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Show /Friday, April 7,2006 Take Note: The football team will run through a short scrimmage Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Romney Stadium. 797-1761 sports@statesman.usu.edu Down I Line rback Question " Assistant Sports Editor Men's team finishes third in country Utah State's men's basketball team finished the 200506 season as the third-best shooting team in the country according to the final NCAA statistics released on Wednesday. Utah State, who led the nation in shooting during the 2004-05 season at 52.5 percent, shot 49.8 percent from the field during the year to rank third in the nation behind Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (50.1) and Florida (50.0). USU also ranked seventh in the nation in threepoint field goal shooting as it shot 40.1 percent from behind the arc on the year. As a team, Utah State also ranked 11th overall in assists per game (17-3), 18th in fewest personal fouls committed per game (15.4), and 38th in winning percentage (71-9). Individually, senior forward Nate Harris (Smithfield, Utah) finished the year ranked seventh in the country in field goal shooting at 62.1 percent, while sophomore guard Jaycee Carroll (Evanston, Wyo.) finished the year ranked 12th nationally in three-point shooting at 45.1 percent, and 39th in threepoint field goals made per game at 2.9. Unlike last season, Utah State foot- ball Head Coach Brent Guy has two quarterbacks to choose from that have started a game in college. "We have two guys that started and won," he said. "Last year, we had none. I feel a lot better about the position." Leon Jackson III started the first nine games of the last .season before getting injured. Jerod Walker started the final two games. Their stats from last year are comparable. Jackson completed 58 percent of his passes and averaged 172 yards passing per game while Walker completed 70 percent of his passes, but averaged only 73 yards per game. Both quarterbacks averaged 36.4 yards rushing per game. Guy said they will not be running as much this season. "We've got to develop the running back game," he said. "We had no lOOyard games from any player last year. We're not going to run the [the quarterback] near as much as last year." Guy said that so far in practice, Jackson has been solid. "Leon's been pretty dominant," he said. "He doesn't make as many critical mistakes. He's not trying to do too much. He sees a lot more. He picked up where he left off." Jackson said now that he has some real college experience behind him, he's more comfortable at the position. "I feel a lot more confident in the system," he said. "I'm not secondguessing myself." As for Jackson's counterpart, Guy Aggies head to Cowboy Classic • QUESTION WoJJcer see page 8 Getting great service If there's one thing professional tennis players do well, it would have to be that they make tennis look way too easy. How many of us have been so j BY UTAH STATE UN!VFRCITY Athletic Media Relations BY, BRYAN HINTON BY JOEY HISLOP Staff Writer "Sports Notes inspired by the 150 mph serves of Andy Roddick that we grab a can of balls and a racquet, go out to our local court and start serving our arm off only to realize that there's a long way to go between us and A-Rod. If this sounds like you, the following step-by-step instruc- Here's How {Step-by-step sports \ tional should shed some light on how to serve like a pro, or at least look like you know what you're doing. First things first: you gotta' know how to hold the racquet. According to J.J. Netto and Bryan Marchant of the USU men's tennis team, the "continental" grip is the proper one to use when serving. Just take hold of the handle like you're shaking hands with it. The next thing to make sure of is your stance. You will begin with your weight on your front foot, or the foot closest to the baseline, with your front foot pointing to the net post on the same side as the hand you use (left side for lefties, right for righties). Now it's time to go in motion. Note: The service motion is one continuous movement made up of several smaller motions. First is the ball toss. This, as any tennis coach will tell you, is the most crucial part of the serve motion because it effects where the ball goes, whether you mean it to or not. If it's too far to one side, too high or too low, the serve will be negatively affected. > SERVING see page 9 BY UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Media Relations Utah State's men's golf team is heading to the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, which will be played in Scottsdale, Ariz. April 10th11th. The tournament will be played at Talking Stick Golf Club's North Course. The course plays to a par 70 and a 7,133-yard layout. The teams will play a total of 54 holes, starting with 36 holes on Monday, and finishing with 18 holes on Tuesday. Set to compete for the Aggies are Brett Black, Jake Blair, Brendon Ehlers, Brad Morrison and Preston Otte. This marks the second year in a row that Utah State has traveled to the annual tournament. Ehlers finished tied for 26th individually to lead the Aggies to a 14th place finish in a 20-team field in 2005. Football team to hold scrimmages BY UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Athletic Media Relations Utah State will hold one of its two football "scrimmages" at Romney Stadium this Friday night and then again on April 14. The scrimmages will be very limited (approximately 30 plays) and will take place at the end of their regular practices. There is no admission charge. Here is a quick look: Friday, April 7 - Practice 4-5:30 p.m. and Scrimmage from 5:30-6 p.m. Friday, April 14 - Practice 6-7:30 p.m. and Scrimmage from 7:30-8 p.m. They are calling the April 14 scrimmage the Spring Finale. The April 7 date is part of Alumni Weekend and should have some former players in attendance. |