February 3, 2003
He can't tell when it's going to happen, says Clyde Wormley. And when it does happen ... well, the feeling is difficult to put into words.
"It's kind of a weird feeling, a touch that you feel," says Wormley, a Citadel senior. "It's hard to describe. You hit your first couple of shots, and it's a feeling like you almost know they are going in when the ball leaves your hand."
That feeling is one that the 6-4 guard has known on more than one occasion this season. And he'll need to feel it a few more times if the struggling Bulldogs are to finish strong in the second half of their Southern Conference schedule, which begins tonight against visiting Furman.
Wormley, shooting 32.4 percent from 3-point range this season, does not rank among the SoCon leaders in that category. But when the soft-spoken kid from Columbus, Ga., gets it going, he can match any shooter in the league.
"He's got a beautiful stroke," said Bulldog coach Pat Dennis. "And the way he gets off the floor, he can rise up and shoot it over anybody."
Wormley, who takes up to 300 jump shots a day in practice and tries to make 50 from 3-point range in pre-game warm-ups, has demonstrated as much in games at East Tennessee State and Chattanooga. In an 87-81 loss at ETSU on Jan. 11, Wormley kept the Bulldogs in the game by hitting six of seven from 3-point range for a career-high 23 points. Nine days later, he bettered that performance by making seven of 11 3-pointers for 25 points in a loss at Chattanooga.
But as hot as "Worm" can get, he can go just as cold. Wormley followed up the ETSU game by missing all five of his treys in a loss to Wofford. After the Chattanooga game, he went one of seven on 3-pointers in Saturday's 75-65 loss at Appalachian State.
Of course, when opposing coaches see Wormley lighting it up on tape, they are liable to clamp down on him in the next game. But for Wormley, confidence is the real issue.
"That's the main thing with Clyde, his confidence level," Dennis said. "When he came to The Citadel as a freshman, he was a very shy kid and would hardly look you in the eye. He's gained tremendously in confidence since then, but he's still not as confident on the court as we'd like him to be."
Citadel coaches noted as much when Wormley passed up some open looks in a 58-44 loss to rival College of Charleston Jan. 25. Dennis showed him the tape.
"I told him, you turned away five very good looks in that game," Dennis said. "I told him, you have got to be our Travis Cantrell. You need to shoot the ball."
Cantrell is the fearless gunner who holds school records for 3-pointers in a season (102 last year) and in a career (255). Cantrell shot 37.4 percent on 3-pointers last year - a good but not great percentage - but had the shooter's arrogance that allowed him to keep firing away until the shots started to go in.
"Travis always took the green light, whether it was green, yellow or red," Dennis said. "That's why he was good, because he was very confident. Clyde has got to play in a very similar way."
Wormley, a business administration major and dean's list student who will be the first in his family to graduate from college, has to remind himself not to get down if he misses a couple of early shots.
"When you miss the first one or two, it does something to you," he said. "You don't want it to, and I try not to feel that way. What I found is that sometimes I rely too much on the 3-pointer. If I'm aggressive and find other ways to score, that gets me into the flow. Then, when the shots come, I can step into them and hit them."
Said Dennis, "I don't care if he misses 10 in a row. He's got the total green light. For us to win, he's got to shoot the ball."
TODAY'S GAME
Who: Furman (9-14, 3-6 in SoCon) at The Citadel (7-12, 2-6)
When: 7:15 p.m.
Where: McAlister Field House
