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Sunday, October 17, 1999

'Mad' abouth hoops
Late practice scores with Isles' fans
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times

John Kennedy/Caller-Times

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Arunas Drasutis is introduced to the 'Midnight Madness' crowd Friday night during the Islanders' first official practice.

No one knew what to expect, not the coaches, not the players, not the fans.
   This was, after all, the first Midnight Madness for the first Division I basketball teams ever at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
   So you can't blame the Islanders for going into Friday's late-night event hoping for the best but fearing the worst in the back of their minds.
   Turns out they had nothing to worry about.
   "We didn't expect it to be that big," said Aaron Eneas, a junior forward on the Islanders men's team. "But then in school all day, people were asking us about it, asking us if we were ready and stuff like that. Everybody was excited about it, and it was a good turnout."
   Playing to a standing-room only crowd at its campus field house, A&M-Corpus Christi officially ushered in its new era of big-time college athletics, treating its students and fans to an impressive first practice in team history late Friday and early Saturday.
   All of the key Midnight Madness elements were there: fan contests, cheerleaders, a pep band, a new mascot and an elaborate player/coach intro at the stroke of midnight, the earliest moment the NCAA allows teams to begin practicing.
   The crowd began filtering in at 10:30 p.m., and by the time the scoreboard had ticked its way down to 0:00 at the stroke of midnight, the packed gym rose to its feet as the lights went down and the coaches and players were introduced.
   First came the women's coaches, Sheryl Estes with assistants Dana Ewing and Brent Palmer, emerging from a smoke screen out of the locker room wearing Hawaiian shirts and shorts. Then men's assistants Johnny Brown and Steve Green, plus head coach Ronnie Arrow, donning the same tuxedo he wore at A&M-Corpus Christi's watered-down Midnight Madness from a year ago.
   Next it was the players' turn, as a spotlight panned up and down the stands, finding the street-clothed Islanders among the fans before shedding their shirts and pants to reveal their practice uniforms underneath.
   Once the lights came back up and the smoke receded, it was time to take the court. But anyone who showed up expecting to see the two teams running precise drills or defensive scheme planning might have left disappointed. Midnight Madness, as Arrow said several times, is "for the fans."
   So rather than bore the crowd with a drawn-out team workout, the Islanders had a little fun. The women's team starting things off with a 3-point shooting contest, won by freshman forward Keisha Cornelius, 8-6 over Mandie Vinck, when Cornelius drained a "bonus ball" at the buzzer.
   "People don't usually think I can shoot the 3 because I'm taller," said the 6-foot-1 Cornelius. "But the high school I came from (Amarillo Canyon Randall) worked a lot on the fundamentals, and my coach always encouraged me to take the jump shot. I was just glad I was able to step out and do it."
   Following the long-distance shooting contest, Estes ran her team through a 10-minute scrimmage. Though it was fairly evident the Islanders hadn't worked much with each other yet -- the "Blue" team beat the "White" team, 10-8, on a last-second putback by Shaquanda Thompson -- Estes was excited simply to see her players in action for the first time.
   "We couldn't really do anything formal until 12:01," Estes said, "so it's really hard to be prepared for stepping out there and playing five-on-five. We pretty much just let them go out there and play."
   Next up were the men, who eschewed the finesse of the 3-point contest for the glitz and glamour of the slam-dunk contest.
   The winner? Sophomore Jesse Bibbs, of all people -- a recent transfer from Prairie View who is redshirting this year and will not see any game action. The 6-foot-2 guard from San Antonio won the contest after Eneas, who scored a perfect 10 on his first attempt, slipped and failed to convert on his second attempt.
   Finally, the entire men's team took the court for a brief scrimmage, which, if nothing else, may have been a good indicator for fans that the Islanders plan to be an up-tempo, high-scoring squad. Eneas slammed home the first basket off an alley-oop pass from junior point guard Toby Thompson.
   When it was all said and done, 12 different players had scored (Eneas and Thompson led the way with 6 points apiece) as "Team White" knocked off "Team Blue," 21-17.
   "It was the first time we've played a serious game with people watching you," said junior forward Arunas Drasutis, who drained a bucket in the scrimmage. "It was different than in practice. It was fun."
   And with that, the fans exited, the players went home to get some sleep, and Arrow and Estes set their sights on Saturday morning's first real practices.
   "Tonight was the players' time," Arrow said. "(Saturday's) when it all starts for real."

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