University of Virginia Library

UHall Contest

Tribe Challenges Wahoos

By BILL BERNO

"If I had to describe them
in one word, it would be
'young', said assistant
basketball coach Chip Connor
when he talked about William
& Mary, the Cavaliers'
opponent in tomorrow night's
game.

"They started three
freshmen against VPI
(Wednesday night), and at one
point, they had four freshmen
in the game," continued Mr.
Conner, who should know the
Indians well. He has scouted
them on three occasions.

"They've played seven
games in three weeks, so
they're not playing like
freshmen any more. They've
been through a lot." A lot,
indeed, as the Indians opened
with teams like Jacksonville,
Furman, Duke, Wake and the
Citadel. Their 1-6 record is
understandable. They were
victors over Appalachian State,
hapless victims of N.C. State.
Coach Bill "Hoot" Gibson
says, "They've been getting
better every game. We'll have
our hands full. I'm a little
concerned about our play on
the boards."

Mr. Gibson's concern is due
to the fact that William & Mary
starts a front line averaging 6-7.
In the pivot is 18-year old Matt
Courage, a 6-11 blue chipper
from Naples, Fla. Courage
made some freshman mistakes
early, but has
improved. "They go to the
center if they can, but they
aren't afraid to take the shot if
they get it," says Mr. Connor.
Although Courage is the key to
the pattern offense and leads
the team in shots taken, the
youngster has hit on only 36
per cent of his attempts, which
doesn't make an Indian
hesitate to throw up a
15-footer.

Giving Courage help on the
boards and in the scoring
column are a pair of senior
forwards. 6-6 Jeff Trammell
leads the Tribe in scoring and is
third in rebounding Four of
the William & Mary starters are
averaging in double figures, and
Trammel leads the pack with a
14.0 average.

Steve Seward, a 6-4
cornerman, scores at a 7.0 clip
and splits time with freshman
Mike Arizin. Arizin is 6-5 and
was named Mr. Basketball in
Philadelphia high schools last
year.

Arizin is second in scoring
and leads the team in
rebounds. He scores 13.7 points
a game and grabs 6.7 rebounds.
Mark Ritter, a 6-7 junior, also
sees spot action and scores 9.0
points a contest.

Starting in the backcourt
will be 5-10 senior George
Spack, a Steve Previs type who
runs the plays but scores only
5.2 points a game. He has also
hit 90 per cent of his free
throws.

Tom Pfingst, a 6-2
sophomore, will start the game
but might be lifted early in
favor of hotshot freshman Rod
Musselman, a 6-1 spark plug.

Pfingst led the freshman
team with a 25.1 average last
year, but has dropped down to
12.7 this year. Musselman
averaged 39.5 points in high
school, breaking some of Tom
McMillen's Pennsylvania
records.