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Hodges
shines bright in ugly rough
Dime
• Junior Jibril Hodges leads the 49ers
in three-points made this season with 39.
Matt Brown / Sports Information
By
Andrew De Lara
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Even
loathsome things possess some beauty –
just as in an object as unprepossessing
as an oyster, something as radiant as a
lustrous pearl can be found.
In
the case of the Long Beach State men's basketball
team, amid a season that can only be described
as unsightly, there has been a bright spot
as of late—and his name is Jibril
Hodges.
Hodges,
a junior guard hailing from Park Forest,
Ill. hit a running eight-foot floater with
8.8 seconds left on the game clock—enough
to secure a one-point victory, 53-52, over
the Idaho Vandals last Thursday night in
The Pyramid.
The
natural shooting guard single handedly snapped
an eight-game losing streak, improving the
49ers' conference record to 1-7.
Genetics
can be partially credited for his tremendous
shooting ability and rhythmic form. His
father, Craig Hodges, played at Long Beach
State from 1978 to 1982 under then head
coach Tex Winter, who invented the "triangle
offense." Winter was also a long time
assistant under coach Phil Jackson with
the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers
and is a member of the 49er Athletic Hall-of-Fame.
Craig
followed Winter to the NBA, where he played
for the Suns, Clippers and most notably,
the Chicago Bulls, where he helped win several
World Titles with Michael Jordan, and was
a three-time NBA three-point shooting champion.
With
130 made three-pointers at The Beach thus
far, Jibril currently ranks number five
on the all-time three-pointers made list
at LBSU and is steadily moving up the chart.
Enthusiastic
and driven, Jibril exerts his full effort,
even in the face of adversity and trying
situations. As result, recently weary 49ers'
fans were able to enjoy a small taste of
victory last week.
Certainly
a shiny nugget in an atrociously unbeautiful
rough, the ever-polite and well-spoken Jibril
can be seen in The Pyramid bombing away
those three-pointers. And for those filled
with nostalgia from past LBSU basketball
glory, his father Craig can also be seen
at LBSU games rooting on the team.
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