The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1992 Page: 16 of 20
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16 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1992 THE RICE THRESHER
SPORTS
Head to heaD
Four football players remind Tom Harris and Randy Block to pick Rice.
Randy Block v
s. Tom Harris
Rice at Duke
To put it bluntly, Duke sucks.
Rice goes to 1-1, winning
31-14.
The Blue Devils have lost their
last seven games, and unless
Bobby Hurley plays QB and
Coach K figures out a way to
stop Trevor, Rice will win.
Ohio State at Syracuse
Texas gave me a scare last
week when they made it close
against the Orangemen. Ohio
St. is a Top 25 team, but I really
like Syracuse. They're even a
possible national champion.
The Buckeyes are overrated
and unproductive. Syracuse
will rack up more than
enough points to put this
game away early. Syracuse
makes it look easy 35-10.
Nebraska at Washington
Only Miami could beat Wash-
ington right now, and maybe
not even in Seattle. Nebraska
will make this close and even
improve their ranking, but they
cannot win.
The Huskie teaches the
Husker a lesson about foot-
ball as Washington is tested
but not beaten. The Huskies
win, 24-13.
UCLA at Brigham Young
This is not easy. UCLA is 15th
in the country. BYU is not
ranked. I'll pick the home team
and give the Cougarsthe edge.
Why? The Bruins lost their QB
for the season last weekend.
In this week's shootout at
the Brigham Young corral,
the Cougar defense simply
has too many holes to with-
stand the Bruin attack. UCLA
wins it, 38-28.
Florida State at North Carolina State
Just like last week, the Seml-
noles are on the road against a
Top 20 ACCteam. And just like
last week, I'll pick Florida State
to win...just barely.
The Pack is back, but they
still don't belong on the same
field as Florida State. The
Seminoles come out ahead,
24-10.
Florida at Tennessee
The only blight on my record
was when I picked against the
Volunteers. Well, I'm gonna do
it again. Shane Matthews and
the Gators will go into Knox-
ville and dance on that stupid
checkerboard end zone.
Last
Last time Florida visited
Knoxville, the Volunteers
punished them for it. This
year, the class of the Southest
Conference is beyond re-
proach. The Gators on top
31-21.
Week:
3-1,.750
7-1, .875
Year to Date:
2-2, .500
4-4, .500
Intramural
Announcements
Intramural entry deadlines for Friday, Sept. 18 include:
• Women's singles racquetball
• Women's singles badminton
• Super Sunday—Whiffleball
Super Sunday will take place on Sunday, SepL 20. All
participants will receive Mr. Gatti's pizza and Dr. Pepper drinks.
Kules are available in the intramural office.
For further informat ion on any of the above events, call Lisa or
Bill at 285-5398.
Intramural officials timesheets are due Monday morning, Sept.
21. See Lisa or Bill to reconfirm your hours.
College swim meet will be held on Thursday, Oct. 1. Details will
be printed next week. For information or entry forms see IJsa
or Bill or call 285-5398.
Pierce brings NBA experience to Autry Court
by Riva Rahl
and Kevin Ness
Former Rice basketball star Ricky
Fierce has returned to his old haunt to
practice with members of the Rice
men's basketball team. Fierce, now a
veteran NBA player with the Seattle
Supersonics, is preparing for the up-
coming season by working out with
the Owls almost every afternoon on
the same court where he set numer-
ous Rice records and earned all-Ameri-
can recognition ten years ago.
Willis Wilson, one of Pierce's team-
mates at Rice from 1979 to 1982, was
recently named the new Rice head
basketball coach. Of all the teammates
he had in his years at Rice, Pierce
keeps in touch with only two or three,
including Wilson.
"Willis was my closest friend on
the team," he said. "1 talk to him a lot,
especially now that he's coaching
here."
Pierce sees great potential in this
year's Owls under Wilson's coaching.
"He communicates well with the play-
ers on the team. He will be the one to
take the program to the next level,"
Pierce said.
Pierce is optimistic about Rice's
chances for a Southwest Conference
title this season. They have lots of
talent. They can do well, if they work
together," he said. There are a couple .
of teams that could win this year,- but
Rice has a chance."
He acknowledged that with hard
work, the dream of a professional ca-
reer might become reality for two Rice
players. "Brent Scott and Torrey
Andrews have the potential to play pro
ball. Torrey's size, hands, and natural
ability are there," he said.
The presence of a Rice legend and
N BA star at Rice has meant a lot to the
current players. .
"He's been a great teacher and a
role model for me," said Andrews, a
forward in his third season. "He has
an incredible offensive arsenal. You
pick up so many things just by watch-
ing him and asking him questions."
Not only does Pierce share his
basketball knowledge with the play-
ers, he also shares his philosophies.
"Mr. Piercehasan incrediblework
ethic," Andrews said. "He says if you
want to achieve anyth ing you've got to
work hard for it. Mr. Pierce is a big
star, and he still works out three times
a day. Amazing."
Pierce is no stranger to Rice, hav-
ing matriculated in 1979.
"A lot of my buddies were at other
Southwest Conference schools that
were better than Rice, and I wanted to
compete against them and help bring
Rice up to that next level, " he said.
Fierce saw Rice riot only as a stepping
stone to the NBA but as an opportu-
nity to get degree in case profes-
sional basketball didn't work out.
Ricky Pierce goes up for a shot during one of his many games on Autry Court.
While playing for the Owls, Pierce
consistently stood out on what was a
mediocre team. He was named to the
all-SWC team three times while lead-
ing Rice in scoring and rebounds, and
was an all-American his senior year.
Many of his records still stand. He
is the all-time leading scorer for the
Owls, and set a season scoring record
in 1982 with 805 points. His marks for
field goals made and attempted have
not been eclipsed.
His individual success carried over
to the Owls to a minor extent: Rice was
7-20when he arrived, and improved to
the .500 level by his senior year. But
the program struggled for years after
his departure, and only now boasts
winning seasons regularly.
Happily for Pierce, his hard work
earned him a place on the Milwaukee
roster.
After playing in Milwaukee for sev-
eral years and settling there, it was a
disruption and transition when he was
traded in mid-season to Seattle. There,
he led the team in scoring and helped
engineer a first-round upset of the
Golden State Warriors in the NBA
playoffs.
"I was well-situated in Milwaukee,"
he said. "I had most of my success
there. It was rough just getting up
with a wife and two kids and leaving
friends, trying to take careof business
in Milwaukee and set up business in
Seattle."
Now, however, he is happy in Se-
attle and appears to have no desire to
move again. Asked if he would like it if
he were traded to the Houston Rock-
ets or one of the other NBA teams in
Texas, he said, "It's business, and
where it takes me will be where I'll go,
but it would be nice to play at home."
Fierce lives with his family in Hous-
ton during the off-season and works
out at Rice because of the quality of
the facilities. He enjoys practicing with
members of the Rice team because
"the younger guys are consistent in
how they play and practice." He re-
turns to Houston every spring and
summer because of his love for the
city and his many friends here.
His support of the team may con-
tinue in the form of his presence at a
game or two.
"If I'm in town and I have the night
off, I always stop by," he promised.
Tennis teams on the road this weekend
by Torrey Folk
The men's and women's tennis
teams are opening their seasons with
an emphasis on consistency and basic
skills. The men left Wednesday for
the Notre Dame Invitational while the
women departed yesterday for the
Texas A&M Pour-Way in College Sta-
tion. Both teams are using this week-
end as an opportunity to see where the
players stand as well as how doubles
teams match up.
"As this is the first tournament of
the fall, I don't have great expecta-
tions," says Men's Head Coach liirry
Turville. "I'm just eager to see where
they are in development."
The Notre Dame Invitational is di-
vided into three flights or brackets
with 32 players per draw. Eight play-
ers are making the trip, including Juan
Lavalle, Jose Medrano, Willie Dann,
Jon Elseberry, Nick Lorenzini, Pascal
Hos, Ryan Gately and Matt Berry.
Th ey expect to put three players in the
first two flights and two players in the
third flight.
"Wedidn't really haveagood show-
ing last year," said Lorenzini. "Berry
was the only one who made it to the
finals."
"It's very important to get a good
start on the season," said top seed
Lavalle. "I hope we do well, but I think
it will be more of a preview of the year;
it's like a warm-up."
Michigan, Indiana, Ball State,
Vanderbilt, Purdue, Illinois, the Uni-
versity of Colorado and several Ivy
league schools are expected to par-
ticipate in the open tournament
Turville expects the most difficult
competition from Notre Dame and
Minnesota. "It is going to be a very
competitive tournament," he said. "We
aren't expected to dominate."
This tournament is going to be
helpful to see where we stand right
now and to sec how our doubles teams
work out," says I>avalle. "I don't think
any of us would consider winning the
tournament within reach."
On the other side of the courts, the
women are at Texas A&M for a four-
way tournament with Baylor, the
Aggies and the University of South-
west Louisiana (USL). Each team en-
ters two players in each of the four
flights, guaranteeing each player three
singles and three doubles matches.
"I think it's going to be very close
between A&M, Baylor and us. A&M
had a good recruiting year in terms of
depth and Baylor should be just as
strong," said Women's Head Coach
Paul Blankenship.
Top players in the tournament are
Rice's Antonette Veloso, Baylor's
Melissa Castro and A&M's Jeanine
Burton-Durham.
"I'm just hoping I can get my
rhythm and play as well as I can," said
Veloso. "I've been putting too much
pressure on myself."
Veloso, a sophomore, is ranked
first among the Wee women.
The team has practiced for only
one and a half weeks due to a new
NCAA rule, implemented last year,
which limits teams to 24 weeks of
practice and play. The women will
have ten weeks in the fall and 14 weeks
in the spring.
"I'd like to see us lay some ground-
work for the fall," said Blankenship.
"We should play good, basic, consis-
tent tennis."
Blankenship is focusing on mental
toughness and consistency th is week-
end. The results of the tournament
arc not as important as the quality of
play," he said. "We hope to use it as a
spring-board for our performance this
fall."
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 18, 1992, newspaper, September 18, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245818/m1/16/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.