Rohith Nandagiri
Sports Writer
With all the hoopla surrounding the hiring of Clyde Drexler still at a feverish high, the men's basketball team is busy, but not with the aide of the Cougar coaches.
As it stands now, the season- ticket sales for the upcoming season have already exceeded the average attendance from last year, so there is much anticipation. However, the players cannot be as much as looked at by the coaches because the vaunted NCAA deems it illegal. NCAA rules prohibit coaches to even watch players during the summer months.
The Cougars will have nine scholarship players returning along with three incoming scholarship players. They will add immediate help to a backcourt that last year led Conference USA in turnovers. George Gervin Jr. and Moses Malone Jr. will form a tandem which will no doubt stir memories of the past when their fathers lit up the NBA, each with Hall of Fame careers.
Malone has been playing extensively with members of his future team and is happy with his progression into college basketball.
"My game is getting better, and I am getting stronger. The game here is a lot different than high school, and right now I am just trying to get familiar with the players," he said.
Gervin impressed many in a charity game at Southwest Texas State Monday night. NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played against Gervin, and many in attendance say that Gervin may have outplayed even the two six-time NBA champions.
Along with the improved yet inexperienced backcourt, a much more experienced team, which includes players such as Kenny Younger, Chad Hendrick and Treva Crosby, will make up Clyde's first season of talent. Younger, Hendrick and Crosby were a part of the massacre that was the 1997-98 season.
The Cougars will also have possibly six walk-ons next season headed by former Episcopal High School star Justin Wiggins.
Another name which was given a lot of publicity was Cedric Taylor out of Waltrip High School. Taylor, who was considered the second-best prospect in the state behind NBA lottery pick hopeful Rashard Lewis, did not qualify academically and will attend UH-Downtown for one year in order to attend UH in the 1999-2000 academic year.
Small forward Charles Fordjour, who was not effective last year in limited playing time, is being looked at by team doctors to examine his shoulder, which was injured during last season. Assistant coach Reid Gettys, who along with George Walker is basically running the program this summer, is not sure what Fordjour's status will be. "We hope he will be available, but no final decision has been made," he said.
The Cougars will have another couple of weeks until they will be allowed to start playing in front of the coaches. Starting the first week of July, coaches are allowed to watch, but not coach, the players. According to Gettys, coaches can begin their teaching in early September. The season starts Nov. 18 against rival Texas and its new coach Rick Barnes.
Other C-USA teams make a change
UH is not the only C-USA team making drastic changes. DePaul has come up huge in the recruiting war as they have the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation. Swing guard Quentin Richardson, Alvin Mitchell, Bobby Simmons, Lance Williams, and Rashon Bruno will no doubt help this team get back to its national prominence days.
DePaul coach Pat Kennedy, who came to the school before last season from Florida State in the powerhouse Atlantic Coast Conference, says Conference USA is just as strong.
"You have four or five teams who are legitimate top 20 teams in the country," he said.
Other C-USA schools are trying to obtain top talent. Memphis was able to land one of the nation's top 50 players in 6-8 forward Paris London. Louisville will also feature a Gervin in their mix. George Gervin SR's nephew Caleb will be playing for the Cardinals but looks to be one of the few promising talents on aging Denny Crum's team.
Saint Louis will not be the same without super-frosh Larry Hughes. Hughes was C-USA Freshman of the Year last season and guided the Billikens to an NCAA Tournament win against U Mass.
Overall, this is shaping up to becoming a very strong basketball conference. Along with the intrigue of Houston and the constant power in Cincinnati and rising power DePaul, it will not take much to fill up Hofheinz Pavilion next season during conference play.