Posted on: Wednesday, January 5, 2005

Warriors recruit thankful for receiving second chance

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Slotback Davone Bess, who accepted a football scholarship from Hawai'i and will enroll in school next week, said he is grateful to UH coach June Jones for "a fresh start."

In July 2003, Bess was convicted as an accessory for possessing stolen goods. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said. "My friends were out doing something they shouldn't have been doing, and they needed a ride."

Bess was sentenced as a minor, and he served 15 months in a juvenile detention ranch in Byron, Calif.

During his term, "I learned to appreciate things and not take things for granted," he said. "It gave me a chance to get a whole new perspective."

Bess was released in September. Oregon State, which signed Bess in February 2003, offered to renew its scholarship offer.

"After going to Hawai'i (on a recruiting trip), I knew that was the place for me," he said.

Bess said he was impressed with Jones' reputation for helping players with troubled backgrounds. In 1999, Jones signed Pisa Tinoisamoa, who also was sentenced to time in a juvenile detention center. After a standout career at UH, Tinoisamoa has played the past two seasons with the St. Louis Rams.

"This is a blessing," Bess said. "People are going to think what they think. They can say what they want. But people who know me know I'm not that type of person."

UTAH

Junior QB Smith will enter NFL Draft

Alex Smith already has his degree, a perfect season and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

There's not much more for the Utah quarterback to accomplish, so he's leaving school with one year of eligibility remaining and entering the NFL draft.

"I just felt like this was the right opportunity for me to make the jump," Smith said yesterday.

The 20-year-old Smith, yet to hire an agent, wasn't sure two years ago whether he wanted to keep playing football at all, let alone have a future in the NFL. But he's had a 21-1 run since taking over the Utes' starting job early in the 2003 season.

He led Utah to a 12-0 season this fall, capped by a 35-7 win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. Smith finished the year with 32 touchdown passes and just four interceptions.

He was the first Utah player to be a Heisman Trophy finalist and was a second-team AP All-America selection.

Smith, 6 foot 4 and 210 pounds, received his economics degree last spring.

• Louisiana Tech running back Ryan Moats will skip his final college season and enter the NFL draft.

Moats rushed for 1,774 yards and 18 touchdowns on the way to being the Western Athletic Conference player of the year this season.

BCS CHANGES

Committee might pick title game matchup

With no plans for a playoff, the Bowl Championship Series will consider using a committee of college football experts to set the next national title game.

"I have to tell you, I really do not see an NFL-style playoff coming to college football any time soon," BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said yesterday.

Weiberg also said the BCS will search for a replacement for The Associated Press poll to help rank the top teams.

Weiberg said he is "very interested" in a committee structure that would be similar to the one used to set the field for the NCAA basketball tournaments.

"I'm not prepared to endorse it because I want to hear more about the discussion with my colleagues," he said.

Even if a committee is used to set the 1 vs. 2 game, and possibly even to create a pool of at-large teams for the bowls to choose from, it wouldn't eliminate the need for the BCS standings.