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Hooker against Elizabeth Cit
By SAM DAVIS
Review Staff Write r
Alan Hooker may, in some people's
eyes, have assured himself mention in
"Ripley's Believe It Or Not" when he
signed an athletic grant to attend North
Carolina A&T last January.
After all, how could a small,
predominantly black institution sign
one of the state's most highly recruited
athletes from right under the nose of
the publicity-rich Atlantic Coast Conference?
A . I ? ?
a muiti-cnmensionai quarterback
during his prep career at Eastern Ran
-dolph High, Hooker had displayed
both a strong throwing arm and the
ability to run the football, faring well
enough at both to rush for some
1,091 yards as a senior and throw for
another 687 to lead his team to the
state 3-A football championship.
Hooker also hit the mark in the
classroom, performing well enough
academically to hold his own at any
school in the state. So, how come
A&T?
Though at the time it looked as if the
6-2, 185-pound Hooker might have
?El
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y: Glad he made the choice to
made a spur-of-the-moment decision,
he says he gave A&T a good look from
the start and his rferUinn wag u/*11
thought-out.
"I made a decision to attend a
school where I would get a good education
and also make a contribution to
the football team," says Hooker. MI
narrowed my choices down to Wake
Forest, East Carolina, N.C. State and
A&T. I chose A&T because I wanted to
leave my mark on the program I
became a part of."
The coaches at N.C. State suggested
that Hooker pursue a course of study
other than his chosen major of computer
science if he signed with the
U7?U- c??A I
noAc ruicsi uiun I nave a
computer science major, so that
eliminated the Deacons. East Carolina
was too far from his hometown of
Liberty, N.C., so it, too, was stricken
from the list.
Another factor that figured in his
decision was the way A&T Head Coach
Mo Forte and his assistants dealt with
Hooker on their visits with him.
"Coach Forte related with me as a
person," Hooker says. "We hit it off
act comet j
ooked on bli
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attend A&T (photo by Joe Danic
well from the start. After talking with
him a few times, 1 felt like I had known
him all of my life."
That differed dramatically from the
11/a A/ * .? Vt a> L 1?
nu; . vtnvi wuawucs appruatnco
Hooker.
Coach Forte never promised me
anything," Hooker says. "He told me
that I would have to work for
'7 made a decision to attend a s
education and also make a contri
I jgycrything I got, hut that if I jwt. in a ^
good effort I could make a big contribution."
By sighing Hooker, Forte says, his
team has turned the corner toward
signing other blue-chip prospects.
"It's going to give us more notoriety
and publicity," Forte says. "It will
also give us an opportunity to sign
more football players of Hooker's
ability. If we can get one more player
like him each year we are going to build
a very strong program.
"Now that we've signed Hooker, we
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ue and gold
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continues. "We can say to these kids,
'If A&T is good enough for Alan
Hooker, why isn't it good enough for
you?' "
Since ' arriving on campus in
Greensboro, Hooker says he's had to
majce a lot of adjustments to college
football. Yet, he remains confident
chool where I would get a good
but ion to the football team. "
? Alan Hooker
.about his derision attend A AT. ?
"Coming in, Ljdidn't have any expectations,"
says ifooker. "I came in
with an open mind. That way, there
wouldn't be any disappointments."
In high school, Hooker relied on his
athletic talent. But in the collegiate
ranks, he's found that there's more to
the game than physical ability.
"College football is much more
mental than high school," he says. "In
high school, the big guys and^the fast
guys could dominate. In college,
Please See Page 21
vm^mmmmSSSSSSSmNovember, 1984-Page 9