10 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, March 23, 1994
Terps'frosh no ordinary Joe .
Smith leads Maryland to first Sweet 16 since 1985
The Michigan hockey team plays the winner of Saturday's matchup between1
JONATHAN LURIE/Daily
Lake Superior and Northeastern.
Reynolds returns from back injury
to shine in goal for Northeastern
By CHAD CAPELLMAN
THE MARYLAND DIAMONDBACK
So much for the element of sur-
prise.
With a season that no one could
have predicted, Maryland freshman
center Joe Smith has received the
U.S. Basketball Writers Association's
and Eastern College Athletic
Association's Freshman-of-the-Year
honors, and in the process, made the
whole country aware of Terrapin bas-
ketball.
"Joe Smith has taken Maryland to
another level," Georgia Tech coach
Bobby Cremins said earlier this sea-
son. "I'm just so impressed - as a
freshman his stats are incredible."
Smith-after amid-season slump
- has kept his stats up, and will go
down in history as the fourth fresh-
man ever to be named to the all-ACC
First Team, joining Georgia Tech's
,Mark Price and Kenny Anderson and
Clemson's Skip Wise. Smith beat out
North Carolina's Eric Montross at the
center position after scoring 47 points
and pulling down 22 rebounds in
games against the Tar Heels.
The next logical step for Smith
was earning Rookie-of-the-Year hon-
ors, which was announced at the end
of the ACC Tournament.
"I think I do deserve it," the usu-
ally modest Smith acknowledged. "I
think I helped the team out more than
any other freshman. I don't normally
say things like that, but I feel like I
played a good season this year."
"He's been as important to us as
any one player has to their team,"
Maryland coach Gary Williams said.
"To finish tied for fourth in the league,
I think Joe's had a major impact on
our team."
Smith's 20 points versus Virginia
gave the Terrapin all-time leading
freshman scorer 494 points in 26
games. His 19 points per game puts
him in third place on the ACC all-
time freshman scorers' list, behind
Price (20.3 in 1983) and Anderson
(20.6 in 1991).
"I expected to come in and help
the team as much as possible," Smith
said, "but I didn't expect to average
19 points, 12 or 11 rebounds and as
many blocks as I've been having."
Among Division I freshmen,
Smith leads in points per game,
double-figure scoring games (16) and
rebounds, and ranks among the top
five in blocks.
But that's not the best news of all.
Those incredible offensive numbers
include dry spells, such as a 3-for-19
shooting performance at Virginia and
a Clemson game in which he scored
just eight points.
Following a tough home loss to
Georgia Tech, Smith went back
home to Norfolk, Va., for a couple
of days.
"It helped me out a lot. It got me
away from a lot of the attention,"
Smith said. "I got home and I relaxed
and took my time with things. I talked
with my mom about things and she
helped me out a lot."
In his last two games of confer-
ence play, Smith certainly looked as
though he had worked through the
struggle, averaging 18 points, 12 re-
bounds and 5.5 blocked shots in a 73-
69 loss to Duke and a crucial 70-68
win over Virginia.
And for those who thought they
had seen it all from Smith ... guess
again. He hit his first 3-pointer of the
season in the first half, to cut a four-
point Virginia lead to one.
Don't worry about this precocious
6-foot-10 forward-playing-at-center
becoming complacent. When asked
what he can improve on for next
season, Smith offered a response with
a quickness comparable to his first
step to the hole.
"I think I can work on my ball
handling, shoot from the perimeter a
lot more to take a lot of the pressure
from the guards and small forwards,"
said Smith, whose five ACC Rookie-
of-the-Week awards are the most of
any Terrapin. "And I think I can help
a lot more on the rebounding part
too."
The honorable mention All-Ameri-
can selection has continued his hot
play in the NCAA Tournament, lead-
ing No. 10 Maryland to upset victories
over No.7 St. Louis in the first round,
and No.2 Massachusetts in the second
round. His 29 points against the
Billikans was the most ever by a Ter-
rapin freshman in an NCAA tourna-
ment game, and he added 12 points
against the Minutemen.
By ANDY MAHONEY
THE NORTHEASTERN NEWS
Todd Reynolds arrived at North-
eastern in the fall of 1991 with high
expectations for -contributing to the
Huskies' hockey team. He lived up to
those expectations and then some in
his freshman year, en route to being
named to the
niHockey East All-
Rookie Team.
-r Then came the
kR pain.
Early in his
second year,
Reynolds was
Dad *to hampered with a
St.'Pal back injury and
shough was limited to
East Lansing only four games
West Regional before the pain
March 26-27 became unbear-
ableinNov. 1992,
forcing him to miss the rest of the
1992-93'season, and leaving his fu-
ture uncertain.
However, after months of intense
rehabilitation, Reynolds avoided sur-
gery and now starts in goal for the
Huskies.
"There were a lot of times when I
was not sure if the doctors were right,
Reynolds said. "They kept telling me
that I would recover and that I would
need surgery."
Coach Ben Smith has seen
progress in Reynolds.
"Todd came in with a big reputa-
tion and he lived up to it," Smith said.
"He went from being mentally strong,
to mentally fragile from his injuries,
and now back to being mentally
strong.
"I think some people had doubts
on whether or not Todd would be able
to return, but I believed in Todd
Reynolds and continue to believe in
him," Smith added.
Reynolds had plenty of incentive
to return.
"I still like playing hockey and I
really thought the team had poten-
tial," he said.
In Reynolds' absence last year,
freshman Mike Veisor took over the
netminding duties and was named to
the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
Now a sophomore, Veisor puts added
pressure on Reynolds.
"Mike is a good goalie. I know
that if I have a bad game, I won't be in
goal the next game," Reynolds said.
"We push each other to play better."
A communication major,
Reynolds credits his success this sea-
son to his teammates and new goalie
coach Jim Craig.
"He brings experience from the
Olympics and the pros," Reynolds
said of Craig. "He gives advice that
could take us a long way."
Michigan's regional game Sunday against the Lake Superior/
Northeastern winner will be at 2 p.m. Tickets for the entire regional
at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing are still available. They can be
purchased by calling the Michigan State ticket office at 1-800-GO-
STATE.
Fans not attending the game can hear all the action on WTKA (1050
AM) with Ken Kal and Jim Hunt.
.. _ ,. 4. -, ,. .., , - .,- _. ._ y . . . .. - , c, . -.gy ,.- ..L _ . . _ _ _ _ _ ,. . . . _ _1
Joe Smith was the Division I Rookie of the Year. He will lead the No. 10-
seeded Maryland against Michigan in Friday's Sweet 16 showdown.
t , ,
z -
s <' a {
1
an tir -+
.3 '. r >
r
y.
b
IN I
41
F iy .. mar ' 74
id
1 Y'
Nip 'lyryr( -:-:
r
-_ -= _ .
__
01
it's
more
than'
Summer
1
f
F .p
r sn S I ,jai
_i pk r i:.uT
. -". r. 55 . k ,
pKFi
it's
Boulder
* Enjoy the relaxed, comfortable atmosphere of the Boulder campus * Choose from over
500 courses * Select from five-, eight-, and ten-week terms or intensive courses
* Have time to work, travel, or just have fun
Plan now to make the Summer of 1994 a Boulder one!
Term A: June 6-July 8
Term C: June 6-July 29
Term B: July 12-August 12
Term D: June 6-August 12
.:.
.
'v s
,,,;,_ a
Shorter, intensive courses also available.
Call or write for your free CU-Boulder Summer Session Catalog. (303) 492-2456
Office of Admissions. Regent Administrative Center 125 - Campus Box 30
University of Colorado at Boulder - Boulder, CO 80309-0030
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER
Yes, send me the free 1994 CU-Boulder Summer Session Catalog.
Name
.. , P;
I