Men's basketball eager to get final SWC season going

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by Ben Glassman

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Although the injury bug has hampered practice thus far by striking six of the 11 eligible players, it has not interfered with Rice's enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

Head Coach Willis Wilson, who enters his fourth season at the Owls' helm with a 48-37 record, has fielded a 1995-96 team that will be quite different from last year's 15-13 squad.

Losses

It would seem that the biggest task facing Wilson this year will be to find someone to fill the formidable shoes of small forward Adam Peakes, who graduated last year.

Peakes led the Owls last year in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocks, three-point shooting and free throws. He was also second in assists.

Guard Archie Myers has transferred. His off-the-bench scoring and exciting play will be missed.

Wilson does not see his task as one of replacing players, however.

"You always hate to see good players leave the program," he said.

"But we'll always have good players. Each of the last several years we've lost key contributors from the year before, but this program has been steadily recruiting better and better people, so as we lose players, younger guys are ready to step up."

Returning Players

The players to step up will likely be found among the four returning starters: center Shaun Igo, forward Jesse Cravens and guards J.J. Polk and Tommy McGhee.

McGhee seems especially primed to rise to the challenge.

He was the third-leading scorer last year, averaging 13.2 points as a junior, but he exploded for 51 points in the Southwest Conference Tournament and was named to the all-tournament team.

When the 6-2 gunslinger from Pontiac, Mich., has been on, he's given the Owls the most formidable outside punch that fans have seen since Marvin Moore lit up opponents in 1992-93.

"I think that Tommy will really show some leadership this year," Wilson said.

Wilson also expects a big season from junior center Shaun Igo.

The 6-11 Igo had to watch the first half of last season while recovering from a knee injury, but once healthy, he provided a strong presence in the middle, highlighted by a 23-point, 10-rebound effort at Texas A&M University and 17 points, including the winning basket in the closing seconds against Texas Christian University and NBA lottery draftee Kurt Thomas.

He spent the summer representing the SWC on an exhibition tour of Mexico.

Jesse Cravens averaged 12.8 points and nearly six rebounds last year, but his status is in question due to a back injury that he suffered in August.

The last returning starter is guard J.J. Polk. Polk, who transferred two years ago from the University of California-Santa Barbara, led the Owls in assists, dishing out 10 at the University of Nevada. At 6-4 he may also play at small forward.

The other senior is 6-8 Kevin Nanney, who played strong inside as a part-time starter. He could see significant action at power forward as well as center.

Eric Singletary has also emerged as a possible starter. The 6-2 point guard has played extremely well this past spring and summer and could wind up running the Owls' attack.

"I've been particularly pleased with the practice of our guards so far," Wilson said. "Eric, J.J. and Tommy have all made a conscious decision from day one to do everything that we harped on last year."

Sophomore centers Scott Oliver and Seth Deutsch will add muscle down low, and swingman Robert Johnson, perhaps the most explosive athlete on the team, will see time at both guard and small forward.

Additions

Most of the attention during last spring's recruiting period went to two people who transferred to Rice: 6-9 power forward Jarvis Kelley Sanni from the University of Arizona and 6-2 off-guard Bobby Crawford from the University of Michigan.

By NCAA regulations, all transfers must sit out one year before they become eligible, so Crawford and Kelley Sanni will only be able to make an immediate impact in practice and program prestige.

Rice also landed two excellent freshmen.

T.J. Armstrong, a 6-5 forward, has the athletic make-up to enable him to compete at the small forward spot immediately.

He is a versatile player with a good inside-outside game and the ability to create possessions defensively.

"T.J.'s a lot like Peakes," Wilson said. "He's not as good a ballhandler -- yet -- but he plays the middle of the floor extremely well."

Wilson also has high praise for 5-10 point guard Chad Michael.

"He's an explosive, end-to-end guard, the kind of guy who can take the ball at one end of the court and beat everybody else to the basket," he said.

Gameplan

Versatility and quickness are the catchwords for this year's team.

"We've got a great deal of flexibility," Wilson said.

"We'll go small a lot, play more up-tempo and really look to fast break. Defensively, we'll trap more and do a lot more switching; we'll also be able to press occasionally."

Wilson says that the Owls will also use a three-guard set more often, playing Singletary, McGhee and Polk all at the same time. That suits the guards very well.

"Playing in a three-guard lineup is going to give us a lot of versatility," Singletary said. "We'll be able to get out and run, and other teams will have a real hard time matching up against us."

Injuries

Early in the season, of course, the style the Owls play might well be determined by which players are available. The team is already small at only 11 players, and the majority of them are currently injured.

Cravens had back surgery, Nanney and Johnson both have stress fractures and Igo had knee surgery.

The two freshmen have been banged up by the rigors of practice. The injuries have hampered preparation for the first few games of the season, but hopefully everyone will be healthy by the time conference play starts.

Schedule

Rice opens the season at the Stanford Invitational Nov. 24. If the opening rounds go according to form, the Owls will meet the host Cardinals, a top-20 team, in the final. The Owls will be a major factor in that tournament, pivotal for the program's national exposure.

The possible matchup with Stanford is one of a handful of non-conference opponents with a national reputation.

Rice will visit Vanderbilt University in December and could face Michigan State University in the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic.

But the headliner of this year's schedule is a Dec. 7 game at Autry Court against Kansas University that will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Although Wilson points out that beating Kansas is not this season's top goal, the team clearly relishes its opportunity to welcome the Jayhawks, ranked number one by most pre-season publications, into the Jungle Gym.

"There's a lot of parity in college basketball," Singletary said. "We don't fear number one."

The SWC has a different look this year with the departures of Thomas from TCU, Terrence Rencher and Roderick Anderson from the University of Texas and Lance Hughes from Texas Tech University.

"Tech will be very good, continuing in their recent tradition," Wilson said.

"Texas had an excellent recruiting class, and Houston is tremendously talented. But a healthy Rice is as good as any team in the SWC."

Outlook

The Owls' goals for this season are to win the SWC Championship and reach the NCAA Tournament.

They nearly achieved that last year, falling in the SWC semifinals to Texas 78-75 amidst controversial officiating.

"Our last game has been haunting," Wilson said. "But it's also made our guys hungry to prove they can win."

Singletary said, "The goal every season has been to win the SWC. This year that's a realistic goal."

Indeed, there is no game on its schedule that Rice cannot win.

But there are also plenty of games the Owls could lose if they don't show up to each game with a high level of intensity.

Wilson believes that it will take 10 to 11 conference wins to capture the SWC. If Rice is healthy in December, the Owls will be in the thick of the race for the title.

One advantage this year is that all home games will be played at Autry Court instead of splitting these games with the Summit.

"Autry Court gives this team a big edge,"Wilson said.

"We desperately need 1,000 students every night we play. The students are the ones who give Autry Court its atmosphere and mystique. They make it the Jungle Gym. And if the students come out, the players will have more confidence, and we can take this program to new heights."

Singletary said, "We have a lot of people back this year. The experience will help us."

The effort, intensity and concentration shown in practice have the Owls thinking that a healthy team could go very far.

And ultimately, championships are determined at the end of the season, when the Owls will hopefully be at full-strength, not in pre-season polls.

"One thing I'd say to anyone -- students, faculty, the media -- is this: Don't take this team for granted," Wilson said.

"I really don't know just how good this team can be. We have a great talent and athleticism, and I think this team can be as good as they want to be."

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 27, 1995 issue.

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