By DAVID BULLA
~ Review Staff Writer
i
A LARGE PART of the college experience
is learning to adjust to
change.
Derrick Beasley has had to make
three major adjustments since he arrived
at Winston-Salem State three years
agu.
First, the Detroit native had to adapt
to a small Southern city. Second, he
had to accept attending a small, NCAA
Division II college, instead of one of
the many big Division I schools that
recruited him. Third, he had to learn to
hit more judiciously on the football
field.
Beasley has learned to adjust quite
well, thank you. The strong safety has
grown accustomed to Winston-Salem
and a small college with one of the
most successful Division 11 programs
in the land. And, this past season, he
showed that he had learned his trade as
well as anyone in the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association. Indeed,
Beasley was named the ClAA's
Defensive Player of the Year.
While he's learned to deal with
change, coaches have frequently had to
change their thinking to suit Beasley's
athletic talent.
14Derrick made remarkable progress
this season," said Pete Richardson,
WSSU's defensive coordinator and a
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Bills. "Derrick's bigger and stronger,
and he acquired more knowledge of the
game. Many of our defensive schemes
are built around his assets."
Chief of which is his ability to play
rough-and-tumble football.
"Derrick is a hitter," Ram Coach
"All my best friends went to big s<
a big school and just be a number
my education because I knew I cc
son) told me Winston-Salem State
there would be no distractions to
Bill Hayes said. "In fact, his one
weakness as a safety is he likes to hit
too much. He reacts to the run quickly
and commits himself too quickly
sometimes. There are times when he's
not in position on the pass.
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This season, he was wiser about when
to hit and not hit. You have to like his
size (6-2, 205) and speed for a defensive
back."
Indeed, when Beasley becomes eligible
for the National Football League
draft in 1987, it is unlikely the NFL
people will be able to overlook him.
Beasley turned in an amazing junior
season, leading the Rams in tackles
(97) and solo hits (55). The defensive
back also had four interceptions, two
of which he returned for 38- and
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Beasley on the sideline against Ha
(photo by James Parker).
54-yard touchdowns.
Beasley is a relative newcomer to
football. He only began playing the
sport as a junior at Detroit's Cody
High School. His favorite sport had
been basketball and his style of play
earned him the respect of Cody football
Coach Richard Carter.
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dunk backwards and make you look
chools. But I didn *t want to go to
\ I wanted to put an emphasis on
mid play football. Karlton (Wathad
a good football program and
keep me from my books."
bad with his size," Carter said of
Beasley. "He teamed with a fellow
named Vernon Carr, who now plays at
basketball at Michigan State. They had
quite a team here."
But Carter was confident Beasley's
talents were better suited for football.
"He came to all the basketball
games," Beasley said of Carter. "He
liked my aggressiveness, so he asked
me to play football.
"I was hesitant at first because it's a
cold sport and I didn't like it outdoors.
At home it's cold most of the time."
When Beasley decided to go out for
the varsity his junior year at Cody, the
football coach made him the centerpiece
of his defense.
"He put me at middle linebacker
and changed the whole defense to suit
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mpton in the CIAA Championship Ganr
me," Beasley said. "He told me things
would work out better for me in football."
Beasley proved to be a "bonecrushing
hitter," according to the
Cody coach. He had nearly 200 solo
tackles in two years. His senior season,
he was in on more than 150 tackles and
had four interceptions.
"He's the only all-stater I've had in
10 years here," Carter said. "We've
had some pretty good talent, too."
Donald Anderson was an outstanding
defensive back before Beasley.
Anderson attended Purdue and now
plays for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
"Derrick did whatever he wanted
to," Carter said. "He was all over the
field. That's desire, because he wants
to make the hit."
The change of sports worked so well
that Beasley found himself being
recruited by every Big Ten school,
"even though I was the smallest
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Beasley wasn't sure a big school was
right for him. So he listened closely
when fellow Detroit native Karlton
Watson, then a quarterback for the
Rams, told him about the little liberal
arts school in the South that had
outstanding football and intimate
classroom settings. Watson, a Chadsey
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Canadian Football League, would be a
-star for WSSU in 1983, when Beasley
was a 190-pound freshman.
4'All my best friends went to big
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le: He's not at all shy about hitting
schools/' said Beasley, a physical
education major. "But I didn't want to
go to a big school and just be a
number. 1 wanted to put an emphasis
on my education because 1 knew I
could play football. Karlton told me
Winston-Salem State had a good football
program and there would be no
distractions to keep me from my
books^
Although Beasley should prove good
enough to make a career of football,
he's not counting on being a professional.
"I want to get my degree first," he
said. "If 1 become a pro later, that's
great.
"But having talked to Jack Cameron
(former WSSU defensive back who
played one year for the Chicago Bears),
I know pro football can be a very short
career. It can be a bitter dead end if
you don't get your degree. So you have
to be prepared for what comes after.
That's what I'm doing now/'
Beasley credits his brothers, Steve
Beasley and Wendell Wood, with inspiring
his athletic career. Wood
played football at Tennessee State and
Steve Beasley played basketball at
Eastern Michigan.
"They got 16ts of clippings and I
wanted to be like them.*' the WSSII
junior said. 441 wanted to go to college.
44But I think when my playing days
are over, 1*11 go back home to Detroit.
It's wild and it's hard there, but it's
where I belong."
5555BSSSS55 December, 1985-Page 5