When Todd Widom decided to leave Miami to join the professional ranks, the men’s tennis team was left with a giant void at the top singles spot. Freshman Josh Cohen has filled that role admirably.

The 5’11” freshman from Weston, Fla., has a lot of similarities to Widom. He enters college as a No. 1 singles player and has huge expectations. He has to adjust to a higher level of tennis and the pressures of being a student athlete.

“I have played tennis since I was a little kid, so it really was not a huge adjustment,” Cohen said. “The only difference is that college tennis is a team sport and when you play when you are younger, it is more of an individual thing.”

On the court, Cohen is very demanding of himself. He prides himself on being intense, hard working, and serious. He doesn’t fool around on the court and wants to win and improve his tennis skills.

“I am a hard worker and a serious player. I work hard on my game, and I am very aggressive and confident on the court,” Cohen said.

While Widom had the opportunity to turn pro, Cohen does not expect the same thing to happen to him. He wants to stay at the University of Miami and graduate with a degree in sports administration.

“I’ve actually talked to Todd, and I think he made a good decision to turn pro,” Cohen said. “I don’t have any plans to do that. I want to be here for four years and get my degree.”

Cohen’s talent may run in his family. His parents have been influential in his success by supporting him and being there for him throughout his career. His 14-year-old sister is one of the best young players in her region. Cohen is close with his family and very complimentary of his sister.

“My sister is a great player,” Cohen said. “She is in the top five in her age group.”

Cohen is only a freshman and already establishing himself as one of the better players in the nation. He has several important milestones he would like to reach this year.

“My goals are to get my team in the Top 25, win the Big East title, and I would like to get myself into the top tier of players around the country,” Cohen said. “Some of those goals may be high but I think they are all realistic.”

The good news for ‘Canes fans is that Cohen is only a freshman. He has said he has no intention of leaving, and if that turns out to be true, UM will have a great player at the top singles spot for the next four years. With the move to the ACC looming next year, having a top player like Cohen will keep the men’s tennis team in championship contention.

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu.

If the baseball team makes a second consecutive trip to Omaha for the College World Series, they can thank their veteran pitching staff for leading them there.

After advancing to the Series last May, the Hurricanes enter the 2004 season with high expectations and national attention. The main reason for the preseason hype is the return of all three of the ‘Canes’ starters: J.D. Cockroft, Vince Bongiovanni, and Brandon Camardese. The Hurricanes will be further boosted by the comeback of former No. 1 starter Dan Touchet, who missed most of last season following elbow surgery.

When Touchet went down last season, Cockroft was taken out of the bullpen and named the top starter for the Hurricanes. Head Coach Jim Morris’s gamble was proven right by Cockroft’s 11-3 record and 2.72 earned run average.

Cockroft said that the sudden change in roles did not affect him very much.

“The transition from the bullpen wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be because I feel like relieving is tougher than starting,” Cockroft said.

Cockroft came through with several clutch performances, including a 1-0 victory over Florida Atlantic in the Regionals.

“J.D. did pretty much a perfect job [in the No. 1 spot],” Touchet said. “He just did whatever we needed….the transition [from reliever to starter] went smoothly.”

This season, Cockroft will be asked to set the tone for the rest of the rotation by winning the opening games of each series, starting with Friday’s match-up with the Florida Gators.

Cockroft said that being asked to face every team’s top starter is no bargain.

“Starting on Fridays is tough because you have to set the pace for the rest of the series. Everybody follows you, so you have to get off to a good start,” he said.

Bongiovanni will follow Cockroft in the rotation. The junior throws a fastball that consistently reaches the high 80’s and uses a nasty breaking ball as a strikeout pitch.

Bongiovanni has battled through the off-season workouts with only one thing on his mind.

“The experience in Omaha was unbelievable,” Bongiovanni said. “I mean, pitching in front of that many people was amazing. We want to get back there.”

As for Camardese, the junior was sometimes criticized for giving up big innings, despite finishing the regular season with a 9-2 record. The southpaw said that he has worked hard to avoid mental breakdowns this season.

“I’ve just worked on locating my pitches better, being able to spot them with ease,” he said. “Last year I left too many pitches over the middle.”

Morris said he let each pitcher know where they were at coming into the season.

“With J.D. we’re looking for him to probably repeat – I mean, he pitched so well last year…Brandon has to be more consistent. He seems to have lapses one inning out of four or five…Bongie’s just got to throw strikes and work on his breaking stuff,” he said.

The past year has been a trying one for Touchet, however, as the senior had to watch his teammates play in Omaha while recovering from season-ending elbow surgery.

Touchet said he is ready to earn back the No. 1 spot in the rotation that he lost when he was hurt.

“That was the toughest thing, to watch them go out there [in Omaha],” Touchet said. “Of course, I wanted them to do well, but I haven’t been to Omaha yet. That was where I wanted to be that year. I definitely want to be back in the No. 1 spot and lead this team to Omaha.”

Before the injury, Touchet was 2-0 with a 1.93 earned run average in three starts. Morris was quick to point out that the Hurricanes still have Touchet in their immediate plans.

“We feel like he is one of our top guys, but we just want to be careful with him and take him along slowly. When he gets ready then we’ll get him in there,” Morris said.

Cockroft said that the first two series against Florida and Tennessee will serve as a litmus test for the ‘Canes.

“The first two series will be a defining point of where we are at as a team and what we need to work on individually,” he said.

The Hurricanes will begin their regular season tonight at 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field against Florida.

Eric Kalis can be contacted at e.kalis@umiami.edu.

No matter how hard the men’s basketball team has played, they cannot seem to break their current losing streak.

Guillermo Diaz had 21 points but it wasn’t enough as the ‘Canes fell in overtime 74-72 to Boston College at the Convocation Center. The loss is the team’s sixth in a row and drops the Hurricanes to 13-11 on the season and 3-7 in the Big East.

Miami shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, but struggled in the second half, going just 34.8 percent on 8 of 23 shooting and couldn’t make big plays down the stretch.

“It’s gut wrenching,” Head Coach Perry Clark said. “I’ve never been in a situation like this where nothing goes your way. We haven’t caught a break and you don’t play for breaks, but at the same time, you would think you would get one eventually.”

Will Frisby made two free throws with 0.8 seconds on the clock to force the game into overtime. However, the Hurricanes fell to 0-4 in overtime this season after a Darius Rice shot was off the mark and a put back attempt by Karron Clarke missed.

Rice and Diaz did not start the game because of what Clark called a “private team matter.” Once Rice got in, he struggled, shooting three for 10 from the field, including key misses at the end of regulation and overtime.

“The second shot I was clobbered by two guys, I took it right at them and made sure to draw the contact, but didn’t get the call,” Rice said. “I want to take the shots that get this team out of the slump and help us win.”

Clark cited the defensive lapses late in the game along with the poor shooting down the stretch as some of the reasons that the game slipped away.

“We can’t make stops defensively when we need to and that hurts us,” Clark said. “If we aren’t getting it done offensively, we need to step up the defense and we have been unable to do that.”

Boston College was led by freshman Jared Dudley’s 24 points and seven rebounds. Boston College improves to 16-7 with the victory and 5-5 in the Big East. The loss leaves the Hurricanes on the outside of the Big East tournament picture after a Virginia Tech win.

The Hurricanes return to action Saturday against the Syracuse Orangemen at 2:00 pm at the Convocation Center. With six games left to play, every game will be important if this team wants to make the postseason.

“This isn’t the right way to leave the Big East,” Rice said. “There are six games left to go so it’s not over yet.”

Darren Grossman can be contacted at d.grossman@umiami.edu

The women’s basketball team (17-4, 6-4 in the Big East) bounced back from its three-game dry spell, defeating St. John’s (9-13, 3-8) 85-74 Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.

The Hurricanes were coming off back-to-back-to-back losses against Notre Dame, Rutgers, and UConn, which dropped them out of the Top 25 in the AP Poll. They entered the game Tuesday at No. 23 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll and eighth in the Big East.

UM leads the all-time series with the Red Storm 18-6 and has won the last eight meetings, including a 79-60 win in Jamaica, N.Y., on Jan. 4 of this year. The ‘Canes did not have their best stuff in reaching the 11-point win margin, but were happy to escape with a victory.

“I think we played hard,” sophomore leading-scorer Tamara James said. “We shot well from the free throw line, but not as well as I thought we would shoot. We came out and played hard cause we needed to win and despite the turnovers and the fouls, I think we showed up.”

The ‘Canes shot 48.3 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three-point range, and 78.1 percent from the line. They held St. John’s to 32.8 percent in total field goals, including 23.1 percent of three-pointers. However, they struggled with a whopping 25 personal fouls, 31 turnovers, and a mere 17 offensive rebounds. James and senior Shaquana Wilkins each had 16 points, and Wilkins added a team-high seven total rebounds. Junior Yalonda McCormick had six steals. Senior Chanivia Broussard went seven-for-seven from the line and added three blocks on the night. Junior Fallon Phanord enjoyed her first career start, while sophomore Tatjana Marincic was also able to play some quality minutes.

The first half started with a James lay-up as the ‘Canes pulled ahead early on. They began to lose the lead, however, in the middle of the half when St. John’s closed in. After two free throws from St. Johns’ Kati Kurtosi, the Red Storm had the score tied with five minutes remaining, but Miami awakened once again, gaining a 38-31 lead going into halftime.

UM picked up the pace and shot ahead 57-40 early in the second half. The ‘Canes held a 24-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining, but couldn’t hold onto it. The Red Storm came alive in the final minutes, providing a few scares, but the Hurricanes kept St. John’s momentum down at the very end and finished their opponents off. There were 15 personal fouls in the second half alone for Miami.

“Obviously, 25 personal fouls is way too many in a ballgame, especially when you have a lead,” Head Coach Ferne Labati said. “We had a 24-point lead with 9:45 to go, and we lost the lead and didn’t score…We changed the combination of the lineup and told them they really had to work hard to maintain and increase the lead.”

James felt the shakiness of the game, but noted that a win was necessary.

“I don’t think we’re back on track because we still have to box out and rebound way better than we did,” she said. “[But] we played as a team tonight, and I think we’re satisfied with ourselves.”

The victory was sweet, indeed, but one is not nearly enough for the Hurricanes.

“That was a big drought but we had three tough games,” Wilkins said. “It feels good to beat [St. John’s], but that’s not the end. We have to win some more games to make a statement.”

Miami takes on Virginia Tech Saturday at 2 p.m. in Blacksburg.

“We’re one-and-one in the month of February and we’ve got to fight our way into the tournament,” Labati said. “February’s huge, and that’s important to us.

“I’m satisfied with the effort; we’re not satisfied with the focus yet. That’s the thing. A win at Virginia Tech would be huge. So, we’re looking forward to the trip up there.”

Melissa Teich can be contacted at m.teich1@umiami.edu.