Smoke Siflnols, March 13, 1986
Sports
McMillan doing for Wolfpack
what he did for Chowan
By Mike Voss
Nale McMillan, who led Chowan Col
lege to the junior college Final Four two
years ago, is doing for Jim Valvano's
Wolfpack what he did for Bob Burke's
Chowan Braves for two years.
And that's combine talent, leadership
and court savy into a winning combina
tion no matter where he plays on the
court.
The former Chowan great put what
was once a well kept secret (Chowan’s
•second-to-none program! on the map.
Since it's been on the map, coaches of
four year programs have been beating
a path to Murfreesboro to see who the
next promising player will be to come
out of the Chowan program.
There is no doubt that Chowan's suc
cess helped McMillan land at NX. State
and there is no doubt that having a
former Chowan player on an ACC team
and a team that has national repution
has been a boost to Burke and Chowan's
program.
And that's what makes Chowan tick-
the beneficial relationship between
former players and Chowan.
But there were four other players
that were on the court with McMillan,
most notably Virginia Tech's David
Burgess. Although he saw little action
last year, Burgess has proven himself
one of the toughest (i-8 centers you'll
ever see. In a recent game he held
Virginia's Polynice In check and did a
few things that didn't show up in the
stats.
There was John Thomas, who led the
nation in field goal percentage for a
while and finished among the nation’s
best at hitting shots from the floor.
There was Jerome Cooper, Jim Dillard
and Greg Hollingsworth.
But it was McMillan who provided the
spark, the leadership and the personali
ty. While working their way to a fourth
place finish in the nation, the team
made alot of fans and friends while In
Hutchinson. Kansas.
Wolfpack faithful will remember tur
ning out two years ago to see Chowan
play l^urinburg Institute. Chris
Washburn, the savior of N.C. State
basketball, was playing for Laurin-
burg. The faithful came to see the big
man do his stuff.
Washburn got enough points to
satisfy the critics, but it was McMillan
who left Wolfpack fans wondering
"Who was that^" A few knew the guard
had signed early in his last year at
Chowan with the Wolfpack, but very
few knew just how good this hometown
I Kaleigh's Enloe High I kid was.
Nate showed'em. Not to mention the
way Burgess played Washburn and the
Chowan team's victory in the matchup.
McMillan and Company opened alot of
eyes that day.
The Brave's program had arrived.
McMillan's two year's at Chowan are
over and the record speaks for itself.
But In his last year at N.C. State,
McMillan still has time to etch his name
even deeper in the Wolfpack's basket
ball lore. McMillan might not set
many, if any new records. But it is what
he does that is not measured which
makes McMillan, and teams he plays
with, a winner.
McMillan's versatility allows him to
play where he is needed-point guard,
second guard or small forward. Posi
tions if needed and be effective. It's dif
ficult to play against him, if only
because you never know where he'll
pop up in a game.
McMillan is either first or second in
most of the statistical categories for the
Wolfpack. The hometown kid i through
six games I leads the club in steals with
17, leads In free throw percentage with
an 88 percent accuracy mark (15 of 17
from the line I, assists with 26 and se
cond in dunks with two.
He is second in rebounds with 34, just
nine behind Washburn, with a 5.8
average per game. Remember, this Is a
guard we are talking about. He Is se
cond behind Washburn's 10 blocked
shots with five of his own.
He is scoring at a 10.8 points per
game clip, the second highest scoring
average on the team. Again behind
Washburn. McMillan has been leading
Duke Wins ACC Tournament!
Duke
Duke
Wake Forest
Duke
Virginia
Virginia
N.C. State
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Carolina
Maryland
Maryland
Duke
Webb wins Slam Dunk Title
Larry Bird wins Three Point Contest
Not 5-foot-7 Spud Webb, or anyone
else present, could describe the perfect
dunks he performed to unseat Atlanta
Hawk teammate and defending cham
pion Dominique Wilkins in the National
Basketball Association’s Slam-Dunk
Championship.
"I can’t describe them It's just
something I do," said Webb, who just
electrified a crowd of 18,500 In Reunion
Arena with his acrobatics that included
a dunk off a 380-iegree spin.
"I didn't think he could hang In the
air long enough to do the 360," said
Wilkins. Tm proud to be his team
mate. He's the best little guy I ever
saw."
Webb, who is from suburban Wilmer-
Hutchins neart Dallas, scored a perfect
100 points with two dunks in the finals.
Wilkins had 98 points.
Webb’s second dunk involved bounc
ing the ball off the floor and off the glass
and catching it with one hand to slam
the ball through.
■'The crowd helped me get more
power into my jumps, " said Webb. "I
really didn't have a plan. I didn't know
what I was going to do until I got thte
ball."
Wilkins said 'I scored over 45 on all
my dunks but he got 50s so what are you
going to do? Everybody likes to see a lit
tle guy do well. And he did a lot of dunks
guys 6-7 and 6-8 can't do."
Webb’s vertical leap was measured
at 42 inches when he was a junior at
North Carolina State.
The 6-foot-7 Wilkins, who has a ver
tical leap of 48 inches himself, said
■'Spud's leap was 50 inches today."
Webb won $12,000 and Wilkins look
$7,500.
Terence Stansbury of the Indiana
Pacers won $5,500 for finishing third
and Gerald Wilkins of the New York
Knicks, Dominique's younger brother,
won $2,500 for fourth place.
Ask how he jumps so high, Webb
answered "I haven't the slighest Idea.
When I find out I'm going to write a
book about it. I guess it’s just a God-
given talent."
He said 5-9 Calvin Murphy, a former
NBA player for the Houston Rockets,
was his hero.
"I saw Calvin and he said he had his
house bet on me, " said Webb. "I hope
he was just kidding but 1 was glad he
got to see It."
Murphy said later "It was the most
incredible thing I've ever seen. I never
dunked a ball."
In another competition, I-arry Bird
confirmed what everyone has long
suspected-that he is the best long
distance shooter in basketball.
Bird barely survived the first round
of the three-point shooting contest and
then went on to win the competition
easily with a display of pressure
shooting in the finals.
■'I’m the king of the three-point
shooters," Bird said. "I always thought
I was, and I proved it."
Bird won $10,000 for outshooting
scorer in two games, while Washburn
took the honors in the other four con
tests.
He also took rebounding honors in the
Florida State game with 11 snares.
If Washburn's right hook is not effec
tive. then look out for McMillan's left
jab. McMillan’s importance to the club
is evident by the amount of time he is on
the court. Through the first six games
McMillan has played 200 minutes, 10
minutes more than the nearest team
mate, who just happens to be
Washburn.
McMillan's stats would probably be
more impressive, if he was kept in one
position. But each game finds the
former Chowan player possibly facing
a different role than in the previous
game. But he is the Wolfpack’s best
weapon.
Washburn may be the most publiciz
ed player on the Wolfpack team and
Valvano may be one of the best young
coaches in the game, but McMillan is
the best alj-around player on the team
and Is a coach on the floor.
The sad part is the Wolfpack will
have had McMillan for just two years
and Chowan couldn't keep him for
another two years.
The opponents of each school are glad
of It.
Braves on a roll!
Chowan 64 at Frederick C.C. 58
Chowan 85 Newport News 50
Chowan 117 at Southeastern C.C. 56
Chowan 76 Craven C.C. 73
Chowan 67 Louisburg62
Chowan 76 Lenoir C.C. 66
Chowan Sports Calender
MARCH
13
Golf: Chowan vs. l^oirC.C.: Failing Creek
13
Country Gub: Kinston, N.C. 12:30 pm
Softball: Women-Chowan vs. AndersonC41eKc:
14
Anderson. S.C. 6:00 pm
Softball: WomenOtowanvs.N.Greenville.
li
Greenville, S.C. 3:00 pm
Softball: Women*Chowan vs. SpartanburK Methodist
17
College: Spartanburg. S.C. 1:00 pm
Basketball: Women-NJCAA National Finals:
IS-22
Northwest Miss.J.C.. Senatobia. Miss.
Basketball: Men-NJCAA National Finals:
la
Hutchinson C.C.. Hutchinson. Kansas
Golf: Elastem Division Match: Wake Forest
IS
Country Chib 1 rOOpm
Softball: Women-Chowan vs. St. Paul'sCollege:
19
1 jiwrenceville. Va. 1:00 pm
Baseball: Chowan vs. Duke Univ. Club Team:
■20
Durham. N.C.
Softball: WometvChowan vs. Meredith Coliege:
22
Raleigh. N.C. 3:00 pm
Baseball: Chowan vs. County College of Morris:
22
Chowan College 1:00 pm
Softball: Women-Chowan vs. Virginia Wesleyan College:
24
Otowan College 2:00 pm
Golf: Elastem Division Match: IxNiisburg
2&
Country Club 1:00 pm
WINTER SPORTS BANQUET: Thomas Cafitiria: 6 OOpiii
26
Baseball: Chowan vs. Newport News Appri'ntuv:
2B
Chowan College 1;00 pm
Softball: Women-Chowan vs. l4>ngwood('4leui'
27
Farmville. N.C. 3:00 pm
Softball: Women^^howanvs. liHiisburt:
Chowan College 3:00 pni
seven other NBA gunners.
Bird missed the first of his 25 shots in
the finals against Milwaukee's Craig
Hodge's, then made 10 straight, and
finished with 22 points out of a possible
.■?0. He made 18 of 25 shots in the final
round.
Hodges, who had 25 points in the first
one-minute round to only 16 for Bird,
had 12 points in the finals.
In th NBA I-egends Classic, 48-year-
old Oscar Robertson led the West to a
53-44 win over the East. The "Big 0" hit
two free throws in the middle of a 13-
point run that closed out the East, who
went the last six minutes without a
point.
' In the last quarter you could really
see the true emotions of the palyers,"
said West Coach Johnny Kerr. "They
really wanted to win. However, the
mind tells the body what to do but it
won’t always mind."
Robertson added, ‘‘'It was fun but boy
am I tired."
Calvin Murphy also aided in the West
rally from an 11-point defecit.
Pete Maravich had a game-high 15
points and Gail Goodrich added 10
points for the East, while the West scor
ing was more balanced. Zelmo Beaty
and Murphy each had nine points while
Robertson scored eight points.
The oldtimers played 10-minute
quarters with the clock running except
for timeouts and the last minute of each
period.
1986 NCAA DIVISION 1 MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
*S«conil
Round* Round* Regional* Nation*!
March 13 A14 March IS • 16 Championship
West
Houston, TX
March 20 & 22
East
Dallas, TX
March 29
e
5
East Rutherford, NJ
March 21 & 23
Midwest
Dallas, TX
March 31
_t3j
6
Kansas City, MO
March 21 & 23
Southeast
-HI
6
Dallas, TX
March 29
Atlanta, GA
March 20 & 22
Numbers in bracltets represent seedtngs. First and second round sites:
East — Greensboro. NC; East — Syracuse. NY: Soutfieast — Baton
Rouge. LA; Southeast — Chartotte. NC; Midwest — Dayton. OH: Midwest
- Minneapolis. MN: West - Ogdon, UT; West - Long Beach. CA