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News & Gossip 12/04/03

by John C. Thomas
Magic-- Through two games in his college career-- both on the road, both coming off the bench-- Loyola's super freshman Majak Kou is on pace for a stellar college career. Extrapolating his numbers from his first two games yields mind boggling career stats.

If Kou plays 29 games a year every year of his college career, he's on pace to be the second highest scorer and ninth best rebounder in Loyola history. If Kou maintains this pace and doesn't improve at all from his first two NCAA games, he's on target for 2146 points and 812 rebounds in his college career.

Even more encouraging is his defense, even as a freshman. Kou shut down UMKC's Michael Watson in Loyola's December 2 road win. Watson averaged in the mid-20s last year and finished as a top 10 scorer nationally. If Kou keeps it up on both ends of the court, he's likely to play more than 29 games a year.

Ineligibility Rumors-- The cycle of hysterical rumors about Loyola's ineligible players has to stop. Every time one of the affected players sighs, burps, or turns his head, people make sweeping statements of opinion on the message board. Hey, that's fine-- give your opinion. But someone's opinion or gut feeling on the message board should not be taken the same way that a documented and corroborated report should be heeded.

Loyola fans are even more susceptible to pessimistic gut feelings because of everything we've gone through in the past.

My sources tell me-- and THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT, BUT A GOSSIP COLUMN WRITTEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A LONGTIME LOYOLA FAN AND JOURNALISM GRADUATE THAT TRUSTS CERTAIN SOURCES-- that Terrance Whiters will be back this year. I have to agree with the assessment of my sources.

My evidence is that Whiters is a bright student fully capable of doing what he has to do to remain eligible. He had no trouble qualifying at Loyola, and he attended a well-respected prep school. He might have screwed up academically, but I believe it's at a point that is not insurmountable.

My second point of evidence is the care that was taken in developing his D-1 basketball credentials. Whiters followed his AAU coach to Laurinburg Institute, and had a pretty good recruiting buzz around him. That considerable effort is unlikely to be wasted, especially when Whiters has the starting point guard position there for the taking if he just connects the dots and does what he has to (and is obviously capable of).

The preceeding was opinion, based on inside sources, public record, logic, and gut feeling. Just because it's printed doesn't mean it's fact.

Christmas is Coming-- I know for a fact, because I just saw the Norelco Santa sliding down the snowy hillside on ESPN.

Women's Hoops-- As some of you may know, I'm the producer of the University of Arkansas Women's Basketball games on a six-station statewide network. You can also hear the broadcasts on Yahoo for free. The Ladybacks are 4-1 so far this year, having lost only to Loyola Marymount. (HA HA! Jesuit Power!)

But in spite of my connection with women's hoops, I still can't figure our what's happening at Loyola this year. The women were picked for third, but they've had perplexing wins and losses. Coach Mary Helen Walker seems to have done a good job at getting raw talent, but like the men's side, the management of that talent has been sketchy. Maybe they're learning to play as a team now, but they've already lost a few games they should have won.

Chicago-- Every one of us gets sick of some of the BS that goes on in Chicago every now and then. But let me tell you from personal experience-- live a few months in the former Confederate States of America, and you'll acquire an immediate love for even the most annoying aspects of America's Greatest City,.