Saying goodbye
By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Staff Writer
Don't expect any speeches on Senior Day Saturday at Reed Arena
"Oh, heck no, man," said Texas A&M's Marlon Pompey, who rolled his head back just thinking about it.
Texas A&M senior Marlon Pompey has seen the Aggies come a long way in his time with the team. In his first season, the Aggies went 0-16 in Big 12 play. This season, A&M is 12-3 with one game to play.
Pompey will be one of six Aggie seniors honored before the start of the Texas A&M men's basketball game against Missouri at 3 p.m. And he's not the only one who says he'll keep quiet while accepting recognition for his four years in Aggieland.
"Uh-uh, nah, I'm not going to do anything like that," A&M's Acie Law IV said of an impromptu speech. "Whatever they ask me to do, I'll do, but I hope they don't ask me to speak, because I'm really shy."
Law's been speaking all season about how the Aggies have turned things around over his career, going from 0-16 in conference when he and Pompey were freshmen to having a chance at a Big 12 championship this season.
But speaking at a press conference of 20-30 people is a little different from what Law and the Aggie seniors will face Saturday before tip-off.
"I don't want to get out in front of anybody and have to do it like that," Law said. "That's like 13,000 [people], so that would be a lot different."
It will be an emotional day for the Aggies, who have caught Aggieland's attention over the last three seasons and gained national attention with their Top 10 ranking and victory at perennial power Kansas this season.
"I cry all the time just thinking about [Law] playing his last game at home," A&M coach Billy Gillispie said after the Texas game. "He's been special, and we hope to honor our seniors on Saturday and send them all out in style."
Whether it's selective memory or not, Pompey and Law, A&M's only seniors who have played for the Aggies all four seasons, had trouble recalling their first game at Reed Arena.
Pompey took a couple of guesses at the team the Aggies played and was wrong. Law knew he'd gotten in the game but wasn't sure if A&M had won, adding that he didn't remember much from that first season.
And who could blame them? The Aggies were 7-21 overall and didn't win a Big 12 game.
Law played 15 minutes and had four points, five rebounds and four assists while Pompey had a basket in 7 minutes in their first game as Aggies. A&M won 82-53 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in front of an announced crowd of 5,002.
But that victory wasn't followed by many more that season, and things got so bad, Pompey says he remembers an emotional Antoine Wright - now with the New Jersey Nets - finally letting off some steam.
"One day my freshman year, Antoine came in the room crying and threw a couple of chairs around," Pompey said. "I saw him crying, and a couple of the other guys were laughing, and I'm like, why are you laughing? We are losing every game."
Law has started all but one game since his sop re campaign and is averaging 18 points and 5.5 assists this season. Pompey was A&M's sixth man as a sop re and again this season after starting all but one game as a junior.
Ironically, the man that recruited both Pompey and Law will be on the opposing team's bench Saturday.
Former A&M coach Melvin Watkins returns as the associate head coach of the Missouri Tigers. He has been at Missouri since resigning the week of the 2004 Big 12 Conference Tournament.
"I remember when the schedule first came out I saw [Senior Day] would be against Missouri," Law said. "The guy that recruited me and gave me the opportunity to play on this level is going to be on the opposing bench, and the guy that's done arguably the most for my career I'll be playing for. It's going to be kind of a mixed emotion because I'm really grateful for what coach Watkins did and at the same time he's on the opposing bench."
Watkins' son, Marcus, graduated from A&M Consolidated and played at A&M as a freshman but is also with Missouri and will be playing in his last regular season game after scoring a career-high 15 points and pulling down six rebounds in the Tigers' last game.
I think I am going to be a little choked up seeing Acie, Marlon and AK for the last time at Reed Arena. College bball is great, but it is always hard to see your favorite players move on after 2-4 years.
I hope to see them play again at the Alamo Dome in the Sweet 16 regional in a few weeks.
Off the court, teammates are traditional bunch
By HOLLY HUFFMAN
Eagle Staff Writer
College basketball fans across the nation know Acie Law IV for his last-minute heroics on the court. But what fans - even those jammed inside Texas A&M University's Reed Arena - don't know is that shooting hoops isn't his only passion.
In fact, the 22-year-old Law and his teammates have life goals off the hardwood that are downright traditional.
Owning a restaurant or becoming a high school coach were among the career paths cited by a few players on the Texas A&M team. There's even an aspiration that might surprise some.
Armed with a pair of scissors, Law could show up behind your barber chair ready to give you a new 'do.
"I love to hang out at places like that," the soft-spoken Law said recently as he recalled friends from home who cut hair and discussed how he'd like to one day open his own shop. It's more than a place where men go to get their hair cut, he said. Walk into a barber shop, and you can talk about anything.
"It's just a fun place to be," he said.
For now, the fun place for the No. 7th-ranked Aggies and their fans is Reed Arena on game day.
And even though this team has broken all kinds of records this season, its star player, Law, along with his teammates, still appear unassuming and unpretentious. Regular guys.
Well, maybe regular guys with very large feet: At 6 feet, 9 inches tall, Joseph Jones wears a size 17 shoe.
The five starters - Law, Jones, Josh Carter, Dominique Kirk and Antanas Kavaliauskas - agreed to share that secret, along with a few others, while filling out a quick survey for The Eagle.
Here's what we learned:
• Four listed "Get him out," as their favorite Gillispie saying. Law deviated, saying he preferred: "Everybody bring it up."
• Four share the same major: agriculture leadership. Carter, a sop re, is a general studies major.
• Four of them have pre-game rituals: Kavaliauskas drinks apple juice; Jones prays; Kirk enjoys the huddle in which the team jumps around; and Law says he gets his "meal money" prior to hitting the court. Carter doesn't have any routines.
• Three - Carter, Kirk and Jones - all admitted to knowing how to two-step, do the robot and, yes, even the Macarena. Law and Kavaliauskas checked off no to each of those silly questions.
Ask about music, though, and they're quick with the pen. Preferred songs in their iPods?
Law: Viva Las Vegas, Juelz Santana and Lil' Wayne.
Kirk: DMX, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood; Young Jeezy, I Luv It; New Edition, When Will I See You Smile Again?
Jones: Slim Thug; Trails, June 27th Freestyle; Young Jeezy, Go Getta.
Carter: Huey, Pop, Lock & Drop It; Unk, Walk it Out; Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.
Kavaliauskas: Ne-Yo, Because of You; Robin Thicke, Lost Without U; Lloyd featuring Lil' Wayne, You.
Law likes gangster and basketball movies. Kavaliauskas prefers the revenge flick Count of Monte Cristo. Kirk listed The Matrix and Carter cited Stomp the Yard. Jones doesn't have a favorite.
So who would they take to a movie?
Jones and Carter said they're both single while Law and Kirk have girlfriends. Rather than write down an answer to the question, Kavaliauskas simply drew a big, mysterious smiley face when asked about his relationship status. Kirk, Jones and Kavaliauskas acknowledged having had their hearts broken. Kavaliauskas added that "it damn hurts."
Kirk seems to have developed the most simple pickup line. Ever. "Let's Go."
The starters, along with two other popular players, freshman Donald Sloan and senior Marlon Pompey, all said they have their eyes set on the NBA. But each have a different idea about where life goes after basketball is over.
Most of the guys want to remain close to the sport. Kavaliauskas wants to go on to coach college basketball while Carter and Kirk would like to be high school basketball coaches. Jones wants to be a sports agent, he says, laughing at the suggestion of being the Jerry Maguire of basketball. Sloan wants to open a restaurant.
Kirk and Carter are quick to recognize how the team has managed to revive the Aggie basketball program, essentially changing the whole notion of roundball at A&M. Fans now want to talk with players, congratulate them and sometimes even offer a bit of advice, the guys said.
Sloan's eyes twinkled mischievously as he talked about how fans often approach him and tell him that he is their favorite freshman. Of course, he said as a smile spread across his face, they probably say that to all the freshmen.
One of the youngest players, Sloan has some time before he is done with college basketball, so it looks like fans will have the chance over the next few years to find out more about him, including his favorite pick up line.
ROFLFour share the same major: agriculture leadership
Crops need leaders too...
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