Whitlock settling in with Gamecocks

COLUMBIA -- Charles "C.C." Whitlock, who is the gem of the University of South Carolina's 2008 recruiting class, didn't pack an alarm clock when he came to school.

And while Whitlock isn't a fan of early morning conditioning workouts, he can still get up at 5:30 a.m. without any assistance -- mechanical or otherwise.

"I wake myself up every day," Whitlock said. "I've been doing it for a long (time). I got my body used to it. Whenever my body feels like it's time for me to get up, it wakes me up."

No pun intended, but Whitlock said that was the biggest eye-opener for him since enrolling at USC in January after graduating early from Chester High School.

A four-star recruit, the 5-foot-11, 172-pound Whitlock is listed as "ATH" on USC's roster of signees, meaning athlete -- as in he has the talent to play several positions.

"He is a playmaker in every sense of the word," ESPN wrote evaluating Whitlock as USC's top-rated recruit. "Overall, Whitlock is a unique, exciting athlete. ... • Once he settles in at one position, he could be special."

Jamie Newberg, national recruiting analyst for www.scout.com, agreed.

"He's probably the gem of their class," Newberg said. "A little bit small but this kid is scary good with the ball in his hands. He can help you out in all three phases of the game, at receiver, corner and special teams."

So where will Whitlock play when spring practice begins March 19? Cornerback, where he is considered among the nation's best recruits? Wide receiver, where USC has an abundance of bodies, many off last year's top-rated wide receiver recruiting class?

Or will it be special teams?

"To me, it doesn't matter," he said, "wherever the team needs me."

Whitlock, who was born on April's Fool Day in 1989, insisted he didn't have a favorite position. Asked what his best position is, he replied: "I can't say."

Where then does he think he could get on the field the fastes?

"At receiver or DB," he said. But then he added that cornerback might offer him a better chance of early playing time because the Gamecocks use so many players in the secondary in nickel and dime coverage schemes.

"Right now, I think we have him a wide receiver," coach Steve Spurrier said on signing day, "but he is capable of playing any position."

Wherever he plays, Whitlock said he expects to busy in the spring, likely playing on both sides of the ball while also returning punts and kickoffs.

"Coach likes to see me with the ball in my hands," Whitlock said. "He thinks I'm a Kenny McKinley type at receiver. So I told him I'd play some defense and I'd play some offense and I'll just let him (decide) what suits him."

Whitlock was one of seven recruits to enroll in January -- one, Summerville quarterback Reid McCollum, later left but plans on re-enrolling in the fall.

Whitlock grew up a Gamecock fan and one of his cousins, cornerback Jonathan Joseph, played at USC. He said he talked to Joseph about playing for the Gamecocks as well as his family and decided "this was the best place for me."

And while he took official visits to Alabama and North Carolina -- and an unofficial visit to Clemson University two years ago -- he said he was always headed to USC.

But it was only after his high school coach, Victor Floyd, said to graduate early and get away from the gang activity that Whitlock saw in his neighborhood before his mother moved the family to a more stable area about two years ago.

"I was around like a bad environment, and he didn't want me to get caught up in none of that," said Whitlock, the second youngest of seven children. "So he was like the best thing for me was to get on out of here in January."

Whitlock rooms with two other early enrollees -- Shaq Wilson and Jay Spearman. McCollum was also a roommate before he left.

"We look out for each other," Whitlock said. "We make sure everybody's at the place on time and make sure we don't miss no running."

Or any early morning conditioning workout -- with or without an alarm clock.

Tennis team heads north

Gamecocks gain another victory as Supekos, Campos remain undefeated in singles play

The men's tennis team continued its strong non-conference play Saturday at the USC Indoor Fieldhouse, knocking off Charlotte 6-1 in the morning, then handling Davidson 6-1 in the afternoon.

Coach Kent DeMars' squad improved its overall record to 6-0 on the year, just two weeks away from the start of the SEC season.

The Gamecocks started poorly in the morning match against Charlotte, dropping two of three doubles matches against the 49ers. USC's Yevgeny Supeko and Diego Cubas won at the No. 1 position, 8-1, against Charlotte's Jeff Archer and Jesse Hutchinson.

The 49ers then took doubles positions 2 and 3 against the Gamecocks to take the point 2-1. Jamie Cuellar and David Wolff fell to Felix and Moritz Bernhoerster 9-7 at No. 2, while Chris Sheehan and Joe Veeder dropped an 8-6 decision to Chris Huynh and Michael Anders at No. 3.

South Carolina picked things up at singles play, winning every match over the 49ers to earn six points and the victory. The singles matches were highlighted by Supeko's 6-2, 6-1 victory over Felix Bernhoerster at No.1 and Pedro Campos' 6-1, 6-2 win against Ricky Cuellar at No. 2.

In the afternoon match against Davidson, South Carolina continued its solid play. The Gamecocks bounced back from a doubles loss earlier in the day, sweeping the Wildcats 3-0 to earn the match's first point.

USC then secured match victory in singles play by winning at positions 1 through 5. Sheehan lost at No. 6 singles, but the Gamecocks had done enough to earn the 6-1 victory on the day.

Individually, South Carolina aces Supeko and Campos remained undefeated in singles play this season, moving their marks to 4-0 and 6-0 respectively.

The Gamecocks play their first road match Sunday at 1 p.m. against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Steve Spurrier Signing Day Press Conference Quotes

Gamecock Head Football Coach Talks to Media On 22 Players That Signed This Year

Columbia, S.C. - South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the 2008 Signing Class.

"Overall, I think (our 2008 recruiting class) is fairly similar to three of our first four. This is a good, solid group, probably ranked similar to the other two years, between 21 and 25, something like that and probably around consensus 24 and 25. We think we got a bunch of good guys that eventually are going to help us and really play well."

"We play a tough schedule. We know that but we should have a team that can compete with that tough schedule. We are excited about the guys that are here and the guys that are coming. We are looking forward to the coming season."

"If you go down the list, our first three guys that actually signed with us last year (Antonio Allen, Akeem Auguste, Eric Baker) and went to Fork Union (Military). They are in the program now, doing very well and are well-conditioned athletes. Both the defensive backs should play a lot this year and Eric Baker will have a chance also."

"Reggie Bowens, Jarrett Burns, Ronald Byrd, Kenny Davis, a lot of these guys could be redshirted or they maybe can help us. We will just have to wait and see. Ryan Doerr is a punter and will have a chance to be our punter. Maybe that will give Ryan Succop a little bit of relief if Ryan Doerr can come on and be our punter."

"I'm excited about Aramis Hillary. He loves football. He's from a football family. I think an uncle played here and his brother played at App State and won a couple of national championships. Aramis loves everything about playing quarterback. I went to his high school, sure enough, he carries the football around with him all day and pitches it to whomever his around. Aramis I think ran for 800-900 yards, he can move around. He gives us a mobile quarterback who is also an excellent passer. Aramis, I don't know if he is quite as quick as Syvelle (Newton) was, but I do know he is a very good passer also and he gives us a different quarterback than what we have had here since Syvelle."

"T.J. Johnson is a big, solid offensive lineman. Jarriel King can play offense or defense. I know he had a problem at Georgia Military. He's paid his dues and we are going to give him a chance to be a Gamecock. As you know, he signed with us three years ago. He needed about 20 points on a test score, never did get it and had to go to Georgia Military. He is scheduled to be with us, hopefully, in March or April. We will see when he gets here."

"Reid McCollum, down in Summerville, a quarterback, we all know about him. Kenny Miles ran for a whole bunch of yards (this past year). D.L. Moore is the one receiver we signed this year from Kentucky. Another tall kid, 6-4, about 185 (pounds). We signed several receivers last year so that was not a high priority to sign a bunch of those guys. Darrell Simmons a safety, Jay Spearman also, both of those guys are big safety defensive back type players. Chaz Sutton was a late guy, defensive end from Savannah, Ga. He had originally committed to Florida all summer and for some reason that wasn't going to work out so he was available. We got him up here last week and we think has a chance to qualify and be, really, a very good player for us. "

"Devin Taylor, also another defensive player out of Beaufort. Going to be a good player. Mike Triglia at tight end from Bolles down in Jacksonville. C.C. Whitlock, he will either be a wide receiver or defensive back. Right now, I think we have him at wide receiver but he is capable of playing any position. Elliot Williams, an offensive lineman who probably needs a year to redshirt. We will see. Shaq Wilson, a linebacker from Jacksonville, he is also enrolled here."

"A good, solid bunch of guys to add to the players we brought in last year. We were able to redshirt quite a few last year, so we have a strong nucleus of players with anywhere from three to four years of eligibility ready to go."

(on signing in-state players)
"We try to sign the best players we can sign from in-state to the surrounding states to wherever we have a connection to sign a player or two. Maybe we should focus a little more in-state but we did focus in-state too."

(On last year's No. 1 ranked receiving recruits from last year and effect on this year with receiving)
"It could have (effected) us. We went after two or three, we tried to get them but we are happy with the players we have here. We need to coach what we got. These players can run and catch and they are ready to start playing. Mark Barnes, Jason Barnes, Matt Clements, Joe Hills, we need to have a really good spring practice finding out who can play receiver and defensive back. Now, of course, we return most the (defensive) guys with Captain Munnerlyn, Carlos Thomas, Stoney Woodson and E. Cook. We return all those guys but as we know they get hurt sometimes and you need about eight or nine guys who can play back there. Darian Stewart certainly played well back there for us also. We just need to do a good job coaching this spring. We are excited about coach Ellis Johnson and coach Ray Rychleski. We got some new direction here, we will do some things a little bit different offensively also, and see if we can become a better team. We need to be near the top offensively and defensively and we have not done that yet."

(on the University of South Carolina)
"The University has been very good with us. Of course with facilities and the new (Dodie) learning center scheduled to be completed in 2009. That is going to help all sports here. We are redoing our training area (down in the stadium) that should be finished this summer. That helps a little bit. Obviously we need to win games in helping with recruiting also and players like to go where they think they have a chance. We have a lot of good players here, we really do, we just have to coach them better and they have to play better and we will be fine."

Morris | On USC's next coach, image isn't everything

Trying to hire the 'big-name' coach has hurt USC in the past, but Eric Hyman’scurrent search is valuing substance over style

IF YOU WANT a sure indicator of how different the South Carolina athletics department operates under Eric Hyman, look no further than the search for a men’s basketball coach.

You can sum up Hyman’s approach to hiring a coach this way: out with the old and in with the new. That’s because of differing management styles by Hyman and Mike McGee, who preceded Hyman as USC’s athletics director. In turn, that means different approaches to hiring coaches.

Hyman’s business style is to manage with a bottom-up mentality. McGee was a top-down manager.

Athletics department employees have been pleasantly surprised at how much input Hyman seeks on just about every decision made by the athletics department. Change the seating for students at the Colonial Center? Hyman called on his assistants, students and Colonial Center employees for input.

The hiring of a basketball coach to replace Dave Odom, who will retire at the end of this season, is no exception. Hyman has included a member of the basketball team to help in the search. He also is seeking input from members of his staff as well as former coaches and outside consultants.

Hyman’s belief is that a coaching search is 80 percent research and 20 percent interview. Before he talks to any candidate, which likely will not occur until after USC’s season concludes, Hyman wants to be well versed. He wants to know a coach’s family background as much as his preferred style of basketball.

Hyman also has given every indication that the next coach will be an up-and-comer, likely from a mid-major program. Hyman wants a long-term fix to USC’s basketball misfortunes, and that means hiring someone who can take his time to build a program brick by brick.

USC has seen its share of quick fixes — OK, retreads — and very few have worked over the years. That generally was the modus operandi of the world of USC athletics when McGee ruled, and I do mean ruled.

McGee’s idea of seeking input on a decision was to get a “yes sir” response after telling underlings that he knew what was best for his athletics department. More often than not, a coach’s hiring had little to do with who best fit at USC. Rather, it had to do with McGee being able to boast he could bring in the biggest names in the business.

If you judge him by that criteria alone, McGee was wildly successful. The hires of Lou Holtz, Dave Odom and Steve Spurrier brought more attention to USC athletics than perhaps at any other time in the school’s history.

Unfortunately, Holtz fizzled after a fast start. His act wore thin quickly and he left the football program in shambles and facing NCAA probation. Odom achieved moderate success but never could elevate the men’s basketball program to the point of consistently competing in the SEC.

The jury is still out on Spurrier, although I would argue that he was not McGee’s hire. Spurrier hand-picked USC, and it would not have mattered who was athletics director at the time. Also, it appears that Spurrier is building a program that can sustain long-term success.

To better understand how coaching searches worked under McGee, it is worth examining those he sought following the departure of Eddie Fogler as USC’s basketball coach in 2001. In order, McGee at least made inquiries about hiring Rick Pitino, Tubby Smith, Bob Knight, Kelvin Sampson, Quin Snyder and Jim Calhoun.

Only Snyder among the group was a relative newcomer to the coaching ranks. The others were well on their way to establishing Hall of Fame coaching credentials. Smith used his talks with McGee to leverage a better contract with Kentucky. Calhoun was a convenient interview since USC was playing an NIT game at Connecticut where he coached.

Thankfully, Hyman is taking a different approach. He is much more interested in hiring a coach who can return USC basketball to the glory days of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Hyman’s ego will be soothed and his legacy established by making a solid hire who brings championship basketball to USC, not for his ability to hire a name that gets recognition nationally.

If McGee were still running the USC show, you can bet that Knight, Calhoun, Eddie Sutton and, heck, maybe even John Wooden would be a candidate for the job. Instead, we are talking about the likes of Anthony Grant, Scott Drew and Sean Miller as possible hires.

How refreshing.