. Ogilvy – Vanderbilt
Jeffrey Taylor – Vanderbilt
First Team All-SEC
Trey Thompkins – Georgia
DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky
Patrick Patterson – Kentucky
John Wall – Kentucky
Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State
Devan Downey – South Carolina
Wayne Chism – Tennessee
Jermaine Beal – Vanderbilt
SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year: Ray Shipman – Florida
SEC 6th Man of the Year: John Jenkins – Vanderbilt
SEC Freshman of the Year: DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky
SEC Defensive Player Of The Year: Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State
SEC Coach of the Year: Kevin Stallings – Vanderbilt
The Atlanta Falcons introduced former Gamecock Dunta Robinson this afternoon at a 5 p.m. press conference held in the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation offices.
As I mentioned earlier today, Dunta agreed to a 6 year, $57 million dollar contract with $22.5 million of it being guaranteed.
Click the link below to watch the full press conference video.
- The Atlanta Falcons have signed free-agent cornerback Dunta Robinson to a six-year, $57 million contract, with $22.5 million of it being guaranteed. Last year Robinson made $9.957 million as the Texans’ franchise player, but he was unhappy with the lack of a long-term deal. In 84 career games (79 starts), the former Gamecock has totaled 382 tackles (310 solo), 13 interceptions, 63 passes defensed, four sacks, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
- The New Orleans Saints have released former Gamecock Jamar Nesbit. Nesbit, 33, became expendable with the emergence of second-year pro Carl Nicks at left guard this season. Nicks was a second alternate to the Pro Bowl this past season. Nesbit started 35 straight games at left guard from 2006-08, but was a healthy inactive late in the 2009 season and did not dress out for the Saints’ three playoff games. He was set to earn $1.33 million in 2010.
- Antoine Tisby debuted in New Zealand this past weekend and had a huge game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.
-BJ McKie has played four games with his new club in Argentina and is averaging 7 points per game.
-Tre Kelley continues to lead his Dongguan team to victories in China. The Leopards are now in contention for a CBA playoff spot.
-Carlos Powell has yet to make his first appearance in China for Liaoning. He arrived in Shenyang last week, a day later than expected due to a flight delay, therefore he did not travel with the team on their two-game road trip. Liaoning plays again on March 10th and Carlos should be in uniform.
- Here’s the latest NIT Bracketology, perNITology.com,that has the Gamecocks projected as a #8 seed and facing UConn in the first round. A win over Alabama on Thursday in the first round of the SEC Tournament should lock up a spot for the Gamecocks in the 32-team field.
After a crazy Saturday, which included the Gamecocks upset victory over No. 13/19 Vanderbilt, the SEC Tournament pairings are now set. South Carolina secured the No. 5 seed in the SEC East and will play Alabama, the fourth seed from the SEC West, in the opening round in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised on the SEC Network.
Alabama defeated South Carolina in Columbia last Wednesday 79-70.
Below is the complete schedule.
THURSDAY, MARCH 11 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
1:00 PM – Game 1 (South Carolina vs. Alabama) – SEC Network
3:15 PM – Game 2 (LSU vs. Tennessee) – SEC Network
7:30 PM – Game 3 (Auburn vs. Florida) – SEC Network
9:45 PM – Game 4 (Georgia vs. Arkansas) – SEC Network
FRIDAY, MARCH 12 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
1:00PM- Game 5 (Kentucky vs South Carolina/Alabama winner) – SEC Network
3:15 PM – Game 6 (Ole Miss vs LSU/Tennessee winner) – SEC Network
7:30 PM – Game 7 (Mississippi State vs Florida/Auburn winner) – SEC Network
9:45 PM – Game 8 (Vanderbilt vs Arkansas/Georgia winner) – SEC Network
SATURDAY, MARCH 13 (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
1:00 PM – Game 9 (Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner) – ABC
3:15 PM – Game 10 (Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner) – ABC
South Carolina rallied from a four run deficit to hand Clemson their first loss of the season 7-5 on Saturday in front of 7,105 at Greenville’s Fluor Field.
Jackie Bradley drove in four runs. Three two-out RBI hits from Whit Merrifield, Bradley and Kyle Enders in the ninth inning completed the comeback victory for the 15th ranked Gamecocks.
South Carolina is now 4-0 in games played at Fluor Field with three victories vs. Furman (2006, 2008, and 2009) and now one over Clemson (2010).
The Gamecocks improved to 6-3 on the season.
The rubber game is set for 2pm Sunday at Carolina Stadium.
Post Game Quotes:
South Carolina coach Ray Tanner
“It was a great comeback, I’m proud of my team. It’s a good sign that you can battle.”
On Jackie Bradley
“He possesses some intangibles that you’d like to instill in all of your players, he has confidence even when you have some adversity.”
Whit Merrifield
“We wanted to even this series up and take it back to Columbia,”
Jackie Bradley
“We knew if we fought and got this win, we’d go back home. That’s where we play best,”
Clemson coach Jack Leggett
“We were aggressive early today, and then we got a little bit tentative. We need to keep it up, even though you’ve got four runs, you’ve got to play nine full innings. You know it’s not going to be easy.”
“We came out ready to go and pitched pretty well, we let the game slide away from us in the ninth inning.”
Darrin Horn drew the play up for his senior in the huddle, and Devan Downey executed.
To perfection.
Downey came off a ball screen and hit a 3-pointer with 1:48 left to break a 69-all tie, and South Carolina upset Vanderbilt (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) 77-73 on Saturday in its regular season finale. South Carolina (15-15, 6-10) snapped a six-game skid with a victory that pushed the Gamecocks up to the East’s fifth seed in the upcoming Southeastern Conference tournament.
“He’s done that his whole career,” Horn said. “It’s never about what somebody’s done something to him. It’s about, ‘It’s time to win,’ and he’s a young man who really relishes that moment. He made some huge plays tonight.”
Downey had just four points in the first half, but the league’s top scorer finished with 26 in rallying the Gamecocks. The senior said his teammates agreed to keep fighting.
“Right now, just playing for pride,” Downey said. “We got a big win, Top 25 win on the road. We’ve just got to carry that momentum into the SEC tournament.”
Vanderbilt (23-7, 12-4) already had the No. 2 seed in the East locked up before blowing a 10-point lead by going cold from the floor for 9:20. The Commodores rallied and tied it for the ninth time at 69 on Jermaine Beal ’s 3-pointer.
Downey answered with his sixth 3, Beal missed his 3-pointer and also missed a layup on the next trip down the floor. South Carolina hit 2 of 4 free throws to seal the victory.
Sam Muldrow added 20 points for South Carolina.
Beal finished with 21 for Vandy in the senior’s final home game, A.J. Ogilvy had 15 and Jeff Taylor 13.
South Carolina had struggled against Vanderbilt, losing 79-69 in Columbia on Jan. 16, and the Gamecocks came to Memorial Gym having lost seven of the last eight in this series overall.
Downey, averaging a league-high 26.2 points, was the key as he bounced back from a poor first half in which he hit only 2 of 9 from the floor. He had only 11 points with 10 minutes left when he finally got going, keying a 16-0 spurt with 10 points. Downey said assistant coach Neill Berry talked to him at halftime.
“I was getting good looks but wasn’t prepared to shoot so it was more mental, me being ready to shoot,” Downey said.
Stallings said he knew Downey would come back on the Commodores.
“He’ll come out and try and go crazy, and he did,” Stallings said.
Just as Downey got scoring, the Commodores went cold after John Jenkins hit a 3-pointer with 12:21 to put them up 53-43 with 12:21 left.
After Beal hit two free throws, Muldrow got the Gamecocks started with a bucket, then Downey heated up. The senior hit back-to-back 3s, stole the ball and scored on a layup and also had a pair of free throws that pushed South Carolina up 64-57. Downey’s bucket with 4:10 to go pushed the lead to 68-59.
Vanderbilt finally started scoring again. Ogilvy hit a pair of free throws, then Jenkins hit a 3, ending a drought that stretched 9:20.
A sellout crowd of 14,316 tried to scream the Commodores to victory on a home-court where they had been 14-1 this season, but they couldn’t counter Downey. The senior threw his entire body into launching a 3 that put the Gamecocks ahead to stay for good.
Beal scored on a pair of layups that just weren’t enough as time ran out.
South Carolina wound up outshooting Vanderbilt 49.1 percent to 42.9 percent, while out-rebounding the Commodores 33-28.
Blame the early afternoon tipoff or simply sloppy play, but the teams swapped the lead seven times with five ties in the first half of a physical start – the two teams averaged more than a foul per minute early.
Four Gamecocks had at least three fouls each with 10 minutes left, while three Commodores had three apiece before the teams finished with a combined 40 fouls.
Post Game Quotes:
South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
On the importance of the win:
“The win is obviously really big for us heading into the tournament. I was really proud of our guys. It’s the first time in a while I thought from start to finish we competed and played like we thought we could win and everybody did their part.”
On the team’s successful free-throw shooting:
“It was crucial to get there as much as we did, and get the ball in the basket. We had a lot of different guys step up and make big ones: Sam (Muldrow), Brandis (Raley-Ross), Ramon (Galloway).”
On Sam Muldrow’s big game:
“We challenged Sam. One thing about Sam is that he has tremendous pride and he’s always up for big challenges. He knows he hasn’t been his best the past two games, but I thought he was the best big man in the game tonight.”
On the end of the game:
“I saw that they were trying to trap Devan (Downey), and what Devan did a great job of was not throwing that ball back underneath the basket, where if it got stolen or deflected, they could score. I thought it was a really smart play. Those are the things that you have to do to win games like this.”
South Carolina guard Devan Downey
On offensive struggle in first half:
“I was playing with the flow of the game. I was getting good looks but wasn’t hitting shots, it was more mental. My coaches told me at halftime to keep shooting and every time I take a shot, I think it’s going in.”
On keeping the score close in the second half:
“We kept fighting in the contest. At this stage of the season, we’re playing for pride. The lead was cut in the second half and we had some bad breaks but we stayed together as a team.”
On what the win means to team:
“This is a big win for us. Hopefully we will carry this momentum into the SEC Tournament.”
On final possession of game:
“I got the inbounds pass and I could hear Vandy’s head coach Kevin Stallings telling them to not foul me but I passed it ahead to a teammate to keep the clock moving.”
South Carolina forward Sam Murdrow
On effort in game:
“The coaches challenged me to play well tonight because I’ve struggled in the past few games. I wanted to go out there today and play with pride.”
On first offensive possession of game:
“I was able to go to the post and make an aggressive move. I wanted to come out with intensity today on the court.”
On significance of win:
“This is a big win for us. It will get us ready for the SEC Tournament.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening comments:
“We had control of the game and lost it, got tentative, and got beat. That’s all there is to it. We had too many guys who didn’t show up to play. I told our staff that South Carolina had lost six games in a row and weren’t going to lose the rest of the season. I was disappointed that, as a group, we didn’t do more to send Jermaine Beal out the right way. I thought he played well, we just had some no-shows.”
On South Carolina’s 16-0 second half run:
“We got tentative. I don’t know if we thought they’d roll over and play dead or whatever. We were not right mentally from the start.”
On senior Jermaine Beal:
“He’s going to his third NCAA Tournament. He’s a poster child for what a college athlete should look like. He’s ahead in school academically. He’s a hard-working guy who wants to get better. I like Jermaine Beal a lot and it goes back to the recruiting process. His mother once told me that I had him at hello.”
Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy
On losing on senior day:
“Obviously, it’s very disappointing. Jermaine (Beal) has meant so much to us and to the program and of course we wanted to send him off with the win.”
On Devan Downey:
“We did a great job of containing Downey in the first half, but he was making tough shots in the second half and we couldn’t stop him. That’s what great players do: they make big shots.”
Vanderbilt guard Jermaine Beal
On Senior Day:
“I knew eventually today would come. It kind of hit me earlier in the game, but I refocused. It hit me again after the game for sure. I’m so appreciative of all the players, coaching staff, and the Nashville community for supporting me. I can’t say enough.”
On losing on senior day:
“Of course it’s your last home game and you want to win it, but Derrick Byars lost his and went to the Sweet Sixteen. Our team has a lot more left in us and we just have to refocus, bounce back, and look ahead. Of course it hurts though.”
On South Carolina run:
“We were turning the ball over and missing shots. Downey got a few in a row and we just kept making bad decisions.”
Yahoo! Sports has released it’s 2009-10 college basketball All-Conference teams and to the surprise of no one, Devan Downey is a first team All-SEC selection. This should be the first of many awards that Downey will receive in the next few weeks.
Yahoo!’s SEC Awards
FIRST TEAM
G John Wall, Kentucky
F DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
G Devan Downey, South Carolina
F Patrick Patterson, Kentucky
C Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
SECOND TEAM
F Trey Thompkins, Georgia
G Jermaine Beal, Vanderbilt
G Courtney Fortson, Arkansas
F Wayne Chism, Tennessee
F Tasmin Mitchell, LSU
THIRD TEAM
F Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
G Dee Bost, Mississippi State
G Chris Warren, Ole Miss
G Erving Walker, Florida
G DeWayne Reed, Auburn
Player of the Year: John Wall, Kentucky
Coach of the Year: John Calipari, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: John Wall, Kentucky
Newcomer of the Year: Vernon Macklin, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Jarvis Varnardo, Mississippi State
Scott Wingo and Whit Merrifield each homered and Gamecock starter Nolan Belcher combined with four relievers for a two-hit shutout as 15th ranked South Carolina defeated Presbyterian 15-0 on Wednesday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 5,712 at Carolina Stadium.
Belcher was dominant on the hill for the Gamecocks with five scoreless innings and just one infield hit allowed. He struck out seven and walked one to earn his first win of the year. Matt Price also struck out one in one inning of relief with Parker Bangs striking out two batters in his stint. Freshmen Ethan Carter and Colby Holmes closed the game out with an inning apiece as well. South Carolina pitchers had 10 strikeouts to two walks on the afternoon. Presbyterian reliever Jesse Harmon went 1.2 innings and allowed seven runs on five hits to suffer the loss. He is 0-1 on the year.
The Gamecocks are now 5-2 on the year while the loss drops Presbyterian to 1-7 for the season. South Carolina returns to action with a three-game series vs. nationally ranked Clemson. The series begins on Friday at Clemson with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s tilt will be at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. and is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the finale at Carolina Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m. as well.
Post Game Quotes:
South Carolina coach Ray Tanner
It has been only seven games but our pitching continues to do a nice job, we used five guys today. Nolan Belcher had a quality start and we had some guys in the bullpen that got a little bit of work. We got a bunch of runs early with two outs, so that put us where we needed to be today.
It made me feel good to be able to put Jackie’s (Bradley Jr.) name in the lineup, it’s still early but I’m excited to have him out there. He gives us another dimension. If we can get him going a bit and get (Nick) Ebert some more swings, it will make us a better team.
South Carolina lost to Alabama 79-70 on Wednesday night in the team’s home finale in front of an announced crowd of 11,109 at Colonial Life Arena.
The Crimson Tide (15-14, 5-10 Southeastern Conference) came in having lost seven of their past eight and fell behind 11-0 in this one before rallying. Charvez Davis had two late 3-pointers, the second one that put Alabama ahead for good 65-64 with 4:29 to go.
South Carolina (14-15, 5-10) could not respond and lost its sixth straight.
Justin Knox and Mikhail Torrance each had 17 points for Alabama.
Devan Downey, the SEC’s leading scorer, finished with 23 points. He also had three steals to set the Gamecock career mark with 273. Freshman Ramon Galloway scored a career-high 21 points.
South Carolina (14-15 overall, 5-10 SEC) plays it final regular season game on Saturday against Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Post Game Quotes:
South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement…
As we talked the last couple of days, this was a game we wanted to come out and play with energy and give the kind of effort we think is required to represent us the right way. I don’t think there’s any question our guys did that. We got out to a great start. A lot of it was energy plays, (and we) made great shots which always helps. Without a question we accomplished that goal.
On the team’s energy…
Great energy at the start. We got made shots which always helps things. We were active and created shots off our defense; that was something we definitely wanted to do tonight. We tried for weeks to sort of manage games. It worked against Kentucky but in most games it didn’t work unless we got something off our defense. It gave us some really good things and got us going, especially on the offensive end. No question energy was there from the get go. We just didn’t make the free throws down the stretch that we needed to.
On offense…
We haven’t been a good offensive team all year, that’s why we wanted to press and create off our defense. There was a stretch we were good offensively and got to the foul line.
On Alabama battling after losing JyMachal Green…
I think we’ve seen it a bunch of times when a team loses a key player that somehow they seem to find a way to play with great togetherness and purpose after that. Obviously that was the case for them. Credit them too (because) sometimes we forced some of the quick shots we wanted (but) they made some shots at the rim.
On the 49-26 rebounding margin
Just in general that’s a big number. Sam’s number surprises me. He had one (rebound) at halftime and played 17 minutes. On a night that he has four rebounds, we’re probably not going to look too good on the glass.
On the freshmen…
The freshmen the last three games have shown you, specifically Lakeem Jackson and Ramon Galloway, have shown why we’re behind them and excited about the future moving forward. Even down the stretch we missed a couple and Lakeem was right around the rim. Those are the kind of guys you want to move forward with.
On a six-game losing streak…
Obviously it’s frustrating, especially a game like tonight when you’re home and come out like you want to. You have the chance to get the seniors a win at home and break the streak, but bottom line is in this game either you won or lost. We didn’t. The bigger challenge is moving forward. Not making free throws is acceptable. Losing is not but if you give the kind of effort and work the way you want to, you just keep plugging.
On Devan Downey breaking the steals record…
He’s a guy that’s really good at that. That’s a hard thing to do. Guys that steal the way he does are guys that have a knack for it. He broke Chuck Eidson’s record, and they’re different built kind of guys, but guys that steal the basketball have great instinct and feel.
On the freshmen…
Those guys getting experience and being relied upon much more than we anticipated will help them in the future as we move forward. They would have been on the road and been in situations and been in games being counted on. Those things are always important. That’s a positive.
Alabama Head Coach Anthony Grant
Opening Statement…
Devan Downey is the guy I’ve had a chance to see since he was going to his senior year in high school. He’s a guy that every coach respects and fears. I thought the emotion he brought and Raley-Ross brought at the beginning of the game put us back on our heels. I’m proud of the effort our guys gave and the ability to stick together to weather that storm and win the game. Today was a character win for our basketball team. It’s great to see them fight and stay together through the adversity we’ve had to face.
On the win…
Great character win. We faced adversity early. It was a nip and tuck game back and forth. Our guys kicked in at the end of the game from a defensive standpoint. We were able to do the things we needed to do to come out with the win. There were a lot of different scenarios that came up that we showed great character.
On South Carolina…
South Carolina is very aggressive with the way they come after you with the press. We felt like we had to attack. If you play on your heels you play right into their game. In the second half we did a much better job. We only had four turnovers in the second half. Anytime we did not turn it over we were able to get good looks at the basket.
On the rebounding margin…
Our guys did a great job. Look at the numbers. Chris Hines was phenomenal in the first half. We did the things we needed to do to go on the road and get a (win) on senior night here.
On playing together…
We knew they would be aggressive and we had to attack and guys had to be available and want the basketball. We did a good job of playing together and looking for each other. We had 14 assists on the night which is higher than our average. The key for us is to continue to be unselfish and play together, and we did a good job of that tonight.
There’s a process of learning what it takes to win. Tonight we took a step in the right direction.
The 2010 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana has ended and the early reports on Clifton Geathers, Eric Norwood and Darian Stewart have been very positive.
Here are the measurements and unofficial times for the three Gamecocksand a comparison as to how they ranked against their fellow participants at their position.
Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Eric Norwood.
36 Linebackers Performed Various Drills
Height: 6007
Weight: 245
Arm: 33 3/8
Hand: 9 1/2
40-Yard Dash: 4.67 (12th fastest out of the 32 linebackers who performed the drill)
Vertical Jump: 36.5 (9th highest out of the linebackers who performed the drill)
Broad Jump: 9′07 (5th longest out of the 15 linebackers who performed the drill)
225-lb Bench Press: Eric opted out of this event.
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.23 (6th fastest out of the linebackers who performed the drill)
Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Clifton Geathers.
66 Defensive Linemen Performed Various Drills
Height: 6074
Weight: 299
Arms: 37 3/4 (Longest Arms out of the 328 players at the Combine)
Hands: 11 1/8 (Second largest Hands at the Combine)
40-Yard Dash: 4.96 (37th fastest out of the 53 DL who performed the drill)
225-lb Bench Press: 26 reps (19th most out of the 50 DL who performed the drill)
Vertical Jump: 36.0 (11th highest out of the 24 DL who performed the drill)
Broad Jump: 9′04 (24th longest out of the 47 DL who performed the drill)
Here are the measurements and unofficial times for Darian Stewart.
53 Defensive Backs performed drills.
Height: 5110
Weight: 213
Arm: 32 1/2
Hand: 8 7/8
40-Yard Dash: 4.50 (18th fastest out of the 47 defensive backs who performed the drill)
225-lb Bench Press: 12 reps (30th most out of the 43 defensive backs who performed the drill)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
NOTE: These results could change, specifically those that are timed, as the NFL officials continue to analyze their laser timing system. Additional results for Darian Stewart should become available over the next few days.
Fifth-year senior Dominique Archie confirmed this afternoon that he will apply for a sixth year of eligibility. Archie can not formally apply until the end of this season but will submit the paperwork as soon as possible. Coach Horn stated that if Archie’s request is denied, they will immediately appeal. In the meantime, Horn, Archie and USC’s NCAA compliance officer have been researching over 600 similar cases to see if they can find historical precedent.
Archie suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the Gamecocks fifth game on November 22. The 6′7 forward was averaging 14.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game at the time of his injury.
Here’s a rendering of the proposed north end zone expansion at Williams-Brice Stadium and the changes to the Farmers Market area. This view has the State Fairgrounds parking on the left side of the images and the Cockaboose Railroad on the right.
Clifton Geathers just completed his on-field workout this morning with his group of defensive lineman at the NFL Scouting Combine.Clifton measured in at 6′7, 299 lbs, with an arm length of 37 3/4 inches. He bench pressed 225 lbs, 26 times and ran the 40 yard dash in a solid 4.96 and 4.99.
Arizona State DE Dexter Davis set the unofficial pace with a blazing 4.64.
Florida DE Carlos Dunlap ran an impressive 4.71.
Alabama DT Terrence Cody wasn’t quite as fleet of foot as the rest of his competitors, clocking an unofficial 5.64-second 40 in his first run, and a 5.75 in his second.
Top-rated defensive tackle from Oklahoma, Gerald McCoy, whom many scouts are projecting to go second overall to the Lions, unofficially ran a 4.96 in his first 40, but he dropped to 5.14 in his second.
Clifton said that some teams are looking to play him at defensive tackle on occasion stating, “Some teams are looking for me to be a defensive end. And some looking at me being a defensive tackle on third down and bringing some of the smaller guys in.”
Eric Norwood measured in at 6-foot 7/8, 239 lbs. He ran an unofficial 4.67-second 40 in his first attempt and a 4.74 in his second. Eric will take part in all the drills except the bench press.
I’ve received several requests in the last few days about posting the full length movie from the Scotty Spurrier and Jennifer Fairfax wedding. I posted the introduction video a few weeks ago but was unable to get the next video to embed while the other video was still on the mainpage. Now that the initial post has made it’s way into the archives, I’m able to get this one to play properly…I think. Click the play button to start the video, it may take about 10 seconds for the video to begin.
Former Gamecock Antoine Tisby has arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand to rejoin his former club the Otago Nuggets for the upcoming NBL season. Tisby spent the 2008 season with the Nuggets and captured the NBL rebounding title after averaging 10.8 boards and more than 24 points per game.
The Nuggets are located in Dunedin, which is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of Otago.
The Nuggets tip-off the 2010 season against the Aukland Stars on March 4th.
Here’s a feature on Tisby’s return that ran in Friday’s Otago Daily Times.
Otago:Antoine Tisby has a new perspective on life and Tyler Amaya has a new home.
Both Americans intend to use their fresh directions as motivation to help the Otago Nuggets stand tall in their comeback season.
The pair arrived in Dunedin this week to prepare for next weekend’s opening tip-off.
For Tisby, it is a homecoming.
He starred for the Nuggets when they last appeared in the NBL, averaging 24 points a game at centre and claiming the league rebounding title with nearly 11 boards a night.
He said he was delighted to get a chance to return to the franchise and to see how the Baby Nuggets, his young team-mates, had developed.
“Last time was a great experience for me,” Tisby said yesterday.
“I saw a lot of young guys; a lot of potential talent. Now they’ve grown up a little bit, so I’m anxious to see what we can do this year.”
“I enjoy being a team leader. But I want to help other guys at the same time.”
Tisby (26) has played in Mexico, Uruguay, Chile and Lebanon in the 18 months since he left Dunedin, but more importantly he has started a family.
“I’ve had a couple of big life changes.I got married and had a daughter.”
Little Azaria, who turned 1 month old yesterday, has stayed in Kansas City with Tisby’s wife.
It may be about four months before Tisby sees his family again – regular conversations over Skype will have to suffice until then – but the itinerant basketballer knows he has to stay strong for everyone’s sake.
“It’s a tough lifestyle but you’ve got to make these sacrifices sometimes.”
“Becoming a father has changed my perspective on everything, really. I’m more mature, and I’ve got to be more of a leader on the court.”
“It’s my job to lead my team-mates the same way I would lead my family.”
Jarvis Varnado had 19 points to lead five Mississippi State players in double figures and the Bulldogs won their fourth straight over South Carolina, 76-63, on Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 13,834 at the Colonial Life Arena.
The Bulldogs played well from start to finish Saturday night. South Carolina managed only two leads – each by a point and each early in the first half. MSU erased that last lead with a 20-6 run to open up a 27-14 advantage with 5:00 left in the half.
MSU built an early lead by scoring from long range. In the opening half, MSU hit seven three-pointers, including four by Barry Stewart. On the inside, Varnado was on his way to this season’s 17th double-double. Varnado finished with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds.
In the second half, the Gamecocks pieced together their final run. Devan Downey hit a jumper to cap a half-opening 9-4 run. That basket brought USC within 39-37 with 16:45 remaining.
The Bulldogs quickly answered with a 9-0 run, sparked by a pair of strong offensive plays from Kodi Augustus. Stewart’s final 3 of the night gave the Bulldogs a 60-44 lead with 9:32 remaining.
For the contest, the Bulldogs hit 26 of 52 shots from the field (50.0 percent), 10 of 21 shots from 3-point range (47.6 percent) and 14 of 20 shots from the foul line (70.0 percent). The Gamecocks hit 26 of 60 shots from the field (43.3 percent), 7 of 28 shots from 3-point range (25.0 percent) and 4 of 5 shots from the foul line (80.0 percent).
MSU held a 36-26 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 12 assists and 10 turnovers, while the Gamecocks had 11 assists and nine turnovers.
Varnado, who set the NCAA career blocks mark his last game, followed that with his highest scoring total against an Southeastern Conference opponent this season.
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Stewart scored 18, Ravern Johnson 15, Augustus 13 and Dee Bost 11 for the Bulldogs (21-8, 9-5 SEC).
Downey, the SEC’s leading scorer, was held to 12 points, his lowest output in a league game this season.
Sam Muldrow had a game-high 15 points for the Gamecocks (14-14, 5-9). Ramon Galloway followed with 14 points. Brandis Raley-Ross had 12 points, while Lakeem Jackson had 10 points.
Post Game Quotes:
South Carolina Head Coach Darrin Horn
Opening Statement…
We knew coming in to the game that Mississippi State’s ability, but also commitment to shooting the 3 was going to be really important to their team, regardless of who they played. They found a way to shoot 20-plus 3-point attempts a game. We wanted to do our best to take them away. I think you have to credit them for the most part. But I think we did a good job with challenging them, but there were a couple from (Barry) Stewart that were unbelievable in the first half, and in the second half we made a little run and started to get momentum and got some baskets. We made adjustments at halftime but it seemed like every time they needed a shot to go down, they did that. But we got terrific play from our young kids. Lakeem Jackson, once again got 10 points, leads us in rebounding, no negatives, no turnovers, a couple of assists and couple of steals. You have to keep in mind that a couple of times he’s doing it from a power forward position. He’s giving up four or five inches and 20 or 30 pounds, so to see him get to that and to see (Ramon) Galloway play the way he did, I think they were real positives. Galloway played really aggressive and did some really great things, and again didn’t bring us any negatives. He got 14 points, didn’t make a ton of his 3s but knocked down a couple but he also didn’t turn the ball over. That’s the kind of fight we’re looking for as we move down the stretch here.
On what he tells the team at this point in the season…
I think you tell the seniors about a decision about how they want to finish at home on Wednesday night. And how they want to go out and get a win at home at their last game. And for our guys that are coming back, you tell them to continue to fight and build and understand that everything we do is to continue to move forward for the future as well. They’re not a lot of secrets but at the same time, they’re no excuses. I don’t think we can make any on Wednesday. We’re at home and I think we have more wins in league play and with the same amount of experience and that type of thing. Wednesday is a night you challenge your seniors to go out on top and the young guys to just keep doing what they’re doing. Again, I can’t say enough good things about how our freshmen are playing.
Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury
Opening Statement…
I hope we never have to play against Devan Downey again. He’s not just one of the best players in the state, he’s one of the best players in the country. For us to come in here and do a defensive job on him, is pretty impressive for some of our guys. We knew coming in here and for us to have a chance you have to do a good job on him. I thought Dee Bost and those other people giving help on him all night was huge. He never got going, I never thought he got into a good flow. We made shots early in the game and when we make shots we do pretty good. We lost four out of five on the road and they were all one possession games under 10 seconds to go and we didn’t shoot well in any of those games. When we shoot the ball like that, it gives your defense so much more. I thought Jarvis (Varnado) was consistent all night long. In the second half, I thought we had good rhythm.
On clock management the last five minutes…
We were just trying to survive at the end. Our best friend was the clock. We got into a one-and-one at about the 10-minute mark and instead of scoring early we took things in transition early and if it wasn’t early that clock was to support us. Whether we scored or not, we were just trying to shorten this game the best we could. Probably five out of the eight times we scored, which is what you have to do on the road. We had some silly turnovers but we never let Carolina go in one of their spurts that they are capable of doing. I’ve seen Downey just take over games but I never thought Downey got that going tonight.
Sources are indicating that former Gamecock Carlos Powell has bought out of his contract with the NBA D-League’s Albuquerque T-Birds and has signed a deal to finish the season in China with the Liaoning Dinosaurs.
Carlos grew tired of not receiving a call-up to the NBA after averaging 22.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals and being named a D-League All-Star. Thirteen D-League players have been called up to the NBA this season.
Dime Magazine recently called it “mind-boggling” that Powell hasn’t been called up by the Miami Heat or Dallas Mavericks, whom the Thunderbirds are an affiliate to.
The 6′7 forward opted to play this season in the low paying D-League, where he was earning roughly $30,000 this year, with the hopes of better exposure and the direct affiliations with the NBA. He will now earn that amount in his first month in China. The CBA limits each team to two foreign players who are allowed to earn a combined $60,000 a month.
Liaoning is 16-9 on the season and currently in 6th place in the CBA.
The Dinosaurs are based in the northeastern China province of Liaoning and the cities of Shenyang and Yingkou.
Carlos is no stranger to asian basketball, he spent last season playing in South Korea. The former Florence Wilson High School and South Carolina standout will now join former Gamecock teammate Tre Kelley, who plays for Dongguan, in the CBA. Dongguan and Liaoning will face each other on March 5th.
