Tampa subregional

Bearkat trades up on ego

Once Sam Houston State's Donald Cole adjusted his ''me'' mentality, the entire team reaped the benefits.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 18, 2003

TAMPA -- In sports, no one player is solely responsible for a team's success.

But Friday, Donald Cole came about as close as one can get.

The 6-foot-8 senior forward hit a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in overtime to give Sam Houston State a 69-66 win over Stephen F. Austin, earning the Bearkats' first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Cole, the Southland Conference player of the year, entered the season surrounded by tons of preseason hype, but struggled early. He admits selfishness was part of the problem.

"At the start of the season, I knew how good I could be, but I was so into individual goals," Cole said. "I wanted to be the leading scorer and the leading rebounder. That really messed me up because my mind wasn't into teamwork. I was trying to make me better."

A change in attitude has improved Cole and the Bearkats. His struggles apparently are over. The winning overtime shot was part of a 26-point, 11-rebound effort for Cole, who earned tournament MVP honors and became the first player to earn conference and tournament MVP honors since Northeast Louisiana's Paul Marshall in 1996.

He is averaging 17.6 points -- the only Sam Houston player scoring more than 10.2 per contest.

At one point during the season, Cole and teammates met to discuss his role on the team. Instead of taking it personally, he took it to heart. And his teammates can sense the difference.

"He wants it more now, and he has more intensity," guard Robert Shannon said. "He has always been a team player, but knows if things aren't working for him on offense, he is still helping out in other areas."

Rest assured Cole will be a focus of the Gators when Florida and Sam Houston State meet Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"They've got a go-to player in Donald Cole," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "He's a 6-foot-8 player who can shoot 3s, posts and can score left-handed."

Cole, a native of Port Arthur, Texas, has 25 double-figure scoring games and has been in double figures in rebounding 13 times. Since transferring from Navarro Junior College, he has scored 20 or more in 20 games, including a career-high 32 this season.

Now focused on team goals, Cole and the Bearkats will arrive in Tampa as the No. 15 seed, hoping to join the long list of Cinderella teams in NCAA Tournament history.

Once the announcement was made, Cole immediately returned his attention to the Gators and what it would take to earn an upset.

"My first thought was we can win this one," Cole said. "They have good guards, so we are going to have to be solid on defense."

-- Information from the Huntsville Item was used in this report.

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