The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 51

3-D THE TENNESSEAN, Sunday, Jan. 20. 1974 McClain Had The Scent, And Has Finally Arrived As A Standout In ABA 1 I I Ihi v. AV Vv- By Jeff hanna THEODORE McClain was marked for stardom long before thS left the playgrounds of north Nashville. It yas generally accepted that the youngster who picked up thenickname Hound during his hours on the cement courts would one day be an All-Star.

To! some extent, it happened right where he grew up. McClain was, indeed, an All-Star during his high school career at Pearl. He was a Little All-American during his college careerlat Tennessee State. Nojv he has achieved something more. After two and a half years of struggling, Ted (Hound) McClain has arrived as a professional basketball player.

This month McClain will participate In the American Basketball Association All-Star game, representing the Carolina Cougars. The honor of being chosen for the All-Stars is an indication pf the way McClain has risen from a rocky, uncertain rookie season as a professional. W7MN HE SIGNED with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA, TT it was expected that McClain would be an instant super After all. he had just completed a stunning college career as a icorer and playmaker for Tennessee State. And he had been at the center of a tug-of-war between the ABA's Cougars and the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association.

There were great expectations. That first season was a major disappointment after the impressive buildup. It boardered on the catastrophic for Mc-Clainr He played very little, scored very little and contributed Very -little. There were bright spots, and McClain did start several games But, almost mysteriously, he spent the latter half of the season on the bench. More than that, he was the object of considerable criticism.

WOEOPLE WERE really down on me," recalled McClain. MT "They said I was overpaid and they didn't even know my contract. There was a lot of criticism. "It disturbed me. I mean it really got next to me, you know? I'd been a starter all through junior high and college as long as I could remember.

Here I was sitting on the bench with all these people thinking about my contract and all," he added. It was an unhappy situation for McClain, and his college coach, Tennessee State's Ed Martin, understood it. "Hound loves to play the game so much that he is just not a California redwood man. He hates the bench. My biggest problem with him was trying to keep him out of pickup games during the season.

He just loves to play the game and is best when he's playing it not watching it," Martin explained. WHEN McCLAIN left the Cougars that year, he told Cougar general manager Carl Scheer that he would be back next fall to play basketball. And McClain did come, back to play. The Cougars had a new head coach named Larry Brown. The system was different, and McClain felt he fit in better.

"Coach Brown had more of a team offense and a team defense. It was what I'd been accustomed to playing at Tennessee State," explained McClain. "I felt more comfortable at it." So he-sat on the bench a little less. But he still did not meet the expectations many had for him. He did not become a scoring star and was not a regular starter.

This season started like the last for McClain. He started a few games early and then was relegated to a reserve role, coming off the bench for valuable playing time. Moreover, he made good use of that playing time. Though he was known through high school and college for his scoring ability and deft ball-handling, McClain has become something of a defensive specialist in the pros. IN FACT, McClain leads the ABA in steals and set the single game record with 12 against New York back in December.

It was also during December that two other good things happened to McClain he became a starter and his wife, Margaret, gave birth to a baby girl five hours before 1973 ended. In his games as a starter, McClain has averaged 15 points, five assists, six rebounds and three steals every game. More and more, it appears McClain is approaching the stardom that was expected for him. "That AH-Star selection Is a great thrill. I was a little surprised because I didn't know they'd pick a defensive-oriented player," said McClain.

Carolina publicist Ted Munchak said the club was starting a informal campaign to get McClain on the All-Stars when he discovered that most of the sportswriters and sportscaster voting had already picked McClain. "I've really worked on the defense. Anybody can play offense. That's easy. But it's tough to be a complete player and go all out on both ends.

It used to be I'd get a thrill with a good shot or a pass. And I still do. But I love to play defense and get the ball away from somebody. That's a beautiful thing." said McClain. "I think that the defense has helped me get a lot more respect for my game," said McClain.

"I always knew I could play. It was just a matter getting the chance." Now the Hound is making the most of his chance. AP Wirephote Ted McClain A Srar is Developing Again War Deserters Become Swedish Cage Freaks and black skin on some make them stand apart from the quiet, light-skinned Swedes. Most of the players learned the game on school-yard courts. Some played Army ball.

Hinchcliffe is the only player with college experience. He played for Bowdoin College in Maryland. But the Stars had little trouble sweeping the lowest division of the Swedish basketball league last season. And they're confident of winning the next-best division this year, partly because they now have Watts, an exchange student who cuached some college-caliber ball during the summer, and a couple of tall American players who jumped from higher division teams. IVEN WITHOUT their best scorer, Tony Benson of Phila--i delphia who averaged 20 points a game until he took a-leave of absence to tour Sweden with an American exhibition team, Whitmore hasn't lost his enthusiams.

"We know the best teams now," he said, "and we know how to take them." "It's a matter of style, really, said Hinchcliffe. "They just don't play the game here as in the States. They aren't used to our roughness and quick play. "It's sometimes hard for us to adjust, too. And the Swedish referees often make bad calls.

But Whitmore says he's not worried. "We are American backyard players," he said. "We know how to hide our doings." By HENRI KYHLE STOCKHOLM (AP) Three years ago, the Stockholm Stars basketball team was founded by deserters who decided they'd rather flee the United States than fight in Vietnam. The players, outcasts in their own country, also felt they were second-class citizens in Stockholm when it came to playing basketball. So they started their own team and, under coach Roland Watts of New York, are on their way to winning a second division title in as many years.

"There were a couple of Americans playing on Swedish teams at the time," team captain Terry Whitmore said in recounting how the squad was born. "But they were discriminated against, weren't allowed to play even though they were better than their Swedish teammates. So we just got together and formed our own club. TTHITMORE, of Memphis, is one of six deserters on the 15-man squad, but he's the only one of the six who is a starter. The rest are American exchange students and immigrants and a few Swedes.

"It's a pretty apolitical bunch," says star guard Roger Hincheliffe of Lexington, Mass. "The (cam has remained very American, a gang of back-slapping, happy-go-lucky types." The back-slapping, the good-natured shouting and the Afros AP Wlrephoto Fake Out By Hout STOCKHOLM, Sweden Stockholm Stars' David Hout (4) of Boston, Mass. attempts to fake out Swedish guard during a recent game in Stockholm as Lo-renio Brown (15) of Marion, Ala. darts in assist. The team is composed of deserters, who decided they'd rather flee the U.S.

than fight in the Vietnam War. Miller 05 Falters. Retains out its a UBZ lead. Lee Trevino failed to qualify for the final two rounds. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Weiskopf are not only two in front of the challenging trio of Crenshaw, J.

C. Snead and Allen Miller (no relation) all tied at 206. Snead, a former champion at Tucson, posted a seven- hind the leader. Each had a 68. Defending champion Bruce Crampton of Australia was out of it.

He had a 71 and, at 214, was 10 strokes off the under-par 65, Crenshaw closed with a 67 and Miller had 69. JERRY HEARD and Ker-mit Zarley also got into contention at 207, just three be TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)-John-ny Miller faltered slightly in the bright, warm sunshine and rookie Ben Crenshaw led the charge that cut his lead to two strokes yesterday in the Dean Martin-Tuscon Open David Pearson In final Test With Mercury Calif. (AP) -DavidJ Pearson, making his last shirt in a Mercury with which he won in excess of $236,006 last year, is heavily favorer! among 35 drivers who will start today's $106,000 Win'son Western 500-mile stock car race. IT IS THE first major auto race of the season, and it will take place at Riverside International Raceway, a nine-turn, 2.62-mile road course located in the heart of the gasoline-depressed Southern California area.

Track officials, who set up practice and qualifying schedules to cut fuel consumption by 25 per cent, say they are expecting at least a "break-even crowd," but probably not as big as last year's 51.000. Pearson, a 39-year old, three-time stock car champ who was selected as the 1973 national driver of the year, capturpd the pole position with a speed of miles per' hour in Friday's qualifying. HIS 1971 MERCURY will be retired to a museum after the Stock car regulations limits Grand National competition to the last three model years effective with the Feb. 17 Daytona 500. Pearson will have a new Mercury for that one.

Pearson, A. J. Foyt, Donnie Allison and Parnelli Jones drove the same red and white machine to 18 victories and $450,746 In prize money. Pearson's qualifying speed for today's race was just off the speed with which he won the front row pole for last years Winston Western 500 in the same car. Mark Donohue, now retired, won the 1973 race in a Matador.

CALE YARBOROUGH, the No. 2 money winner behind Pearson in the last Grand National campaign, will start a Chevrolet in the other front row position. Bobby Allison, in a Chevrolet, and George Rollmer, making his debut in big league stock cars, hold the third row berths. Follmer, a two-time U.S. road racing will campaign a Ford.

Also with up-front starting positions are Gary Bet-tenhausen, making a switch from' Indianapolis cars to a Matador managed by Donohne; four-time Grand National champ and $1 million winner Richard Petty, in a Dodce; West Coast stars Jim Insold, Rav Elder and Her-schel McGriff, and Bennv Parsort, who used a bunch of high finishes and one victory to win last year's Grand National Championship. The-race drew more than 50 entries, including many drivers who run only the West Coast Division of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Track officials reduced the starting list to 35-40 started last years event-to comply with energy regulations. Tennis Coach Quits MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) -Jeff Williams, who coached the University of Idahojs tennis teams to Big Sky Conference titles the last three years; has resigned, the university announced yesterday. Dr.

Leon Green, athletic director, said the resignation will be effective July 1. WES UNSELD His Injury Paved 'A' aw Much Traveled Manny Leaks JOHNNY MILLER, the reigning U.S. Open champion and unbeaten this season, had a four-stroke lead when play started in the brilliant sunshine. He built it to six strokes at the turn, then had to work hard to retain any margin at all. He bogeyed four of the last nine holes, played that side in three-over-par 39 and said it was the first time this season he'd been over par on any nine holes.

Still, his 71 kept alive his record of having broken par in every competitive round this year and put him within sight of becoming the first man to sweep the first three tournaments of season. PALMER, IN 1962, was the last man to win any three consecutive American events. "I've got my work cut out for me," the weary Miller said. "Still, a two-stroke lead isn't too bad." Mason Rudolph of Crockett Springs Golf Club fired a 69 in yesterday's third round for a 213 total which is nine strokes off the pace. Plugs Big Hole for NBA Bullets I had four seld) was out, and we other disabling MANNY LEAKS is another of those Detroit products whose athletic life has been marred with controversy.

The 6-9, 230-pound forward center of the Capital Bullets has been called a fierce agitator, or locker room lawyer, so to speak and much worse. Some say he is cut from the same cloth as Alex Johnson, Willie Horton and Milt Pappas, other Motor City natives who have caused misery for their employers. In five previous seasons he has been traded more times than two Johnny Miller Slips Slightly Golf Tournament. MILLER, SEEKING a unprecedented sweep of the first three tournaments of the year and the leader all the way in this one, managed a 71 and a 204 total. That put him 12 under par on the Tucson National Golf Club course and Johnnv Miller 71.

206 Allen Miller 69, Ben Crenshaw 67, J. Snead 65. 207 Jerry Heard 68, Kermlt Zarley 68. 208 Jim Colbert 79. 210 Rod Curl 71, Tom Shaw 70, Andy North 69, Roy Pace 70, Butch Baird 68.

21 Bobbv Mitchell 69, Bob Murphy 69, Gene Littler 67. 212 Al Gelberqer 69, Grler Jones 69, Forrest Fezler 69, Jim Simons 66, Dave Stockton 68. 213 Don Iverson 71, Mason Rudolph 69, Terry Wilcox 68, Lionel Hebert 69, Rick Rhoads 71, Bob Eastwood 71, Paul Purtzer 70, Orvllle Moody 71. Dave Elchelberger 70. 214 Mark Hayes 73, Tommy Jacobs 68, Jerry McGee 74, Jo Inman 72, Bruce Crampton 71, Ron Cerrudo 70, George Johnson 73, Chuck Courtney 70, Art Wall 71, Gery Sanders 74, Jack Ewlng 71, Tommy Aaron 69, Gibby Gilbert 70.

215 Brian Barnes 70, Mike Morlev 70, Miller Barber 69, Eddie Pearce 74, Larry Zlegler 71. 216 John Schroeder 71, Lee Wvkle 73, Bobby Nichols 71, Artie McNickle 72, Mike McCullough 72. 217 Bob Wynn 72, Jimmy Powell 71, Phil Rodgers 71, Dave Hill 74. 218 Mike Wynn 75, Bob Lunn 74, Ed Sneed 73, Tom Watson 72, Bill Johnston 74, Bruce Fleischer 75. 219 Ron Reif 73, Mike Hill 73, Bert Greene 75, Mac McLendon 73.

200 Gene Torres 755, Jim Marshall 74, Labron Harris 75. 221 Vern Novak 75, Jim Wiecheri 76, Dick Rhyan 78. 223 Tommy McGlnnli 77. Vol Slate Girls Roll Over Lambufh JACKSON, Tenn. Volunteer State's girls maintained their perfect record, 8-0, by romping over Lambuth's girls 83-52 last night.

Sandra Smallwood was top scorer for Volunteer State with 29, while Becky Turner dumped in 26 for Lambuth. LAMBUTH (52) Becky Turner 26, K. Turner 14, Harris 8, Shackleton 4. VOLUNTEER STATE (S3) Sandra Smallwood 29. Coker 20, Grizzle 20, Bellar 5, Graves 3, Shannon 2, Hall 2, Hall 2, Klftrelt 2.

Halt: Volunteer State 43-26. kids swapping double bubble gum cards. He has been with seven teams and has played in both the National Basketball Association and American Basketball As urn by Bad BuM injuries. "Yes, I was surprised Philadelphia let him go. I didn't know who he was, but I know he killed us when we played the 76ers during the exhibition sea-, son.

He's the kind of guy who catches attention." Another NBA coach who was surprised Philadelphia released him is Ray Scott of the Detroit Pistons "He was the only guy on the team who came to play last season," said Scott. "He might not have delivered every game, but it wasn't from lack of effort." That indeed was high praise for a man who averaged 11.0 points for a disorganized aggregation that won only nine of 82 games. Leaks is as happy to be with the Bullets as the club is to have him. He says this is the first time in his pro basketball career that he has been motivated. MWHE'VE GOT a good team," says Leaks.

"I like to be around guys who can shoot. It lets me do other things, like concentrating on defense, rebounding and blocking shots. We have a tremendous team coordination, a complete mind-body hookup. I think we'll win our division (Central)." While Leaks' play more than pleased Jones when Unse'd was sidelined early in the season, the old Boston Celtic great can't say enough about the job his big intimidator has done since Unseld became active again. "What has impressed me most about Manny is that he stayed cool when Wes came back.

It reduced his playing time considerably, but he never complained. A troublemaker doesn't act that, way, does he? He was always alive on the bench and kept his body in shape. When Wes went out of the lineup again, Manny was ready to take his position in the starting lineup." Yes, it appears that Leaks' traveling days are over. Columbus, Atlanta Set Salutes to UTs Holloway KNOXVILLE Condredge Holloway, Tennessee's All-Southeastern Conference quarterback last year, will receive two outstanding national awards this week. HOLLOWAY WILL GET the Columbus, Ohio Touchdown Club's trophy as the No.

1 quarterback in college football at a gigantic banquet to be attended by 2,500 fans on Friday night. Saturday night he will receive the Atlanta One Hundred Percent Wrong club's trophy as the College Player of the Year in 1973. A third honor for the junior star will come at the end of this month when he shares with Tennessee State's Ed (Too Tall) Jones the Athlete of The Year honors at the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame dinner in Nashville. JOHN TREMBLEY, WHO WON five first place medals in last year's NCAA swimming meet, will be honored at the Columbus dinner, along with Holloway. Trembley has been voted Swimmer of the Year for 1973.

sociation. The 1968 graduate of Niagara played in 311 games in the ABA, averaging 13.5 points. Twice he was traded by the New York Nets. He jumped the old Floridians at the end of the 1972 season over a contract dispute. When the franchise collapsed, he was declared a free agent.

In 1972-73 he played for the hapless Philadelphia 76ers. When Gene Shue shifted from the Bullets to 76ers, Leaks, the man with a reputation for making trouble was axed. Ironically, it was Shue's old club which gave Leaks another chance in the NBA. When he signed Leaks, Bullet coach K. C.

Jones said he wasn't concerned with the vagabond's reputation as a troublemaker. 64 A LL I WAS concerned about at the time was that we were desperate," said Jones. "Wes (Un-.