Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 31

I Wednesday. Apri 5. 2000 TheOarkxvLedger 5D MSU hopes to build on McCarthy Gym's mystique Nettles now committee chairman provided us with yet another outstanding facility for our tennis program," State men's tennis coach Andy Jackson said. On Tennis Mississippi State's McCarthy Gym, once home to one of the greatest runs in Southeastern Conference men's basketball history, is now an indoor tennis facility. McCarthy Gym was converted into a two-court indoor tennis complex this past year, and this spring it is being used for the first time.

State won its third indoor match without a loss in McCarthy Gym Sunday with a 5-2 victory over Auburn. State plays in McCarthy Gym when the Bulldogs can't play in its regular home outdoor facility, A.J. Pitts Centre. Rain forced the match inside Sunday. "With the renovation of McCarthy, our administration has teams from 1950-75.

Ten of those were coached by the late James H. "Babe" McCarthy, who won four SEC titles in a five-year span from 1959-63. The facility, which seated 5,000 for basketball when it opened, seats 3,000 for tennis. Ole Miss opened its indoor facility in 1997. The facility contains three courts in addition to courts for volleyball or basketball.

Conference tournaments Jackson State, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss will be hosting conference tennis tournaments later this month. Jackson State will host the Southwestern Athletic Conference men's and women's tournaments April 20-22 at either JSU's new courts or at Tennis Center South. State will host the Southeastern Conference men's tournament April 20-23 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Center in Starkville. Ole Miss will host the SEC women's tournament April 20-23 at the 500-seat PalmerSaJloum Tennis Center in Oxford.

Southern Miss will host the Conference USA men's tournament April 13-16 at the Racquet Club and Tatum Park in Hattiesburg. USM's campus courts were destroyed because the school is building new dorms there. The school has plans to build new courts near the track and field stadium. By Bobby Cleveland Clarion-ledger Outdoors Editor Rep. Clem Nettles (D-Jayess) has taken over the chairmanship of the House Game and Fish committee, Speaker of the House Tim Ford (D-Baldwyn) announced "We are also very excited to be playing in a facility with such a storied history.

A large part of Mississippi State's athletic history was authored in this building, and we hope that we can add to that legend." Known as the New Gym in its early years, McCarthy Gym was home to State's men's basketball Monday. Nettles, 69, a legislator since 1988, has served as vice chairman of the committee for five years, and fills the Nettles Whitney steps up to help Wizards dismantle Nets From Wire Service Report a Mississippi College Mississippi College junior Brian Redfield was named American Southwest Conference Player of the Week after a 6-0 record last week in singles and doubles. Redfield, of Natchez, led the Choctaws to conference victories over McMurry and LeToumeau and instate rival Millsaps College. Redfield and Jeffrey Coll um are ranked No. 13 in the South region in doubles.

To submit new for this column, contact Robert Wilson. Fax: 961-7224. Phone: 601-961-7298 or 877-850-5338. Address: The Clarion-Ledger, PO Box 40, Jackson, MS 39205. E-mail: Nets to consider hiring Pitino if he dumps the Celtics By Ian O'Connor WstchstK Journal Nw NEW YORK The New Jersey Nets have discussed launching another recruitment of Rick Pitino in event the beleaguered Celtics coach leaves Boston, a high-ranking official close to the YankeeNets organization said.

The official said Pitino was "high on the list" of prospective candidates to replace Don Casey, sure to be fired at season's end. "The Nets have talked about going after him again," the official said. "Rick said publicly he might resign after next season, but a lot of people think things are so bad for him in Boston, he'll leave this year. "(The Nets) have new owners, but the organization remains very intrigued by Rick. He still has a lot of friends with the Nets.

Just look at all the connections." Henry and Joe Taub, former majority owners who now hold a small piece of the team, are close to Pitino and led the two failed courtships of the coach in the spring of '96. Harvey Schiller, CEO of YankeeNets, was commissioner of the Southeastern Conference whenPitinowonanationaltitlefor Kentucky. Lou Lamoriello, general manager of the team just bought by YankeeNets, the New Jersey Devils, was athletic director at Providence when Pitino took the Friars to the Final Four. George Steinbrenner, a partner with Nets owners Lew Katz and Ray Chambers, knows Pitino through their interests in the horse business and is said to admire the coach. position vacated by Dick Livingston, who died last week after short battle with cancer.

Nettles had been serving as acting chairman in Livingston's absence. Ford also named Rep. Joey Hudson (D-Monticello), a second term lawmaker, as vice chairman of the committee. Most wildlife legislation has already cleared committee action. The most significant Is a bill that would reduce the season limit on antlerless deer to three with two extra allowed if taken by archery equipment.

The current limit is five antlerless deer, with two extra allowed if taken by archery The same bill also defines antlered buck as any buck having a minimum of four antler points It has passed the Senate, been slightly amended by the House Game and Fish Committee and awaits action on the House floor. The House bill is expected to pass and concurrence is expected by the Senate. "is Chris Whitney scored 18 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, as the host Washington Wizards handed the New Jersey Nets their third straight loss, 102-93 on Tuesday night. The Wizards, winning for the seventh time in nine games, looked more like a team still in playoff contention than did the struggling Nets. New Jersey started the night six games behind Orlando for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

The Wizards built a 75-72 lead in the last minute of the third quarter. Holding the ball for the last shot, the Nets' Kendall Gill lost it out of bounds. Whitney then hit a 17-footer just before the buzzer to give the Wizards a five-point lead. W'hitney, playing for injured point guard Rod Strickland, shot 7-of-11 and had six assists. Strickland went on the injured list March 22 with a strained left quadriceps.

Mavericks 105, Kings 102 Michael Finley scored 38 points and converted two key free throws with 15.4 seconds left for host Dallas Finley had four second-half 3-pointers and the Mavericks went 13-for-19 from 3-point range to win for the ninth time in their last 13 games. Heat 111, Cavaliers 85 Tim Hardaway had 14 points and 10 assists as host Miami won its fourth in a row. Jamal Mashburn scored 17 points and Alonzo Mourning added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who used a 40-12 run in the second and third quarters to pull away. Hornets 112, Celtics 105 Anthony Mason scored 27 points as host Charlotte shot a season-high 57 percent Mason added 11 rebounds while Derrick Coleman had his own double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds as the Hornets won their seventh straight. Twolves 86, Hawks 76 Rookie Will Avery filled in for point guard Terrell Brandon and guided host Minnesota past Atlanta in overtime.

Avery, whose 3-pointer with 1:56 left in OT gave the Wolves their biggest lead of the night, 82-73. Avery finished with a season-best 13 points and seven assists. Kevin Garnett had another poor shooting performance (9-for-26) but managed 18 points, as did Joe Smith, who scored four baskets in overtime. Magic 107, Spurs 97 John Amaechi scored 24 points and Darrell Armstrong had 23 as host Orlando beat San Antonio for its season-high seventh straight victory. Bulls 92, Bucks 73 Despite a poor start from All-Stars Glenn Robinson and Ray -Allen, host Milwaukee got enough xsJ Si lid 'I tin II Chuck BurtonThe Associated Press Hornets' Anthony Mason goes in for a layupTuesday night against Boston.

The husbandwife team of Rabbit and Jane Rogers are the points leaders through the first three events on the Magnolia Crappie Club tournament trail. Their combined point total is 75.64, for a sizable lead over the No. 2 team Mke and Tanya Parks, another husband and wife team. The Parks have 69.14 points. The Rogers finished second in the most recent tournament at Lake Washington, giving them two seconds and a fifth this year.

John and Brian Hannah won the Washington event with 16.68 pounds. The next event is Saturday at Enid Lake. Registration is at Long-branch Bait Shop at 5 a.m. The next event on Barnett Reservoir is April 29. For information on the club or either event, phone help from Tim Thomas and Ervin Johnson to defeat Chicago.

Milwaukee, 36-38, remained two games behind Orlando for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Pistons 104, Raptors 88 The Toronto Raptors are falling fast, and their fans' patience is slipping, too. Grant Hill had 32 points and Jerry Stackhouse added 28 as visiting Detroit extended the Rap tors' losing skid to four games. SuperSonics 106, Nuggets 93 Horace Grant scored a season-high 26 points and Gary Payton added 21 as Seattle beat Denver for the 14th straight time in Seattle. Grant shot 13-of-17 from the field and pulled down 12 rebounds as Seattle (42-32) pulled within a half-game of Sacramento in the battle for seventh place in the Western Conference standings.

Men's, women's TV ratings see decline Brumby: Headed back to ahl money," Brumby said. "People around here are just so nice. It feels like home. "I've heard about the hospitality down here, but I've never had an opportunity to experience it." Brumby, who helped Providence to the AHL title a year ago, will play in the final three regular-season games for the Bruins and in the playoffs. An ECHL player may play in the AHL, International Hockey League or National Hockey League at any time.

Many ECHL players are loaned to AHL and IHL teams during the regular season. The site of the auction Is home.att.netthehideout. From ID month, fans paid $4,300 for Brum-bs all-star jersey and $3,100 for his green St. Patrick's Day jersey. Proceeds went to charity.

Proceeds from Brumby's auction will go toward another cause. "I'll fly home later this summer to see my mom and tell her what Southern hospitality is all about," Brumby said in a serious tone. "If I met somebody down here that I could spend the rest of my life with, I could make this home." Pannell's idea for an online auction was just one of many kind goodwill gestures fans have shown Brumby and the Bandits. "I went in to get a haircut one day, and the lady wouldn't take the Chancellor David Ward. He introduced the Badgers as the team that "messed up virtually every office pool in the country." The Badgers hadn't advanced as far in an NCAA tournament since winning the national title in 1941.

Baylor Kim Mulkey-Robertson said Louisiana Tech not offering a five-year deal caused her to walk away from the job she had always wanted, opting for Baylor instead. "Salary is always a consideration, but the overriding factor for me was a five-year contract," Mulkey-Robertson said, who spent 19 years at Louisiana Tech as a player and an assistant coach "Five years would give me the opportunity to build my own program, with my own recruits and develop my own coaching style. "Baylor was willing to support me in my request; however, Tech was not." Fishing in America is sponsoring a qualifying tournament April 15 at Barnett Reservoir for the America Crappie Classic. The Magnolia Crappie Club is serving as local coordinator, and it will conduct registration from 5-7 a.m. the day of the event at Tommy's Trading Post on Highway 43.

Pre-registration is also available at Tommy's daily between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. Entry fee is 100 per team, with 60 percent paid back in prizes. One place will be paid for each six teams entered. The top three teams, plus the top malefemale and the top adultyouth team will advance to the 2001 America Crappie Classic at Santee-Cooper Lake in South Carolina with a total prize package of $50,000.

For information on Fishing in America, a non-profit organization benefitting the Fish America Foundation, and the America Crappie Classic, phone 256-355-5344. From Wir Servtc Reports NEW YORK It was not a shining moment for CBS. The national rating for Monday night's NCAA men's basketball tournament championship game between Michigan State and Florida was 14. 1, the worst since the network began airing the event in 1982. It represents a drop of 18 percent from last year's title-game rating of 17.2, the previous low.

The tournament as a whole finished with an average rating of 6.4, down 6 percent from 1999's 6.8, also the previous low mark. It wasn't good news for CBS, which agreed in November to retain the rights for the three-week tournament by paying $6 billion for an 11-year contract, which takes effect in 2003. Michigan State's 89-76 victory over Florida drew a 23 share representing the percentage of in-use television sets tuned to a particular show down from the 27 garnered by Connecticut's upset of Duke a year ago. Ratings were also off this year for the women's NCAA tourney on ESPN No. 1 Connecticut's 71-52 drubbing of No.

2 Tennessee in the title game showed a 19 percent decline from last year's final. The women's final Sunday night drew a 3.5 national cable rating, compared to last year's record 4.3. The 14 tournament games shown on ESPN drew an average rating of 1.15, a fall of 14 percent from 1999's record 1.33. Wisconsin About 1,000 screaming fans gathered inside Camp Randall Stadium Tuesday to welcome home the Wisconsin basketball team after its first run to the Final Four in 59 years. "Thank you for not listening to the critics who wrote you off," said University of Wisconsin-Madison NOT MUCH Ole Miss: Track, indoor practice facility on wish list GREEN OKEC WITH? Mississippi's spring turkey season is nearing its midway point, and that's good news for turkey hunters.

The gobblers have been busy with hens, but that should be changing soon. When the hens start going to nest, the gobblers will be eagerly looking for new possibilities to procreate. Mississippi hunters have until May 1 to get their season limit of three gobblers. The daily limit is one mature gobbler, or a gobbler with a minimum six-inch beard. Nevada Bob's Will Not Be Undersold! Nevidf Boba wlH match any locally advertied price.

In atock inventory only. Proof of price required. Service, Fit, Performance, Price Satisfaction Guaranteed $400,000 Inventory 6,000 sq. ft. of Proline Equipment lion to $3 million in private funds.

Shafer and several members of the Ole Miss athletic department visited the University of Kentucky and Louisville last fall in researching the south end zone project. Kentucky added end zone boxes for the 1999 football season. Louisville has a new stadium with boxes on the side of the field and an administration building in the end zone similar to what Ole Miss has in mind. Other athletic facility upgrades on Shafer's wish list if he can get the private funding include: A multipurpose indoor practice facility, which would be built where the existing track is located. Price tag: An estimated $14 million.

An athletic administration building in the north end zone of Vaught-Hemingway. Price tag: An estimated $8 million to $10 million. Renovation of Tad Smith Coliseum that would increase capacity to about 9,000 and improve such areas as locker rooms and press facilities. Price tag: An estimated $2.5 million to $3 million. Renovation of the interior of From ID remove 5,000 seats and leave long-term capacity at about 57,000.

For the south end zone project to begin shortly after Thanksgiving, Shafer said a series of steps have to be taken. "The construction drawings have to be approved, the IHL has to approve the project, it has to be let for bid, the financing has to be approved and then the bids have to come in at the price we're projecting or less," Shafer said. Ole Miss would cover the first $7 million to $10 million with the new revenue stream and $15 million to $18 million would be financed through a bond. The boxes cost $250,000 up front for a 13-year period. "We have very strong commitments on the majority of those boxes," Shafer said.

"I feel good about that portion of the revenues." If all goes according to plan, Shafer said, the south end zone project could be completed for the 2002 football season. In conjunction with that project, the Ole Miss track facility would be moved to the south and renovated at a cost of $2.5 mil Oxford-University Stadium. Price tag: An estimated $1 million to $1.5 million. Renovation of the building that houses the athletic director and football coaches. It would become a student-athlete Academics Services Center.

Price tag: An estimated $1 million to $1.5 million. Construction of locker rooms and offices for the men's and women's golf programs. Price tag: An estimated $750,000. Ole Miss also continues to seek private donations for the endowment of scholarships. "When you reach $100,000, the interest on that money would be used to offset our annual cost of scholarships," Shafer said.

Shafer said the south end zone project could create a domino effect that would enable the other construction plans to fall into place. "Realistically, this is a five-year plan to get all those things done," Shafer said. "It's my hope that five years from the time we turn dirt on the south end zone project that we have or are well on our way to having all of this accomplished." $12,000,000 Computerized Fitting System Indoor Hitting Cages Putting Green The MarineAngler's Cholco Barnett Reservoir Division will hold its second tournament of the year Sunday and its first off Barnett. Lake Chicot In Lake Village, will be the site and Con-nerly Bayou ramp will be the welghin and launch site. Today is the deadline for entry.

For more Information phone 939-7788. The World's Largest Network Of Professional Golf Shops! Thursday's fishing report will concentrate on the effects of the recent heavy rains on crappie and bass. Sunday, we'll join a Pearl man and his cousin on a special African safari. "Mississippi's Most Complete Golf Shop 4800 1-55 North LeFleur's Gallery Jackson. MS 39211 (601) 713-1700.