The State from Columbia, South Carolina • C1

I A 1 A I A SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2015 1 WWW.THESTATE.COM 1 SECTION SPORTS RECRUITING: FLORIDA DB STICKS WITH USC COMMITMENT C4COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NCAA RETURNS WINS TO PATERNO C4 A downtrodden basketball program needed help. do I Bruce Pearl said. Sixteen games into his latest recla- mation project, Pearl is finding the road much rockier than his previous stops. Auburn, whose most recent NCAA tournament bid was in 2003, has found it tough to keep afloat this sea- son, checking into game hosting South Carolina at 9-7 (1-2 SEC). So why is everyone so excited? last meeting before the confer- ence season started, we had a home game against North Alabama on a Sat- urday, noon said Philip Minor, act- ing president of the Auburn Basketball Tipoff Club.

met for breakfast at 9. At 9:30, two and a half hours before the game, here comes Bruce. No reasona- ble person would have held it against him had he not come, but he showed up USC BASKETBALL return invigorates Auburn Auburn coach Bruce Pearl points to the fans while celebrating a victory earlier this month against Missouri. The former Tennessee coach is back in the SEC after three years away from the sideline. JULIE First-year Tigers coach gives SEC a shot in the arm By DAVID CLONINGER JOHN TODAY SPORTSSEE PEARL PAGE C5 HESE DAYS, YOU can see Matt Barrie during Morning program, when the ESPN SportsCenter regular delivers brief, fast-paced (and pre-recorded) sports updates for the A.M.

crowd. Wee- hours folks, too, often catch him co-hosting SportsCen- late-night editions. It been so long ago, though 2006-08, to be exact that the quick-quipping Barrie was best known local- ly for Sports Radio 1400 The Tim a three-hour (10 a.m.-1 p.m.) smorgasbord of sports and what Barrie calls con- about well, whatever came to his or co- host Tim fertile minds. The two 20-somethings, whose jobs were at WLTX-TV19 (Barrie) and WOLO-TV 25 (where Hill remains sports director), carved out their niche by appealing to golden demographic, males 18-35. Whether discussing a Steve Spurrier news confer- ence or debating the merits of bar soap vs.

body wash, lis- teners discovered a must- hear destination for their zany on-air chemistry, ex- emplified by the all-purpose cry, So it was that when Barrie now living 20 minutes from Bristol, stu- dios learned that in late October, 1400 (then 560) had dumped most of its local sports programming and the people who produced it, the good old days came flashing back followed by sadness. first thing you think Barrie finds his spot in lineup Sports Media Bob Gillespie bgillespie Former Columbia radio host now a regular for ESPN Matt Barrie, a former radio host at Sports Radio 1400, joins co-host Sara Walsh on the set of College GameDay. PHIL IMAGES SEE BARRIE PAGE C6 Sabrina had no expectations before National Soccer League college draft. South two-time All-America goalkeeper tried to stay low-key until her room- mate screamed the Western New York Flash had selected her with the 21st pick the third selection of the third round in the four-round, 36-player draft of the top college seniors. a huge lo said.

awesome. I know my parents are so excited. I called them, and I started to cry on the phone with my mom. And I called my dad right after that because he was at work. It was just so The Canadian loves her des- tination because the Flash, who play their home games in USC SOCCER USC goalkeeper Sabrina was drafted in the third round of the NWSL draft on Friday.

MICHAEL lands in New York Western New York drafts USC star in third round By NEIL WHITE SEE DRAFT PAGE C6 Despite leading throughout the game, A.C. Flora coach Joshua Staley felt relieved af- ter escaping Lower Richland with a 58-51 region win on Fri- day night. The Falcons led by as many as 20 points, but Lower Rich- land made runs that kept A.C. Flora (15-3) on its toes. knew it was going to be BOYS BASKETBALL A.C.

FLORA 58 L. RICHLAND 51 Uneven Falcons hold off rallies Big start helps No. 1 A.C. Flora outpace Lower Richland By AKILAH IMANI NELSON INSIDE More prep basketball coverage, C2-3 SEE FLORA PAGE C3.