The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 29

15 8 od WWW.THESTATE.COM THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000 C5 MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Men's basketball pregame Clemson vs. No. 3 Duke Where: Charlotte Coliseum Time: About 9:15 p.m. TV: Jefferson -Pilot (WOLO Channel 25 in Columbia) Radio: WSCQ-FM 100.1 in Columbia Records: Clemson 10-19, 4-12 ACC; Duke 24-4, 15-1 ACC What to watch: Fresh off his first-team All-ACC selection, Clemson guard Will Solomon will take another shot at the Blue Devils. Solomon had 26 points and nine assists against Duke last week at Clemson, but shot just 10-for-26 from the field.

With forward Andrius Jurkunas (back spasms) ailing, the Tigers' only hope may be for Solomon to get so hot that the Blue Devils can't stop him. About Duke: The Blue Devils are charging up for another run at the Final Four, which may leave them vulnerable against Clemson. Depth-challenged Duke is likely to save its best effort for the NCAA Tournament after running roughshod over ACC competition all season. But even a second-rate effort from a team with Duke's talent should be enough to defeat the Tigers. Ken Tysiac Starting lineups Tigers Blue Devils Name Pts.

Reb. Name Pts. Reb. Will Solomon 21.1 4.1 Jason Williams 14.4 4.2 Edward Scott 6.3 3.3 Nate James 10.7 4.3 Adam Allenspach 11.6 7.2 Carlos Boozer 13.0 6.2 Andrius Jurkunas 8.4 5.2 Chris Carrawell 18.0 6.1 Chucky Gilmore 3.7 6.2 Shane Battier 17.6 5.5 Tiger statistics Name FG-FGA Pct. 3FG-FGA 3Pct.

FT-FTA Pct. Reb. Asts. Pts. Solomon 208-513 .405 89-239 .372 108-158 .684 4.1 3.1 21.1 Allenspach 124-273 .454 0-8 .000 77-104 .740 7.2 0.8 11.6 Jurkunas 65-181 .359 39-116 .336 40-62 .645 5.2 2.7 8.4 Scott 49-157 .312 31-95 .326 17-24 .708 3.3 2.8 6.3 Bains 42-114 .368 15-57 .263 19-25 .760 1.7 1.1 5.5 Braddick 44-103 .427 2-13 .154 26-39 .667 4.4 2.1 5.0 x-Javtokas 25-47 .532 0-2 .000 10-20 .500 3.6 0.3 3.8 Gilmore 42-107 .393 0-0 .000 13-27 .481 6.2 0.8 3.7 Henderson 34-63 .540 0-0 .000 19-35 .543 3.7 0.4 3.6 Nagys 13-31 .419 0-5 .000 38-56 .679 2.5 0.4 2.7 Holt 12-30 .400 5-15 .333 5-6 .833 1.0 0.7 1.4 Powell 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 1-2 .500 0.1 0.1 0.1 Shyatt 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0.0 0.0 0.0 Crocker 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0.2 0.0 0.0 x-Left team ACC men's basketball tournament All games at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, N.C.

Today Friday Saturday Sunday 1. Duke 9:30 p.m., IP 9. Clemson 1:30 p.m., ESPN, JP 4. UNC Noon, ESPN, IP 5. Wake Forest Championship 7.

Florida St. 1 p.m. ESPN, JP 7 p.m., ESPN p.m., 8. Ga. Tech ESPN, JP 2.

Maryland 4 p.m., ESPN, IP 3. Virginia 7 p.m., ESPN, JP 6. N.C. State Ailing Duke still favored has won Favorite: the last Top-seeded four ACC Duke, regular which sea- ACC capsule son titles, will aim for just its second conference tournament championship held ACC scoring leader Will Solomon during that period. The Blue Devils of Clemson to 12 points, nine below will have to win with a seven-player his average, and has had similar rerotation because forward Mike Dun- sults against the other top guards in leavy minutes will be limited as the league.

he recovers from I Best names: Pasha Bains, Clemson; Darkhorse: Wake Forest, which is 4- Tahj Holden, Maryland; Majestic 3 in its last seven games, has plenty of Mapp, Virginia; Rafael Vidaurreta, motivation in this tournament. The De- Wake Forest. mon Deacons (16-13, 7-9 ACC) were just good enough to give themselves a faint chance for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, so the games will mean more to them than to some of the favorites. Clemson update: The Tigers' lastplace finish in the ACC standings mandates that they must meet top-seeded Duke in their tournament opener. Despite the brilliance of Will Solomon and the improvement of the team in the late stages of the season, a Clemson upset of Duke would be viewed as the biggest miracle since Lake Placid.

Player to watch: Freshman point guard Steve Blake of Maryland has averaged 14.3 points and 6.8 assists over his last four games, but his defense is what makes him special. Blake twice 5 Who will win: Despite an overtime loss at Virginia in the regular-season finale, No. 2 seed Maryland is at the top of its game. The Terrapins (22-8, 11-5) won a school-record nine straight ACC games before stumbling at Virginia, and their top-ranked field goal percentage defense (.396) will give them an advantage in a strange arena. Out on a limb: Wake Forest will burn the Tobacco Road elite, defeating North Carolina and Duke before falling to Maryland in the final.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee then will face a tough decision on whether the weakened ACC deserves five at-large bids. Ken Tysiac UConn thumps BC The Associated Press Top 25 NEW YORK Connecticut opened defense of its Big East Tournament Thursday's quarterfinals of the Big championship with a 70-55 thumping East tournament. Wednesday of Boston College. BOSTON COLLEGE (11-19) Jake Voskuhl led the Huskies with Cotton 5-11 1-2 11, Walls 5-13 2-2 13, Agbai 16 points and 11 rebounds while Kevin 3-7 0-0 6, Harley 5-10 0-0 10, Pina 2-4 0-0 4, Singletary 3-12 0-0 9, Beerbohm 0-0 2-2 2, Freeman had 11 points and 11 re- Dudley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 5-6 55.

bounds. Khalid El-Amin scored 14 CONNECTICUT (22-8) points and Albert Mouring added 12. -Deng, 2-4 0-2 0-0 0, Freeman 2-6 7-7 11, Voskuhl 4- 16, El-Amin 5-12 4-5 14, Mouring UConn outrebounded the under- 12 2-2 12, Saunders 4-7 0-0 8, Robertson 0-6 manned Eagles 46-26. 4-4 4, Wane 1-2 1-1 3, Cox 1-2 0-0 2, Wrenn 0- 00.0 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 20-23 70.

The No. 21 Huskies, national cham- Halftime Connecticut 31, Boston College 25. 3- pions a year ago and winners of their Point goals Boston College 4-16 (Singletary 3-9, and Walls 1-4, Cotton 0-1, Pina 0-2), Connecticut 2- last two conference tournaments 8 (Mouring 2-5, El-Amin 0-1, Robertson 0-2). three of the last four, dominated after Fouled out- Agbai. Rebounds- College 26 a slow start and BC could not over- (Walls 5), Connecticut 46 (Freeman, Voskuhl 11).

Boston, Assists Boston College (Pina 4), Connecticut come long scoring droughts. 14 (Mouring 4). Total fouls- Boston College 20, victory moved. UConn into Connecticut 12. A- ACC should return play-in format I ALL talgic.

can't ME Call help it. me CRAZY. I a miss Call the sentimentalist. me ACC nosplay-in game. Remember those glorious Thursday nights of ACC tournament week from 1992-97, when the conference's Nos.

8 and 9 finishers faced off for the "honor" of meeting the top seed a day later? You could cut the tension in those games with a knife. OK, a butter knife, a dull one, but still. The "first-round game" three years since it died, the ACC still doesn't call it a "play-in" had a certain charm, attended by fans with absolutely nothing else to do. It even had its own name: "The Les Robinson Invitational," so dubbed by N.C. State's self-effacing coach, whose teams played in four of the first five.

The play-in was a logical solution after Florida State became the ACC's ninth member in 1992, thus ruining the tournament's traditional symmetry. It had a sort of gritty, survivalist drama mostly about if poor Les would ever win one. But ACC coaches hated it. Wake Forest's Dave Odom, who never coached in one, felt the "play-in" tag stigmatized the teams (and coaches) involved. In 1998, the ACC charged associate commissioner Fred Barakat to come up with another plan.

His third-year creation, which tonight sends No. 1 Duke against No. 9 Clemson, involves a bracketing that looks like the schematics for a nuclear reactor. Larry Shyatt says he loves it, though. Why shouldn't he? If his lastplace team can somehow upset the Blue Devils, the Tigers get a bye into Saturday's semifinals.

"Talk about your motivation," Shyatt says. "Hey, you've got to play Duke sometime, anyway." Of course, Duke, No. 1 the past two seasons, twice has dispatched No. 9 Virginia by an average of 29.5 points. That's hardly the type suspense the play-in game produced.

Gillespie Bob Senior (803) Writer 771-8304 A 'better' idea. Wednesday at Charlotte Coliseum, Barakat recalled creating two possible replacements for the play-in game. The other was rejected because it gave No. 1 a bye all the way to the semifinals. "The coaches didn't like the idea a team could win the tournament playing only two games," he says.

"And the No. 1 teams wanted to play a game before the semis." Barakat doesn't miss the play-in game. He says coaches of the 8-9 teams always felt they were "not really in" the tournament, "even though we always said they were a part of it. But the media separated it, called it a playin game." Sure, Fred. Blame us for calling it Conference tournament glance Atlantic 10 Conference Philadelphia NCAA automatic bids Wednesday Virginia Tech 51, Fordham 48 Schools that have received Massachusetts 77, Duquesne 52 automatic bids to the NCAA St.

Joseph's 65, La Salle 56 Xavier vs. Rhode Island, (n) basketball tournament. Today Appalachian State, SoCon Temple vs. Virginia Tech, Noon George Washington vs. Massachusetts, 2:30 Iona, MAAC p.m.

Central Conn. State, Northeast Dayton vs. St. Joseph's-La Salle winner, 7 UNC-Wilmington, Colonial p.m. St.

Bonaventure vs. Xavier-Rhode Island win- Creighton, Missouri Valley ner, 9:30 p.m. Pennsylvania, Ivy League Friday Tech winner Samford, Trans America Temple-Virginia vs. George Washington-Massachusetts winner, 7 p.m. S.E.

Missouri State, Ohio Valley Dayton- St. Joseph's-La Salle winner vs. St. Winthrop, Big South -Xavier-Rhode Island winner, 9:30 p.m. Butler, Midwestern Collegiate Championship Valparaiso, Mid-Continent Saturday, 6 p.m.

Ball State, Mid-American Big East Conference New York Conference USA Wednesday Georgetown 70, West Virginia 67 Memphis, Tenn. Connecticut 70, Boston College 55 Wednesday Seton Hall 85, Providence 65 Saint Louis 59, Southern Mississippi 51 Notre Dame 74, Rutgers 62 Houston 77, Marquette 75 Memphis 60, South Florida 58 Villanova 65, Pittsburgh 55 UNC Charlotte 76, -Birmingham, 73 Today Syracuse vs. Georgetown, Noon Today Connecticut vs. Seton Hall, 2:30 p.m. Cincinnati vs.

Saint Louis, 1 p.m. Miami vs. Notre Dame, 7 p.m. Tulane vs. Houston, 3:30 p.m.

St. John's vs. Villanova, 9:30 p.m. DePaul vs. South Florida-Memphis winner, 7 Friday p.m.

Syracuse -Georgetown winner vs. Connecti- Louisville vs. N.C. Charlotte, 9:30 p.m. cut- -Seton Hall-Providence winner, 7 p.m.

Miami- -Notre Dame-Rutgers winner vs. St. Cincinnati- Saint Louis winner vs. TulaneJohn's -Villanova-Pittsburgh winner, 9:30 p.m. Houston winner, 5:30 p.m.

Championship DePaul- -South Florida-Memphis winner vs. Saturday, 8 p.m. Louisville- Charlotte-UAB winner, 8 p.m. Championship Big Sky Conference Saturday, 12:30 p.m. Missoula, Wednesday Mont Mid-American Conference Northern Arizona 77, Portland State 75 Cleveland Weber State vs.

Cal State Northridge, (n) Championship Wednesday Friday Ball State 61, Miami (Ohio) 58 Eastern Washington vs. Northern Arizona, 9 p.m. Mountain West Conference Montana vs. Weber (Non-automatic bid) winner, 11:30 p.m. Las Vegas Championship Today Saturday, 10:30 p.m.

New Mexico vs. Brigham Young, 3 p.m. Utah vs. Air Force, 5:30 p.m. Big Ten Conference Colorado State vs.

Wyoming, 9 p.m. UNLV vs. San Diego State, Mid At Chicago United Center Friday Today New Mexico-Brigham Young winner vs. UtahMichigan vs. Penn State, 2 p.m.

Air Force winner, 9 p.m. lowa vs. Minnesota, 4:30 p.m. Colorado State-Wyoming winner vs. UNLVWisconsin vs.

Northwestern, 7 p.m. San Diego State winner, Mid Friday Championship Illinois vs. Indiana, 12:30 p.m. Saturday, 10 p.m. Ohio St.

vs. Michigan-Penn State winner, 3 p.m. Michigan State vs. lowa-Minnesota winner, Patriot League 7:30 p.m. At Allan P.

Kirby Sports Center Purdue vs. Wisconsin-Northwestem winner, 10 Pa. Easton, p.m. Championship Saturday Illinois-Indiana winner vs. Ohio State Penn Friday 2:30 Lafayette vs.

Navy, 4 p.m. State-Michigan winner, p.m. Michigan -lowa-Minnesota winner vs. Purdue Northwestern winner, 5 Southland Conference p.m. At The Gold Dome Championship Sunday, 3:30 p.m.

Shreveport, La. Today Lamar vs. Southwest Texas State, 7 p.m. Big XII Conference Sam Houston State vs. Northwestern State, Kansas City, Mo.

9:15 p.m. Today Championship Nebraska vs. Baylor, 1 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Kansas vs.

Kansas State, 3:30 p.m. Colorado vs. Texas 7 p.m. Missouri vs. Texas Tech, 9:30 p.m.

SWAC Friday Biloxi, Miss. Iowa State vs. Nebraska-Baylor winner, 1 Today p.m. Jackson State vs. Alabama State, Noon Oklahoma State vs.

Kansas-Kansas Texas Southern vs. Mississippi Valley State, State winner, 3:30 p.m. 2:30 Colorado-Texas winner, 7 p.m. p.m. Texas vs.

Southern vs. Prairie View, 6 p.m. Oklahoma vs. Missouri-Texas Tech winner, Alcorn State vs. Grambling State, 8:30 p.m.

9:30 p.m. Saturday Friday Okla- Texas Southern-Mississippi Valley State winIowa -Nebraska-Baylor winner vs. homa State- Kansas State winner, 2 ner vs. Southern-Prairie View winner, 6 p.m. Jackson State-Alabama State winner vs.

p.m. Texas Colorado-Texas winner vs. Okla- Alcorn State St. winner, 8:30 p.m. homa- Missouri-Texas Tech winner, 4:20 p.m.

Championship Championship Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m. WAC Big West Conference bid) Fresno, Calif. (Non-automatic Reno, Nev. Today Today Tulsa vs.

Rice, 3 p.m. Long Beach State vs. Idaho, 3 p.m. Texas Christian vs. San Jose 5:30 p.m.

New Mexico State vs. UC Irvine, 5:30 p.m. Southern Methodist vs. Hawaii, 9 p.m. Utah State vs.

Pacific, 9 p.m. Fresno State vs. Texas-El Paso, 11:30 p.m. UC Santa Barbara vs. Nevada, 11:30 p.m.

Friday, March 10 Tulsa Rice winner vs. Texas Christian-San Friday Utah State-Pacific winner vs. UC Santa Barbara-Nevada 9 Jose State winner, 9 p.m. winner, p.m. Beach State-Idaho winner vs.

New Mex- Southern Methodist-Hawaii winner vs. Fresno Long, ico State-UC Irvine winner, 11:30 p.m. State-Texas-El Paso winner, 11:30 p.m. Championship Championship Saturday, 12:30 a.m. Saturday, 11 p.m.

what it was. Then Barakat gets to the heart of why the play-in had to go. "(The current plan) keeps the pressure off the coaches," he says. Which is exactly what I liked about it. When the ACC started its tournament, the original and still most successful of its kind, it was exciting because of the idea that a last-place team could become Cinderella.

In fact, in 29 seasons of No. 1 vs. No. 8 on the first day, only once (Maryland over N.C. State in 1989) was there an upset.

But that tension was always there. Now, put two bad teams against each other, and you had some real tension, like watching two passengers fight for the last seat in the lifeboat. Both teams had a chance to win, and to keep alive the upset dream. Consider this, too. In 1997, rookie coach Herb Sendek coached N.C.

State, seeded eighth, past No. 9 Georgia Tech, 60-46. Emboldened by victory, the Wolfpack then upset No. 1 Duke and No. 5 Maryland before barely losing to No.

3 North Carolina in the title game. Funny. If the play-in game was always such a "stigma," how come the ACC waited until a play-in survivor almost pulled off a miracle to change? Just asking. Status quo. Coaches talk about enjoying the "tournament environment," but in reality, most are as status quoconscious as a Fortune 500 CEO.

Most never liked the old ACC tournament, HENDERSON FROM PAGE C1 The word on the street was that failure wasn't an option for Henderson. "Guys that just wanted him to make it, drug dealers and guys from the inner city, were like, We knew this guy was making it. We didn't want him out here with Ligon said. Henderson will return to Charlotte today with his new friends, the orangeclad players and coaches of the Clemson basketball team. This afternoon, the Tigers will hold a shootaround practice in the gym at Henderson's alma mater, East Mecklenburg High School.

This evening, Clemson will meet top-seeded Duke in the city's basketball palace, the Charlotte Coliseum. It will be the first collegiate appearance in Charlotte for Henderson, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward. "It's so exciting, just to go back home and not be playing high school ball, to be in the ACC," Henderson said. It is nothing short of a miracle that Henderson is playing basketball in the ACC after his poverty-stricken youth. He has suffered in a harsh environment after his parents divorced and his father landed in prison.

Even his first season at Clemson brought challenges, with three disheartening injuries before Henderson began to shine. "Ray has unlimited potential," said Clemson coach Larry Shyatt. "I've heard more than one player, many of the players, agreeing that he could be the difference in the future." He is making a difference in the present, too. His season averages of 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds aren't spectacular, but he has led Clemson in rebounding in four of the past eight games despite limited minutes. It has been possible only because he had the fortitude to overcome his past.

Henderson wears a necklace with a crucifix charm, and he can't help but glance at it occasionally. "Sometimes I look at it and think, 'Lord, be with Henderson said. More bad times than good. About 10 years ago, Henderson was living in the comfortable Hickory Grove area on the east side of Charlotte when his parents divorced. He moved to North Charlotte with his mother, Melissa Henderson, and his brother, Tyrone.

In the shadow of the downtown skyscrapers, it is a neighborhood full of dead end streets and dead end lives. Henderson honed his game at Sugar Creek Park and Progress Park, a few blocks from the parking lot of the Little Hornet Grocery where society's forgotten children hang out next to a junkyard protected by barbed wire. "It wasn't a life of luxury," Henderson said. "I wasn't born with a silver spoon. I had my times, like everybody has had good times and bad times.

But my good times weren't as good as everybody else's, and my bad times were worse." Henderson had no contact with his father for a few years, and he said his mother bounced from job to job and didn't have a steady income. On Nov. 7, 1997, his father, also named Ray, was admitted to the Union Correctional Center in Monroe, N.C., to serve a sentence of three years and six months for drug trafficking. The elder Ray Henderson had reestablished a relationship with his son before going to prison. In letters written from prison, his father has indicated to Ray that he clips and saves newspaper articles about Ray's basketball exploits.

Ray's father is scheduled for release on May 11, and his father's actions will where a regular-season champion could wind up sitting out the NCAA tournament. The fact the NCAA now takes the ACC's best teams regardless of the tournament makes most coaches quite happy. The ACC tournament has lost some of its old "edge" since 1975, but you won't find any of the better teams lobbying for a return to the old days. None are going to push for going back to a play-in, either. Bad enough your team might finish last or next-tolast in the regular season.

Who wants to then wear the tag of "Les Robinson Invitational" loser, too? "You want to be more a part of the tournament flavor," says Clemson's Shyatt. Meanwhile, he's playing the No. 9 "opportunity" angle for all it's worth. "From our vantage point, why not have a chance to not have to play Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday?" he says. Of course, no ninth-place team has done that.

Barakat says coaches even considered giving the semis berth to No. 2 if No. 9 won. "But finally they decided, if (the last-place team) gets the bye, they deserve it," he says. Sure.

In theory. Think that would hold up if a No. 9 ever actually won? "It's like a family issue," Shyatt says. "Until the family is affected, it's not a problem. But if something ruffles feathers, then it's a problem." He, laughs.

"I'd love to be the I'd love it, too. If that didn't guar-' antee the return of a play-in game, nothing would. To determine the future of their relation- ship. "He's going to do the thing, and he wants me to do the right thing," Henderson said. "If he does the right, thing, maybe we can get close again.

We aren't close like father and son. We're basically friends." Henderson has a lot of friends in Charlotte. Tyrone invited Ray to live with him and did his best to provide a better environment for his brother for, about 18 months. Ray baby-sat for his nieces and nephews while Tyrone worked, taking the children to the park and occasionally to basketball practice. When Tyrone and his girlfriend had problems and Ray felt caught in the middle, he called Derrick Wallace, who coaches the Aces with Ligon.

He told Wallace he needed a place to stay. Wallace was eating dinner with Demetria Faulkner, an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, when he received the call. Faulkner immediately volunteered to help. Melissa Henderson met with Faulkner in September of 1998 and agreed that it was in Ray's best interests to move in with Faulkner, who soon became Ray's legal guardian. "The African proverb says it takes an entire village to raise a child, and I think Ray sees that," Ligon said.

"He has relationships that are widespread, throughout the city of Charlotte. People are just so proud that he didn't end up choosing to go other routes." Academics and athletics. On the basketball court at East Mecklenberg High, Henderson achieved consistently. He performed well in six high school meetings with highly regarded center Jason Parker, who signed with North. Carolina.

The Prep USA recruiting service ranked Henderson as the 62nd best player in the nation, and he signed with Clemson in November of 1998. His freshman season at Clemson has been far from easy. He had surgery, to repair torn knee cartilage in the preseason, suffered from inflamed chest, cartilage and battled a nagging groin injury. An outstanding rebounder, he also has made a team-high 54 percent of his field goal attempts, and he has impressed the coaches with his ability to catch the ball in traffic. "Great explosiveness and catching skills, and lastly, excellent timing," Shyatt said when asked to list Henderson's, top attributes.

"For a (6-8 player), he plays at 6-9 or 6-10, because of that reach and that timing." Henderson's long-term goal is to, play professionally, but he has other. dreams, too. He talks about some day partnering with his brother to open a restaurant, where their mother, who is known for her incomparable fried chicken and meat loaf, can supervise, the cooking. He also wants to be a teacher. A college education, attainable only, because Henderson has got game, can open the door to that possibility and, many others.

Tyrone, who has never been on an airplane, marveled at the magnitude of his brother's opportunity when he met Ray at the airport after, Ray's trip to the Nike all-star camp while Ray was in high school. Ray will continue to travel to places Tyrone has never been and experience: things his older brother has never known. After spending much of his life hoping things might change for the bet-' ter for Ray, Tyrone now just hopes his brother's life will continue along its current, fortunate path. "Just keep up the good work," he tells Ray. "Just keep doing what you're doing and keep your head on straight.".