Taking a peek into next season... look out for LSU
Remember Rodney Woods playing for UT?
?People and things......
Since the Final Four is now history, let's take a brief look at who would be the favorites to capture the SEC basketball crown next winter. Well, Florida certainly has
		
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		Jamie Vaught
	life	Cats' Pause Columnist
		
a fair shot at defending its first-ever league title if 7-foot-2 star Dwayne Schintzius returns to school for his senior year.
But LSU is probably the leading contender. Besides All-American freshman sensation Chris Jackson, Tiger mentor Dale Brown will have 6-10 Stanley Roberts, a Prop 48 victim, involved in SEC battles. Roberts, as you will recall, was a highly-recruited prep star from Hopkins, S.C., and was a first-team Parade All-American selection in 1988.
The Tigers also will have another big guy by the name of Shaquile O'Neal, a seven-footer from San Antonio, Texas, who recently was named to the first-team All-American squad by Parade. He signed with LSU during the early signing period last November.
LSU's future, indeed, looks very bright.
In addition to LSU and Florida, other teams to watch out for are Alabama and Georgia. Kentucky will be a middle-of-the-pack squad if every player returns and, with that in mind, the Wildcats should improve as there won't be any off-the-court distractions from the NCAA to contend with.
?Already this month, three of the four vacant coaching jobs in the SEC have been filled. But, if you care to know, my top choices wereor should I say "dream" choicesas follows: KentuckyPat Riley or Mike Krzyzewski; TennesseeEddie Sutton; VanderbiltLeonard Hamilton; and AuburnJoe Dean Jr. (who is currently the head coach at Birmingham Southern College).
Having a lot of Kentucky Wildcat flavor in the SEC would have been something to rave about. Wouldn't it have been fun to see an "Eddie vs. Pat" showdown at Rupp Arena?
?LSU athletics director Joe Dean is one of the most opinionated people around. In his recent columns for the Basketball Times, Dean had several observations on various topics.
On Proposition 42 (which is designed to prevent prep students who meet only part of the NCAA's Prop 48 requirements from receiving scholarships their first year in college): "It continues to draw criticism all over the country. The legislation is a mistake. Proposition 48 does everything which needs to be done in covering our athletes academically. We must give some border-line student/athletes an opportunity to attend major colleges across the country. I would hate to think a Herschel Walker or a Pete Maravich, had they been partial qualifiers, would not be given a chance to play big-time collegiate athletics or a chance to graduate from college."
On college referees: "Officiating at the college level needs some improving and changes. Some suggest that officials need to be full-time as they are in the NBA and I believe that idea has merit."
And, on Eddie Sutton: "He is threatening to do a book. Gosh, is everyone gonna play kiss and tell?"
?Kentucky's Chris Mills has been named to the second-team freshman All-America squad by the Basketball Times. LSU's Chris Jackson was chosen the magazine's Freshman of the Year. Two other SEC rookies also received honors. They are LSU 6-6 center
Not only does LSU's Dale Brown return All-America Chris Jackson and talented
Vernel Singleton, but there are some big-time recruits ready to lend a hand, too.
Vernel Singleton (third-team) and Georgia 6-1 guard Lit-terial Green (fourth team).
?Speaking of Chris Mills, I personally thought he should have received more votes than his teammate, LeRon Ellis, in the Associated Press All-SEC balloting by a panel of eight sportswriter. Ellis made the second-team All-SEC, while Mills was selected on the third-team. It should have been vice-versa.
?Congratulations to coach Dale Mabrey and his Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park High School squad for winning the boys' Sweet 16 tournament at Rupp Arena last month. The Panthers defeated Wayne County by two points, a 75-73 decision.
?Meanwhile, Wayne County High, located in Mon-ticello in south central Kentucky, and coach Rodney Woods are to be commended for their good showing in the state tournament. Speaking of Woods, I can remember when I was a little kid, I used to dislike him because he was such an outstanding playmaker for the arch-rival Tennessee Vols.
Woods managed to help coach Ray Mears and the Vols beat Kentucky three times in six games during his college days in 1972-73 to 1974-75. The team captain during his senior year at UT, Woods led the SEC in assists for three consecutive seasons.
?Believe it or not, college recruiters are already keeping a close eye on an eighth-grade basketball player who is 6-10 and still growing. His name is Rashard Griffith of Chicago, and the scouts are comparing him with NBA greats Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Griffith, who has a 6-2 brother in the sixth grade, is projected to grow to a height of 7-4 or 7-5.
?Pulaski County High's Dave Fraley has withdrawn his resignation as the school's head basketball coach after an 11-day retirement.
"I made a big mistake when I resigned," Fraley told Jeff Neal of Somerset's Commonwealth-Journal. "I didn't know I'd be letting so many people down."
He had previously thought Pulaski Countians didn't care about prep basketball. He guided Pulaski to the state tournament championship in 1986. His son, Shannon, is a reserve junior-to-be guard for the Louisville Cardinals.
?All-SEC wide receiver Thomas "T.D." Woods of Tennessee is playing baseball for the Vols.
Coach Rodney Woods recently led his Cardinals to the state championship game. Woods also was a star guard for Ray Mears' Vols in the early 70's.
?I read where NBA block shot specialist Manute Bol of Golden State, paid 80 cows for his wife, but still has to pay 48 more cows when he returns to his native homeland of Africa the next time. At this writing the 7-6 Bol was leading the league in blocked shots with a 4.52 average.
?UK Dance Kat Missy Neal narrowly won the seventh annual Glamour Girl of the South contest, edging the runner-up, Tennessee cheerleader Andrea Norton, by one point. The contest balloting was conducted by a panel of eight judges from five states in the South, including four members of the news media.
?Next season LSU's Dale Brown will become the "Dean" of current SEC coaches in his 18th season since new UK athletics director CM. Newton has left Vandy after 20 years of coaching in the SEC. By the way, Brown's daughter, Robyn, has recently married and she is a 1985 graduate of LSU.
?Former Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson is featured in a new book, "Bo JacksonA Star For All Seasons," just published by Walker and Company of New York. The book, written by John Devaney and designed for children 10 years of age and older, covers Jackson's athletic career from the time he earned the nickname Bo through his first years with the Kansas City Royals and the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders. (The former Auburn star earned the nickname Bo because he was "tough as a boar hog.") The books sells for $14.85.
?In case you're wondering, a ticket to the 1989 Final Four in Seattle cost $55 and that was the price charged by the NCAA, not the scalpers. A ticket was good for admission to all three games.
?UK basketball television announcer Marty Brennaman's son, Thorn, is a TV announcer for the Cincinnati Reds. The younger Brennaman will describe the action on Cincinnati's televised matchups. His dad also is the veteran radio announcer for the Reds.
?The SEC's newest star, Chris Jackson of LSU, says the attention he has received this season was something quite unexpected for him.
"Coming here, you don't think you're going to be featured in Sports Illustrated, on CNN and ABC sports specials, things like that," Jackson told The Daily Reveille, LSU's student newspaper. "I never thought about it; I just thought about coming here and playing."