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SOUTHWEST
The Southwest Conference has not produced a genuine All-America since Slatar Martin in 1949. But the level of play has improved greatly and basketball has grown a great deal in interest in what is normally considered football territory. At TEXAS there is a strong belief that Hal Bradley is a wonder-worker after he brought this team from last place two years ago into first place in 1959-60. Back are Forward Albert Almanza, who averaged 10.8 points and seven rebounds in 26 games, and Donnie Lasiter, who averaged 11.2. Wayne Clark, 6 feet 11 and Jimmy Brown, 6 feet 7, will split the starting assignment at center. Jerry Graham and Butch Skeete are also varsity trained. Any of four sophomores could become starters. Ball control and strong defense will again be the features of TEXAS A&M'S game. Four starters return here. The flashy Stanley twins, Don and Pat, are both 6 feet 3 and they can feed Carroll Broussard, who is a strong rebounder and a good scorer (17.9 average). Elliott Craig and Tommy Smith are experienced backcourt prospects. Jerry Windham, 6 feet 6, Charlie Minor, 5 feet 10, and Lewis Quails, at 7 feet, are the sophomores most likely to play. ARKANSAS'S big men do have experience. Coach Glen Rose has his entire starting lineup returning. The shooting is good but lack of speed often hurts on defense. Clyde Rhoden, a unanimous all-Southwest forward selection (16.2 average), and Ronnie Garner (10 rebounds a game), at center, will lead this team. Jerry Carlton and Pat Foster will be the guards, while Alan Morrison will assist Rhoden as the other forward. The Razorbacks, including sophomore Forwards Tommy Boyer and Larry Wofford, average 6 feet 5. TEXAS TECH will rely on its sophomores and juniors. Six sophs, topped by Bobby Gindorf, Tommy Clark and Tom Patty, are being brought up to the varsity by Coach Polk Robinson and none is under 6 feet 4. Lefty Del Ray Mounts, who led the Raiders in scoring and stood first among the conference's point producers (16.4 average), will be the floor leader. Harold Hudgens, a 6-foot-9 center who didn't play last year because of scholastic ineligibility, should be outstanding. Mac Percival, Roger Hennig, Don Perkins and Dwayne Key are the other veterans. The outstanding sophomore in the Southwest should be Alton Adams of TEXAS CHRISTIAN. Coach Buster Brannon says flatly, "Adams is one of the finest prospects I've ever had." Last year as a freshman this 6-foot-9, 225-pound center averaged 18.5 points. Don Rosick, 6 feet 7, 220 pounds, also moves up to join two starters from last year's team—Jerry Cobb and Jerry Pope. Guards Phil Reynolds and Ronald Mayberry and Forwards David Warnell and Billy Simmons should also help. Captain Steve Strange is the only returning starter at SOUTHERN METHODIST, where Doc Hayes will be relying heavily on sophomores. Jan Loudermilk, Jim Hammond, Jon Larsen, Bobby Smith, Win Knickerbocker and Steve Jordan are back, but among them they averaged only 2.3 points per game. Strange (17.2) is also a top rebounder (10.8), and he will have support from James Thompson and 6-foot-7 Dave Siegmund, both up from the frosh. Four of the five top scorers have departed the BAYLOR campus, where Coach Bill Henderson now has three junior-college hopefuls, Harold Hensen, Tom Garrison and Bert McLain. Baylor will use a zone defense more than in the past because of its size and spread. Richard Tinsley, a 6-foot-4 forward, brings back an 11.2 scoring average. Sophomore Bill Moore, also 6 feet 4, will be used as a spot player, with John West at center and John Hoggard in reserve. George Graves and McLain will direct the controlled offense. Johnnie Frankie is in his second year as coach at RICE where the first (4-20) was hardly anything to write home about. Eight returning lettermen should help the Owls this year but the prospects still are dim. The team's only big man is 6-foot-7 Center Mike Maroney, who hit for 11.2 points per game. Ollie Shipley, Steve Smith and Dick Park will be in the front court, and Guards Roger McQueary and Orville Welch direct the single-post attack. A lack of height is the problem.
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ILLUSTRATION
PHOTO
CHALK TALK by second-year Texas Coach Hal Bradley prepares his tall, rugged squad for defense of the title won by Longhorns in Bradley's first year at Austin.
