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Western Carolinian Volume 61 Number 18

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Item 1 - Western Carolinian Volume 61 Number 18

Western Carolinian Volume 61 Number 18

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Item

Details
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_1996-02-29_Vol61_No18_19
Transcript

February 29,1996 Western Carolinian 19 Sports Hopkins Reflects on Remarkable Season by Jason Queen Staff Reporter Frankie King was gone. Benny Dees was gone. And no one thought Western's men's basketball could possible perform better than the team did a year ago. After all, King had been the Southern Conference Player-of-the-Year two straight years, and Dees was considered by many the man to resurrect the program. But he decided to call "quits after two respectable seasons in Cullowhee, and Catamount fans did not seem optimistic. Now, one year later, the Cats have won the South Division title in fte conference and rookie head coach Phil Hopkins has all of Cullowhee buzzing over basketball. One of the most humble men you will evermeet, Hopkins denies that he had anything to do with the team's success. Wter starting out the year 0-7, including a "wnihating loss to Coker College December 2 in the Ramsey Center, the Cats could have thrown in the towel and decided that they were simply not a good team. But Hopkins managed to motivate the guys to turn the tide and become the team they are now. Hopkins gives all the credit to his players, saying, "It wasn't anything I did. It was what the team did." He saw something in this group of young men that was much better than their lowly record indicated. "Even when we were losing, I felt like when we got in conference play we could be all right." But even he is quick to admit, "I didn't think it would turn out like this." But once the team started playing somewhat better, they seemed to run into a wall at the start of conference play. They lost to UT-Chattanooga, then blew a late lead and lost at home to Furman to go to 0-2 in the conference. "That was one that ate at us. It was a disappointing, disheartening loss." Luckily, Georgia Southern, the conference doormat, was next on the Cats' schedule. After an ugly first half, the Cats pulled away in the second half and picked up their first conference win of the year. "The timing of it was really good, and that really helped give McCollum, McKillop, Conley Wins SC Media Western Carolina senior guard J« McCollum was named Sout ~Jlurn was named Southern ft Merence Player-of-the-Year in voting by eague's sports media association, """"need Monday. coach RIS°re,eased Monday, Davidson head Coa h °b McKilloP was niined conference Conl he"Year and VMT forward Brent YeArey Was tab°ed league Freshman-of-the- aWardA total of 36 ballots were cast for the Place v *'th t5V° P°iMs awarded for a first place ^°je and °ne point given for a second Player CfC°llum received 21 first place 52 Points Year ball0tS and finished with Brand0 ^VWa1110 outdistance runner-up votes an,^llliams of Davidson, who got 14 Har^ nished with 42 points. Quinn P^Ver t °f Davids°n was the only other togajer Afimplace vote. Conferenc nvas C106iI,Iin on the nighfs fCe Scorin8 utle entering Monday *asavpfme w»h Appalachian States He .ri7raging 25.2 o —*. points per game and was ■ste J 33'5 cliP over his last eight "He hasu- ~f «'^l lllj ICtOL Vigils s been named the league scorii c0nte: •Vr. McKiu ■--Ye *" """'"-u ^° ursi piacc »-i vMps B ^ ^otes and totaled 58 points. finished w"?eIlairs Was second and Points Ph'iu6"611 first Place votes and 32 11 "opkins of Western Carolina r-of tK named me league » McK f Week the ,ast three weelcS' of-lhe-VB P earned 26 first place Coach- i\„. ear Votes p^ .„..i-j <ro __:_.„ Honors took third. He was named on the other three first place ballots and finished with 18 points. Entering Monday night's game at Furman, McKillop had guided the Wildcats to a 13-0 record in the league and a 22-3 mark overall. Davidson entered the contest with a 16-game winning streak and was tying to become the first conference team since Furman in 1974-75 to go unbeaten in league play. Conley edged Marshall point guard Jason Williams for Freshman-of-the-Year honors. Cordey got 17 first place votes and finished with 48 points. Williams had 15 firsts and totaled 41 points. Conley was averaging 15.5 points and a league-leading 8.5 rebound, per game heading into Monday night's game at The Citadel. He pulled downy conference season-high 20 rebounds at Richmond on The complete voting breakdown is below: Southern Conference Media Player of The-Year: Anquell McCullum 6-1 senior, Ird, Western Carolina-21 first place votes, 10 seconds, 52 points. Others Receiving Votes: Brandon Williams, Davidson, 14-14-42; Lawrence rnllette VMI, 0-3-3; bobby Taylor, UT- Gullette, vw Marshall, Chattanooga, (33-3, R-eun vci j, Continued on p. 18 us some confidence." Even more than the win, the team had a chance to spend some time together on the long road trip to Statesboro. "That trip helped us a lot, as far as staying together as a team." Since that win, the Cats have won 11 of their last 13 games, and head into the conference tournament as the Number 1 seed in the South Division. Coach Hopkins notes how well the team has played as a unit, but notes that you can define this team's character with one letter: "Q." "Well, I've about run out of adjectives for Anquell. He's really carried this team. When we got on a roll, he was the main factor behind that." But he insists that McCollum contributes much more than what fans see when they see a game. "What people don't see is how hard he works in practice and how he won't let guys loaf. He just comes to compete." People who have seen him play lately have seen a truly gifted player. He has averaged over 25 points per game and has scored over 33 points a night over the last four weeks of the season. He has been named the Southern Conference's Player-of-the-Week the past four weeks, and was just named this week as the SC's Player-of-the-Year. On Monday night he broke the conference record for career three- pointers made. Hopkins says that it couldn't have happened to a better guy. "He deserves all of the honors he's getting because he's surely taken this team a long way." But Hopkins knows as well as anyone that one guy can't win a title by himself. Everyone on the roster has come up with a big season, especially Jarvis Graham and Joel Fleming. After a shaky freshman year, Graham has provided the Cats with solid minutes in the low post coming off the bench. But Hopkins gets excited when he thinks about the progress Graham has made and looks to the future. "He's gonna be even better next year. He's one of our better post players. He's really been a big lift for us." If this improvement continues, Hopkins thinks he will have a star on his hands the next couple of years. "Before he's through, he'll be an all-conference type player.' Fleming, who has just gotten better every game at the point guard position, has really been steady down the stretch and is making great • decisions in crucial situations. "Joel's really making good decisions, and that's what a point guard's supposed to do. He's got a lot more confidence than he had earlier in the year. He's coming into his own. He tries to do what we want him to do most of the time. " Hopkins smiles when he says this, remembering the times throughout the year when Fleming gets out of control and tries to make a spectacular play that goes awry. If he continues to improve, Hopkins insists, "He'll be one of the top two point guards in the league next year." Fleming, like Graham, struggled through last year as a freshman, but has improved dramatically over the course of this season. "He's growing up and getting better, and I think he's another player that by his senior year I would hope he'll be an all-conference type player." Another reason the Cats emerged in the second half of the season is the steady play of Larry Mayo and Joe Stafford. Mayo slashes hard to the hole and always finds the open man with a nice pass. But like Fleming, if the shot is there, he can hit it. "Larry really gives us a big boost offensively when he comes in. He really takes the ball to the basket. " And what can you say about Stafford? "He's as good a shooter as there is. He's such a great shooter and he's got confidence in his shot," Hopkins said about his marksman. "He's the best shooter I've ever been around. I tell him, 'Joe, all you've got to do is shoot three-pointers and keep your mouth shut,'" he says laughing, possibly thinking back to the game in which Stafford was blown for a technical for shouting obscenities at himself after missing a shot. Hopkins then remembers Stafford's reverse layup in the UTC run right after Q had gone out with an injury. "Maybe the biggest basket of this whole season was the one he hit against Chattanooga when Q was hurt." Looking ahead to the tournament, Hopkins says his team "is feeling pretty good about themselves, as they well should. They deserve it." He won't make any predictions, though. He keeps the whole thing in perspective, saying, "We'll just go over there and play hard, and hopefully we'll get some shots to drop and have a chance to really do something over there." He couldn't have been more pleased with the fan support in the Ramsey Center Monday evening. "The last minute or so was really emotional time for me, and it was because of the fans. I looked up there, and it was just amazing." Another big reason for Hopkins to smile is the efforts of Chancellor Bardo to increase fan support.—Sunday I rode through campus and saw him and his wife putting up those signs, and I just thought, 'Flow fortunate can one man be, where the Chancellor's supporting so much like that and trying to get things going in Cullowhee.' We're just really lucky to have him here." I would personally like to thank Coach Hopkins and the Catamounts for a wonderful season, and wish them all the luck in the world this weekend in Greensboro. Hopkins gives all the credit to his players, saying, "It's been really good for the guys." Coach, it's been really good for all of us.

Object

Description

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.
Details
- Creator
  - Western Carolina University
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Date
  - Date original: 1996-02-29
  - Date digitized: 2019-12-02
- Extent
  - Dimension: 22.5" x 14"
  - Pages: 20 pages
- Subject - Topic
- Location
  - Jackson County (N.C.)
  - Cullowhee (N.C.)
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Source Collection
  - WCU Students Newspapers Collection
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_1996-02-29_Vol61_No18
- Repository
  - Western Carolina University Hunter Library

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