Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Declaration of independents: Isles snag honors

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Wednesday, March 8, 2000

Declaration of independents: Isles snag honors
Hicks an easy choice for player of the year; Arrow coach of the year
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times

Hicks

It may not rank up there with the plethora of conference and national awards being handed out this time of year, but for a first-year program like Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Tuesday's announcement of the independent men's basketball awards was a significant accomplishment.
   The Islanders were recognized with two of the three big honors: Junior forward Michael Hicks was an overwhelming choice for Independent Player of the Year, while Ronnie Arrow, who guided A&M-Corpus Christi to a 13-13 record in its inaugural season, was named coach of the year.

Arrow

   "Any time that you get awards, especially in this situation, it means a lot," Arrow said. "We went into this year and it was like opening the door with no lights on. We felt like we could have a nice team, but it really was a mystery, to the players and the coaches."
   Hicks, after averaging 22.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, was an obvious choice for player of the year, receiving nine of 12 first-place votes among head coaches and sports information directors of the six independent schools.
   The 6-foot-5 native of Panama, who beat out Centenary's Ronnie McCollum and Texas-Pan American's Brian Merriweather, led the Islanders in 15 statistical categories and would have been the nation's 12th-leading scorer and 24th-leading rebounder (stats will not be recognized by the NCAA until A&M-Corpus Christi loses its provisional status in two years).
   "For him to be MVP of this cast is a tribute to him as a player," Arrow said. "All these players that are mentioned for all-conference, in their own right, could have been MVP in three-quarters of the conferences in the country."
   Hicks, McCollum and Merriweather were joined on the first team by Albany's Todd Cetnar and Belmont's Wes Burtner.
   Hired by A&M-Corpus Christi athletics director Dan Viola in June 1998, Arrow was responsible for building the Islanders' program from scratch. The former two-time Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year at South Alabama, Arrow said this honor is more a program-wide award than an individual one.
   "There ought to be an all-president award for Dr. (Robert) Furguson, an all-athletics director award for Dan, all-assistant coaches awards, all-player awards," Arrow said. "My situation truly includes all of them. There is no way we do this without the support of all of them."
   Juniors Lee Denmon and Damian Kirkaldy also were recognized Tuesday, with both players earning all-independent second-team honors.
   Denmon, a 6-foot-3 guard from Inglewood, Calif., was the Islanders' second-leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game, and led the team with 51 3-pointers.
   The 6-foot-9 Kirkaldy, Hicks' long-time friend and teammate from Panama, was symbolic of A&M-Corpus Christi's late-season surge. Though he finished the year averaging 7.8 points and 5.7 rebounds, in his final 10 games Kirkaldy averaged 13.9 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Islanders to seven wins in their last eight games.
   "Lee was steady for us the whole year, which we needed," Arrow said. "And Damian was what this season was all about: to see improvement over the course of the season. And he really improved by leaps and bounds."
   A WOMEN'S PLAYERS HONORED: Three A&M-Corpus Christi women's basketball players were named to the All-Independent First Team: forwards Detra Johnson and Jean Clark, plus guard Rocky Grayson.
   Johnson, a 6-foot-2 junior transfer from Texas Tech, led the Islanders, who finished 14-12, in scoring with 17.0 points per game.
   Clark, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who transferred from Connecticut, averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and led all independent players with 2.2 blocks per game.
   Grayson, a 5-foot-8 junior from Las Vegas, Nev., nearly averaged a double-double for the season, with 9.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
   Forward Kristen Rogers also earned honors Tuesday, being named Independent Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-2 native of Sand Springs, Okla., started in 24 of 26 games for the Islanders her rookie season, averaging 12.2 points.


Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

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