Sunday, September 26, 1999UC in hunt for juco player
Tallahassee forward Jones averaged 20 points as freshman
BY MIKE DECOURCY
The Cincinnati EnquirerAs head coach at Tallahassee Community College, Mike Gillespie would like to get on with the business of trying to win a national junior college championship. For now, he's too busy entertaining.
Cincinnati Bearcats coach Bob Huggins was in town Thursday to see Gillespie. A day later, Huggins was followed by coaches from LSU and South Florida. Each would like to sign 6-foot-8 small forward Antwan Jones, rated the No.1 prospect in this year's junior college crop.
“He definitely will sign early,” Gillespie said. “I'm not going to put up with this the whole year. We'll probably be preseason No.1, and I just want to coach our team. We have a chance to win at all, and I want to take the best shot at that.”
Jones will make an official visit to UC the weekend of Oct. 9, a week after the Bearcats have Houston high school shooting guard Field Williams in for a visit.
Already, Jones has seen the campus at LSU. Maryland is trying to confirm a date, and Utah and South Florida are trying to convince Jones to visit them.
He is the only freshman in his school's history to average 20 points a game.
Although Jones has played as a power forward, he will play on the perimeter for Tallahassee this season because of the presence of 6-9, former Louisville high school star Ronnie Griffin and 6-9, 260-pound Dar nell Tyler.
Gillespie insists Jones has the range to shoot the ball comfortably from up to 30 feet. “No exaggeration,” Gillespie said. “Last year, he started to make the transition to facing the basket. I really think he has the opportunity to be a special player as he learns and adapts to being a perimeter player.”
STATE OF THE UNION: The meeting Saturday between Ohio State and Cincinnati in football could be a precursor to a game between the schools' basketball teams, but the Buckeyes will have to perceive some benefit in order for it to happen.
There was no hurry in Columbus to get that game when Jim O'Brien became coach in 1997 because the first priority was to lift the Buckeyes from the dregs of the Big Ten Conference.
The Buckeyes turned it around more quickly than expected, with a 1999 Final Four appearance in O'Brien's second season, which meant the UC issue would not stay dormant for long.
The NCAA Tournament success, however, also meant Ohio State would not need UC to provide validation for its basketball program. The Bearcats would like to schedule this game in order to enhance the attractiveness of their home schedule, but that's not as much an issue for OSU because of its membership in the Big Ten.
BIG TALK: Conference USA presidents are expecting to receive Commissioner Mike Slive's report on expansion in the next week, which will give them time to review the document before meeting Oct. 11 in New York.
Slive has investigated the feasibility of adding Texas Christian and Southern Methodist, and elevating East Carolina from football-only to full membership. Also under consideration is allowing South Florida to compete in football once it begins play in Division I-A in 2001.
Slive outlined the contents of the report during a conference call held among the presidents Thursday. There is opposition to expansion among a significant number of athletic directors and coaches in the league, but the presidents who will decide the matter agreed not to publicly discuss their views.
WILD WEEKEND: From both defensive and offensive standpoints, this is a big recruiting weekend for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Their coaches are in Fresno, Calif., to make a pitch to 6-5 shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who is ranked among the top 10 prospects in his class by most recruiting experts. Stevenson is considering Kansas, Connecticut and Fresno State, with UCLA an outside contender.
UK is hoping point guard Chris Duhon of Slidell, La., is not overwhelmed by his visit to the Duke campus. The Blue Devils and Wildcats have been in a heated competition to land Duhon, and there is a fear among Kentucky folks that he'll commit to Duke before his visit is up.
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