• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1983-04-07_Vol47_No25_06

6 Western Carolinian/April 7,1983 Sport Frustrating For Ronnie Carr Ihe 1982-83 basketball season was a frustrating time for Ronnie Cartas he must havecaught himself dreaming of what might have been as he watched his Western Carolina University teammates from the bench. Many predicted Ronnie Carr would lead the nation in scoring, be named to post-season all-star teams and sign a lucrative professional basketball contract. None of this came to pass as his basketball career was prematurely ended bv a near-fatal automobile accident last summer. However, the courage displayed by Ronnie during his eight month rehabilitation did not go unnoticed by coaches, players, fans, fellow students and the media. Ronnie Can was bestowed one of college basketball's top awards this past faster Sunday in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the United States Basketball Writers Association presented him with their Most Courageous Award for 1982-83. lhc award was officially presented at a reception held in Ronnie's honor in conjunction with the NCAA Basketball Championships. lhc award is presented annually to the person associated with college basketball who displays extraordinary courage in dealing with adversity. A SI.000 scholarship was presented in Ronnie Carr's name to the Development foundation of Western Carolina University by the Adolph Coors Brewing Company of Golden, Colorado, the underwriters ol the award. In addition, Coors flew Ronnie and Steve White, WCU's Director ol Sports Information, to Albuquerque for the award presentation and the NCAA Basketball Championships. Carr received multiple injuries in an automobile accident in Chapel Hill last June 19 and due to the resulting open-heart surgery, his basketball career was ended. Ronnie Carr in action against University of South Carolina. (Photo courtesy of Sports Information) He is already in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts as he was the first college basketball player to score a 3-point field goal. That occured November 29, 1980 against Middle Tennessee State in Reid Gymnasium. He led the Southern Conference in scoring as a junior last season and was a two-time All-Southern Conference selection. The Wolfpack Is Back by Mark Haskett The "team of destiny" is what head coach Jim Valvano and others were calling the N.C. State- Wolf pack. The Wolfpack has also been labeled as th e Cinderella team of the tournament. After Monday night's victory over the number one ranked Houston Cougars. N.C. State has received the title of being the 1983 National Champions. N.C. State had made it to the finals by defeating Georgia 67-60 in the other semi-final game. Houston demolished Louisville 94-81, in a game which was termed by many as the national championship. Houston may have thought that Louisville was the biggest obstacle between them and the championship, but N.C. State proved otherwise. Lorenzo "Gorilla" Charles slammed the ball through the basket with one second remaining to give "Phi Pack Attacka" the upset victory over "Phi Slama Jama." The Pack, led by Thurl Bailey, built a 33-25 halftime lead. Houston then came roaring back and built an eight point lead midway through the second half. That set the stage for another fabulous Wolfpack comeback. Lowe and Whittenburg got hot and brought the Pack back to a 52-52 tic. Houston missed ample opportunities to put the game away by missing a number of free throws. Coach Valvano, who had told his team to foul, called time out with 44 seconds remaining and set up the strategy for the final seconds. State would hold the ball and shoot one last shot. The shot would go in and win the game for them or not go in and send the game into overtime. Whittenburg took a desperation 27 foot shot (with three seconds left) that fell short, but Charles slammed the ball through the net for the win and the National Championship. Valvano and the whole Wolfpack bench emptied onto the floor and began their celebration. There was also a celebration going on in Raleigh as thousands of N.C. State students and fans poured into the brickyard. It is reported that the celebration is still going on and will continue for some days to come. THE MILLER BREWING COMPANY PRESENTS... A multi-image presentation of the marketing and advertising strategies that have catapulted Miller Brewing Company from seventh place in the beer industry to second place today. This entertaining program is free and open to the public Date: Tuesday, April 19 Presented by: Miller Brewing Co. Time: 3:00 p.m. Location: Forsyth Auditorium For any further information contact your college representative for Miller Beer, Warren McClpnrlnn at 293-3897 1982 M'ller Brewing Company. Milwaukee. Wisconsin Baseball Starts Conference Western Carolina University's haseball team will open the Southern Conference portion of the 1983 schedule this Saturday (April 9) at Ronnie G. Childress field in Cullowhee with a I p.m. doubleheader with Furman. Ihe Cats have been the busiest team in the Southern Conference, but are the only club that has not played a league game to date. Western, 15-11 overall after a Monday doubleheader sweep of Campbell (13-6 and 8-5) and scheduled contests at Clemson ( luesday) and two games at Carson-Newman (Wednesday), could move directly into the upper reaches of the league title chase with two wins over the Paladins. In Southern Conference play to date (Tuesday, April 5), last lennessee Slate is in first place with a 4-0 mark (11-11 overall); The Citadel, ranked 20th in the nation in some polls, is 2-0 and 18-2 overall. furman, the Cats'opponents Saturday, is I-I in the league. VMI, Marshall and Appalachian State follow with 1-3 league marks as Davidson is 0-2. In Furman's league action last week, VMI and the Paladins split a doubleheader. The Keydets won the first game, 13-8, with Furman winning the second, 3-0. Last season the Cats finished second in the conference with a 12-4 record. Tuesday's game at Clemson was scheduled to begin, weather permitting, at 3 p.m. Wednesday's doubleheader at Carson-Newman, the second game making up a postponement March 24, was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The Cats swept Monday's doubleheader from Campbell with timely hitting, pitching and defense. Mel Kinsey keyed the first win with a three-run home run in the first inning and later added adoubleand a triple. Kinsey's four RBI in the game pushed his career total to 135, just two away from tying Willie Carpenter's career mark of 137 set from 1977-80. Western gave Campbell three unearned runs in the fourth, but played solid defense behind starting pitcher Scott Gay (3-2) otherwise. Gay pitched six innings for the Cats with David Ray Robinson finishing the game. Ahead only 5-4 after four innings, Western pieced up four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Big iits came from Charlie Fonville (two-run single) and J Win Pust (two run double) as Brian Tebo added a third miing solo home run. Tom Valley also added two RBI in he game as Western pounded Campbell for 13 hits. In the second game, rightfielder Alex Barnwell m;de the most of a rare starting opportunity as he sluggel a three-run home run in the second inning and had an RBI double later in the game to pace the Cats' 8-5 win. Barnwell's home run in the second inning came »ff Campbell starter Joe Stephenson (3-3) and gave the C;« a lead for the entire game. I Western scored three more runs in the fourth innirlfc and added a run in the sixth. David Hill had a solo homB run in the third for Western. 1 Andy Griffin (1-1) started and picked up the win f0-| the Cats as Greg Moore earned a save by pitching thJ final 11,3 innings. The Cats had 10 hits in the game as Campbell made four errors. The Cats, in this past weekend's action, lost to] nationally ranked (I9th) South Carolina in a night game in Columbia. S.C.. Friday night. USC downed the Cats, 11-2, as Gamecock designated hitter Chris Boyle had three hits, five R BI and a home run in the game. The Cats scored their only two runs in the third inning on R Bl singles by Brian Tebo and David Hill. Ken Hare (4-2) was the pitcher of decision for Western. A Saturday afternoon single game with the Gamecocks was cancelled due to rain. The doubleheader with Furman will precede an eight-game string of road games for the Cats. Monday, April II, Western plays two Southern Conference games at Appalachian State (1:30 p.m.) and then embarks on a long road trip Friday(April 15) witha contest at Eastern Kentucky (3 p.m.) Saturday, April 16, Western plays two games with Marshall (1 p.m.) and has two more Southern Conference games Monday, April 18, at VMI (I p.m.). The road streak concludes with a Friday, April 22, game at Wofford College (3 p.m.). WCU'S Football Schedule Early season games with Clemson and Wake Forest and six games with fellow Southern Conference schools are the highlights of Western Carolina University's 1983 football schedule. The I l-game schedule, announced by Bob Waters, WCU's Director of Athletics and Head Football Coach, also featuressix homegamesin 12,000seat E.J. Whitmire Stadium. Waters also announced that the Catamounts will meet Georgia Tech in Atlanta and Florida State in Tallahassee during the 1985 season. Tech and WCU have never met in football while the Catamounts played at Florida State in 1981. The '83 season opens September 3 at Clemson where the Catamounts take on the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions in an expanded Memorial Stadium before an anticipated crowd of 75,000. WCU and Clemson have met twice before on the football field with the Tigers winning 17-10 in 1980 and 21-10 last season. Western will have the week off before facing Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, September 17. The Demon Deacons defeated the Catamounts 31-10 in last season's opening game. The Catamounts will open their home and Southerr Conference schedule September 24 against East Tennessee State and will also meet fellow conference schools Marshall (Oct. I), Furman (Oct. 15), Tennessee- Chattanooga (Oct. 29), The Citadel (Nov. 5) anc Appalachian State (Nov. 19). The only new opponent on the 1983 schedule is Gardner-Webb College who replaces Mars Hill College. The South Atlantic Conference team will visit Whitmire Stadium for the first time ever meeting November 12. The other non-conference opponents are Tennessee Tech (Oct. 8) and Wofford (Oct. 22). Western's 1982 schedule was rated the 15th toughest among 94 NCAA Division I-AA schools and Waters says he sees no relief on the '83 slate. "Clemson is the defending ACC champion; Wake Forest should be much better; Wofford and Gardner- Webb were nationally ranked last year; and there is no such thing as an easy Saturday inside our conference," he explained. Purple Weekend: April 8,9 Purple Weekend, two days of intercollegiate athletic activity at Western Carolina University, will be kicked off Friday evening, April 8, with the annual Purple/Gold Spring Football Game. Also scheduled is the Catamount Invitational track and field meet, slated to begin Saturday, April 9, at 11:00 A.M., followed by the WCU baseball team's Southern Conference opener, a doubleheader with Furman University, at 1:00 P.M. All Purple Weekend activities are open to the public at no charge. The spring intrasquad game will be played in Whitmire Stadium beginning at 7:30 P.M. and will culminate six weeks of off-season practice. Coach Bob Waters will attempt to divide his 74 players and coaching staff into equal teams for the game. "Due to injuries and other circumstances, it is difficult to really equalize the teams, but we plan to put on an interesting, competitive game," said Waters who is preparing for his 15th season at WCU. The Dean of the Southern Conference's football coaches has compiled an impressive 81-61-4 record. With 15 starters scheduled to return from last season's team that finished strong by winning four of its last five games for a 6-5 record, much of Waters' emphasis this spring has been directed towards developing depth and finding a starting quarterback. "We've got a group of talented and experienced football players ready to lineup at most of the starting Louis Cooper and kicking specialist Dean Biasucci. A hamburger dinner will be served on the stadium grounds for $2.00 beginning at 5:30 P.M. All interested persons are asked to call the Big Cat Club office (227- 7377) to make a reservation. I n the other activities, eight track and field teams will Conference's indoor champion; the shot putting of Western's Charles Weddington; and Brevard College's distance runners from its state champion cross country team. WCU's baseball team, after playing a difficult non- conference schedule for six weeks, will open its 14-game Southern Conference schedule Saturday afternoon against Furman at Ronnie G. Childress Field. o o o © o o o o © o © o *■* 1—H ^M *—•> &&&& 1 1 tt </3 tfl w ■** *—> +•* •♦-> c C! c G 4> <D 4> <D T3 T3 "O T3 3 p 3 P (Z5C/3 C/5 CO ILaVST MINUTE PRODUCTIONS BEGINNER KAYAKING April 16 © © © © o © o o o© o© I I I I G C G C O Q> (j qj p s p s oe0.o I* I. Learn Whitewater paddling skills under the guidance of professional instructors Price includes instruction, equipment and transportation

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1983-04-07
  • Date digitized: 2019-01-31
• Extent
  • Dimension: 15" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 14 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1983-04-07_Vol47_No25
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library