European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday february 6, 1993 sports the stars and stripes Page 29 by Mark Bradley Atlanta a Money is the mothers milk of politics. Recruiting is the Lifeblood of College football. These Are truisms. Yet Jerry Brown gov. Moonbeam himself managed to run a weirdly competitive presidential Campaign on the strength of his Little 800 number. And teams said to have won i commentary recruiting done to always win championships just As teams said to have recruited poorly Arentt necessarily doomed to failure. All of which leaves me wondering what is truth j you la recall that Bill Curry coached briefly at Alabama you la recall that he had his detractors. You la recall their objections that Curry Wasny to a Bama Guy that he beat Auburn that he could t coach a lick. To some though those were Mere misdemeanours. The felony was this that he recruit. Among football fans having a bad tactician As your coach is preferable to having a bad Recruiter the thinking being that even a dolt can win if Given enough players. It was said that the reason Curry beat Auburn was that he whip Pat Dye on signing Day. In january 1990, Curry left Alabama for Kentucky. On Jan. 1, 1993, Alabama won the National championship. Of the tides 22 sugar bowl starters 15 were recruited by Bill Curry. Of of. Maybe Gene Stallings and Bill Oliver coached these Guys better than Curry Ever would be. Strategy is a discussion for another Day. Today a topic is recruiting. If As common Wisdom has it consecutive years of Slack recruiting Are sup the Sec team with the richest blood Georgia not win the league title said Bill King a anybody who says recruiting is the most important thing All they have to do is look at the second half of the 1991 Georgia Vanderbilt game. Vandy got a what a three four Hundred Yards a file Bill Curry left Alabama for Kentucky in 1990, but 15 of his recruits started for the Crimson tide sugar bowl team that won the 1992 National championship. Bill King co hosts a Call in show on the Nashville radio station Lac which is to football recruiting As Rush Limbaugh is to conservatism. On weeknights Kings show runs three hours. In an attempt to restore moderation the station recently instituted a ban no recruiting talk for the first two hours. Said King a if we Hadnot done that the recruiting junkies arc so fanatical that they a have dominated All three recruit Niks fanatical just a Tad. In the past decade the business of tracking sign pcs has become a five Story Industry. It began As a cottage and kept growing there arc a dozen newsletters in the South alone. The Cable network sport South has launched a weekly to show a countdown to signing my newspaper prints the lists of top 50 prospects As often As the business Section runs the Nash a Index. For years now in be been asking Why there a such interest in what to the outsider seems a colossal waste of time. I asked King who said a a College football has such overwhelming interest in the South and there arc some people who arc not ready to let go when the season in a not Here to criticize anybody cd see a Hobby. In a one of those who bought import pressings of beatles albums because the Domestic Issue omitted a song or two. I know about trivial pursuits. But what i done to understand is How recruiting continues to be considered the end All of football when evidence shows that its not. Every notre Dame recruiting class winds up ranked in the top five and Georgia tech maybe signs one Parade All american every five years. Yet Over the past 15 years tech and the Irish have won the same number of National championships. How can this happen recruiting buffs Point to one Man As the genesis of the spiralling interest in sign pcs one Man who proved How important recruiting is. That Man her Schul Walker. Fine. But would anyone care to name the last purported franchise recruit to win the Heisman trophy that a right. Her Schul Walker. Tto Atlanta plays his game not by Ralph Bernstein Philadelphia a half of the Aba season is Over and while Doug Moe predicts that Rookie Clarence Weatherspoon will be a terrific player the Philadelphia 76ers coach cautioned that he a no Charles Barkley. A not even almost Quot Moe said. A a it a like saying that some Guy is almost As Good As Michael Jordan. He s not some hyped the 6-foot-7 Weatherspoon As a Barkley clone last Spring after he was selected by Philadelphia in the first round of the player draft. Barkley had been traded to the Phoenix suns for three players including Jeff Hornacek. A a he a a very Good player a Moe said tuesday when asked for a mid season report on the former Southern Mississippi Star. A a he a done probably Overall greater than we Moe said the 240-Pound Power Forward a shoots Well from the outside takes the Ball to the Hole wants to do Good and is going to be a really Good player in this league. I never thought of him in terms of Barkley a Moe said. A a we re talking about a Guy who is going to be a terrific player. He a very Good on defense and he a going to get better a Moe observed that Weatherspoon still gets in trouble against certain players because the Rookie is not yet quite sure of himself. A but he a done Well from the beginning. He has a better feel now. He makes great passes from the Post when he a doubled he like to shoot the jumper and he can hit Moe said Weatherspoon is told to shoot if the shot is there. A but we done to want to Force him. We want him to come along in natural progression. We done to get upset if he tries to do More but we done to push Weatherspoon. agree More with Moe a assessment that he Isnit a Barkley. The player recalled that he tried to make that Clear at his first news conference after being drafted. A i did no to really think about it a he said tuesday of the Barkley comparisons. A i knew that Charles was leaving and that people had a lot of memories of Charles As a superstar. But i Haven to let the pressure get to me. I wanted to come in and establish my own identity As a player. I came to training Camp Early. I wanted to learn the system and i went from Weatherspoon is the 76ers�?T third leading scorer and top rebounded. He a averaging 14.4 Points and 6.9 rebounds. Just to compare Barkley averaged 14 Points and 8.6rebounds in 82 games his Rookie year. Weatherspoon is the Only mixer to Start every game this season. The transition to the pro game did no to came easy for the a spoon. A i had to learn How to rebound and How to score at this level. A in College you tried to muscle your Way to the Ball. But Here if you done to Block out or get position you got no Chance of getting the Ball. You can t muscle a Karl Malone from under the Basket. You better be sure you get your body Between him and the on scoring Weatherspoon recalled that at the Start of the season he just turned and tried to shoot Over defenders. A now in a picking my spots. Whenever i get a Chance to turn and shoot Over someone i do it but in be Learned to do More faking and attack the Basket More. I found out that attacking the Basket and getting to the foul line that a the key to scoring in this league. You be got to take what the defense gives mixers Rookie Clarence Weatherspoon seen Here collaring Detroit a Mark Aguirre in a recent game scores 14.4 Points a game and is the teams leading rebounded
