In only a handful of those games
has he not been the game-high rebounder.
Ranked No. 6 in the preseason
?Division II poll, Union is coming
off a 20-8 season in which it lost in
the first round of the CIAA tournament.
This season's Panthers are vastly-'
superior in two areas: depth, and at
point guard.
Last vear Rnhhins w#?nt with q
nine-man roster, including one
walk-on. This year he's loaded with
14 players, most of whom could be .
starting elsewhere.
"I'd just be glad to have DaVe's
second, string," said Longwood
Coach Cal Luther, one of Union's,
early-season victims.
Luther, a long-time head coadft at
Murray 'State of the Ohio- Valley
Conference, says Union is a Division
II team with Division I talent.
"I've coached a lot of years, most
. of it in Division I," says Luther."
"And there weren't many teams I
faced with better material than
Union's."
The Panthers were bolstered by a
spectacular recruiting year that saw
Robbins sign a pair of two-time all- :
Metro playei% from Richmond,
Jerry Hargrove and Greg/williams.
Both Hargrove and Williams, at
6-5, are starting in the frontcourt
with Oakley. A third freshman,
6-foot Ray Neblett, also from Richmond,
is the off-guards
Orchestrating the offense from
the point is 6-3 Steve Silva, a native
New Yorker who transferred to
%
VUU from crosstown Virginia
Commonwealth.
"At 6-3, Steve can just do things
uur Miiauer puiiu guarus in me pasi
couldn't," says Robbins.
? Coming off the bench, Robbins
has three former first-stringers in
willowy 6-9 Tony Singleton, 6-4
leaper Gary Dalton and 6-6,
254-pound Darnell Wall, who joined
the team late after playing defensive
end for Union's CIAA championship
football team.
"I don't need to score," says
Silva. "My job's to get the ball in
the hands of all those big guys,
especially Charles."
Robbins starts the newcomers,
then comes off the bench with the
more experienced upperclassmen.
"The freshmen have more sheer
talent," says Robbins. "Eventually,
the older guys may be starting, but
then, when I come in with the
freshmen off the, bench, they'll be
ready."
Last year, Union's men were
uDstaeed bv the Union women.
It was VUU's Pantherettes that
Oakley went to see play last year in
Springfield, where the men's and
women's finals are held in conjunction.
"This year," says Oakley,
"Union should win both titles. We
definitely got the potential."
Another winner on the Union
*
Ul
wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmrnrnmrnm
Union's Dave Robbins: A blend of t
* * v *
campus in Coach Willard Bailey's
football team. The Panther gridders
have won three straight CIAA titles,
?and- have been?to?the NCAA
%
playoffs a record five straight times.
But it's hoops-watching that
keeps the Union fans warm during
the cold winter months.
The VUU women, coached by
Lou Hearn, went 27-2 a year ago
and defeated defending champion
California-San Luis Obispo in the
MrA a r;nni? tu:. ? - r??
liiiaid. i Hid scciduil, llic railtherettes
are undefeated and appear
well-equipped to defend their title
(see next issue's story). Never have
the men's and women's teams from
the same school collected national
titles in the same season.
"I'm from the old school, I guess,
who shovel off the drivewaj^so the
do that."
D r\ UKi r a U J I
rvuuuius, me uuiy wiiuc llCctU
basketball coach at a predominantly
black college, has a 105-43 record at
Union since leaving Richmond's
Thomas Jefferson High. His
worksheet includes two CIAA tournament
titles, and the NCAA championship
in 1980 ? in Springfield.
Will this be the year the Panthers
return to Springfield?
"To get there, you gotta be good,
and you gotta be lucky - it's a big
feat," says Robbins. "I do think we
have a good chance of getting ;o the
finals of the CIAA tournament,
though.
"And, from what I've seen, any
team capable of winning the CIAA
is also capable of winning the
COLLEGE SPI
Kk IS Vr^
i ^*9 MB
alented youth and seasoned veteran
NCAA.
"Wp <;hnnlH Hpfinif^lv V^tt^r
that last year. But whether that improvement
will be to 21-7 or to 28-2,
I can't say at this point."
Oakley is the latest in a rich tradition
of Union hoop stars.
Probably the greatest Panther, to
date, was guard Mike Davis. Between
1966 and 1969, Davis scored
2,758 points, the fifth highest total
in small-college history.
In '68, Davis led the nation with
36.3 average. Following graduation,
he was drafted by the NBA's
Baltimore Bullets and was second in
voting for Rookie of the Year in
1970.
Another ex-Union was star was
. I like the stories about the guys
y can shoot. Charles would never
-- VUU Coach Dave Robbins
the spring-legged Jackie Jackson,
one of the premier leapers to ever
lace up a pair of sneakers. For some
20 years, Jackson played with the
Harlem Globetrotters.
He was the one taking those fancy
passes from Meadowlark Lemon
and converting them into windmill
dunks. ?
But Oakley isn't in the mold of a
Davis or Jackson. His game has little
flash and ttlitter.
He's a meat 'n' potatoes, bluecollar
battler who is at this best in
the bump-and-grind territory under
the rack.
"We want Charles under the
basket," says Robbins. "He likes to
move out and take a jumper now
OCT/ REVIEW
;.. .sSoRe.'' ^
is may equal a title (UPI).
and then. But that's a shot he'd be
better off leaving back on the
playground."
EOL^ears Union played all of its
games in the cramped, dimly-lit
Barco-Stevens Hall on campus.
During the last two seasons,
however, the better games have been
moved to the sparkling new Arthur
Achp f #?nte>r
< BWIIV VVIIVV1
The Ashe Center, located about a
mile from Union on Richmond's
North Side, seats 5,000 fans and
Union has come close to filling it on
several occasions. "Eventually,
we'd like to play 'em all there," says
Robbins, "even though it takes away
from our home-floor advantage."
Union went almost the entire
1970s without losing a home game
- at Bareo-Stevens, where foes complained
that they couldn't even see
the basket, much less throw a
basketball into it. .
Barco-Stevens has been refurbished
in recent years, but the image of
the program takes a*big step upward
whenever the Panthers play at Ashe.
To get to Springfield', the Panthers
may iWH have to go through
Washington, D.C., which won't be
easy.
I inr u/rtn thp NJP A A
-w vw v/ti iuv i ?rvn vi ww ii 111
1982 and placed second to Wright
State a year ago. The Firebirds, off
to a slow start this season, figure to
become a contender again once
Jones returns to the lineup. The
7-foot senior was sidelined just
before this season when he underwent
hernia surgery.
In '82, UDC's toughest game en
Please see page 15
3 January, 1984-Page 13