Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2001)
January 11,2001 Wild, wild West The Pac-10 should be as competitive as ever — for both the men and women. PAGES 6, 7 MARCHES ■After playing the role of the sixth man last season, Bryan Bracey has emerged as one of the team’s main go-toguys By Jeff Smith Oregon Daily Emerald Their voices were quiet, barely audible. Their mood was under standably down. After all, the seventh-seeded Oregon men’s basketball team had just been upset by No. 10 Seton Hall, 72-71, in the first round of the coveted NCAA Tournament. This was an Oregon team that had been brimming with confi dence and was led by three talent ed seniors in Alex Scales, A.D. Smith and Darius Wright. The Ducks entered the “The Big Dance" with high hopes, but left with empty stomachs. But, after the game, as most of the team spoke about their missed opportunities, there was one no ticeable exception. Out in the hallway, beside the somber Ore gon locker room, stood 6-foot-7 forward Bryan Bracey. Obviously, Bracey was frustrat ed about the loss, but he spoke clearly, with his voice filled with confidence. On this March day in Buffalo, N.Y., Bracey took the first step toward being a leader. “I’m ready already for next year,” said Bracey, who had 10 points in 21 minutes against Se ton Hall. “This team has an oppor tunity to be even better next year. ” Even better than this year’s team? The thought hardly entered people’s minds when they con sidered that Oregon was losing 54 percent of its scoring and 37 per cent of its rebounding with the loss of its seniors. Bracey, however, knew some thing that the majority of the peo ple didn’t. He knew he could be Turn to Bracey, page 8C ■L ■jhl. ■Guards Kourtney Shreve and Alissa Edwards continue to grow through the season By Scott Pesznecker Oregon Daily Emerald Every once in awhile, some thing happens to a team that puts its true character to the test. Such a thing happened to the Ducks at McArthur Court Sept. | 16. Oregon players and recruits j were playing an informal pickup game when star point guard Shaquala Williams drove past her defender for the normally easy layup. But as Williams planted her foot to jump, she tore the Anteri or Cruciate Ligament in her left knee. With the departure of backup point guard Karen Piers, it was decided that the starting point guard duty would be left to soph omore Kourtney Shreve. Shoot “ i n ing guard Jamie Craighead would shift to backup point guard, and point guard Alissa Edwards would play occasional minutes. Suddenly, the Pac-lO’s most experienced starting lineup was being led by one of its most inex perienced corp of point guards. But so far, so good. “Our guards are playing in credibly right now,” senior for ward Angelina Wolvert said. “That really speaks a lot about how much they’ve grown since the beginning of the year.” Shreve couldn’t believe her ears when she heard she would start back in September. The young point guard from Albany knew that Williams was hurt bad, but she didn’t know the extent of the injury — until she paid a visit to head coach Jody Runge the day after the pickup game. “She came up to me and said, ‘Are you panicked?”’ Shreve said, Turn to Guards, page 2C 1
