Braswell's suspension presents Deacs with unanticipated worries

Assistant Sports Editor

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Sophomore guard Jerry Braswell was supposed to be one-half of an experienced starting Deacon backcourt this season. Now, the Deacons will have to cope with his academic suspension for the fall semester.

Who will replace Randolph Childress in the Deacon backcourt?

The question is too absurd to warrant an answer. There is no player in the country who has the talent and leadership that the Demon Deacons lost when Childress graduated last spring after leading the Deacons to unprecedented heights and an ACC Championship.

The squad had planned to attempt to minimize the effects of Childress' departure with the further development of two sophomore guards who spent last year under the superstar's tutelage and who seemed poised to run the Deacon offensive show.

Now, after Saturday's announcement that sophomore Jerry Braswell has been declared academically ineligible for the fall semester (and potentially the entire season), the Deacons will be forced to cope with a very serious wrench in their gears.

Prior to Saturday's announcment, Braswell was the likely starting two-guard for the Deacons this year. Along with sophomore Tony Rutland, his probable counterpart at the point, he would have attempted to maintain the Deacons' recent tradition of backcourt excellence.

Now, Rutland will be forced to accomplish that goal with either sophomore Steven Goolsby, who did not see very much playing time last season, or one of a pair of freshman guards.

After somewhat of a rocky start in his freshman season last year, Braswell quickly improved to start the final 20 games of the season.

Up to the point when Braswell started for the second time in the Deacons' Jan. 21 home game against Clemson last season, he had had a pretty rough time.

Prior to the game against the Tigers, Braswell had shot only four-of-22 (18.2 percent) on the season and had suffered a broken nose in practice that caused him to miss a game. However, upon starting against Clemson, Braswell began to turn things around. He shot 34-of-74 (45.9 percent) the rest of the year.

Indeed, though he shot the ball quite a bit less than fellow backcourt addition Rutland, Braswell did so with a greater success rate, hitting on 39.6 percent of his shots from the floor on the season (to Rutland's 32.5 percent) and 35.0 percent of his three-point attempts (to Rutland's 32.0 percent trey conversion rate).

In addition, Braswell shot 20-of-24 from the charity stripe in his debut season and notched 3.9 rebounds per game for the Deacons.

The key for Braswell now seems to be maintaining his high conversion rate while expanding his shot-taking and point production.

Braswell's athletic gifts allowed him to fill a variety of niches for the Deacons. Playing at shooting guard, he is at once both powerful enough to penetrate off the dribble and quick enough to give defenders all kinds of problems.

Similarly, on the defensive end, Braswell's strength has allowed him to guard players quite a bit bigger than himself, while he has retained the speed necessary to stay with smaller, faster guards.

For junior Tim Duncan to again finish as the premier big man in the country, the Deacon backcourt will have to prove itself capable of both running a tightly-coordinated offensive ship and posting a generous share of the team's points.

Braswell had been an important key to the Deacons' hopes this year. Now, Rutland has his work cut out for him if he hopes the Deacons' 1995-96 backcourt can begin to echo the standard Childress set last year.