Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / July 13, 1989, edition 1 / Page 25
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Staff Photo Winston Lake YMCA coach Ron Holllngsworth and his crew won the state AAU title for two consecutive years. Sports CI AAU Basketball Winston won't go to '89 nationals By Chronide Staff The Winston Lake YMCA 19 and Under basketball team has decided to scratch its plans to com pete in the '89 AAU Junior Olympics National Tournament scheduled for Aug. 6-11 at San Antonio, Tex. The reason for the no go deci sion is that several of the players are preparing for their freshman year of college and others are par ticipating in basketball camps and honing their games for their rookie seasons in college. Presently, North Carolina State signees Bryant Feggins, Donnie . Seale, and Kevin Thompson are all enrolled in summer school in Raleigh. The three players aren't scheduled to finish the summer ses sion until Aug. 9 when final exams have been completed. Sherman McCoy and Ali Travis, both of whom signed grant-in-aids to play at Catawba College are tak ing part in a basketball camp. "We made the decision not to go about a wefik ago," said Ron Hollingsworth, Winston Lake coach. "We knew going in that this might happen because of the num ber of guys that we had who were getting ready to go to school." "Had we decided to go anyway, we would've only had seven players and we didn't feel that would be enough,-? Hollingsworth pointed out that NC State requires all of their fresh men-to-be athletes to attend sum mer school the summer before they begin their first year. This is done to acclimate ihem to the rigors of col lege academics, which tends to make the transition from high school athlete to college athlete, a much smoother one. Another factor that led to the decision is the date of this year's nationals. Normally, the 19 and Under tournament is held in July. But this year the date is early August because the AAU has com bined all of their sports champi onships to be held in one city dur ing the same time span. "Naturally we were a little disap point^ hfrranv. we won't rnmppu* this year/ the coach said. "But we're seeing that we've become suc cessful at what we're doing. I'm proud to say that we have three kids from the same program who are going to play for a major college program that's always ranked among the Tbp Ten in the country. And when you count Brian Howard who also played for us, that's four of our guys. "But it's more important that these people get adjusted to college life and the academics so they can be eligible to play. That means more that playing AAU ball during the summer." Hollingsworth continued, saying that AAU isn't on its death bed because they will be back next spring. L The coach has developed a flair for finding roundball talent He is available as a college recruiter. Relays 'tune up' for AAU regionals with solid performances Photo by Craig T. Greenlee TC*s intermediate boys should prove to be formidable opponents when they compete at the Region III AAU Championships this weekend. Above, two members of the 4x100 relay - Tralane Wilson, left, and Pablo Smith. By Chronicle Staff ^ The Twin City Relays-Track? "Club tuned up Tor this weekend's Region III AAU Track Champi onships by putting on an impres sive showing at the second annual Russell E. Blunt Invitational Meet held at Durham last Saturday. On the day, the local club captured 12 gold medals and bagged three individual MVP awards. Sprinter Sonny Weaks was named the MVP in the senior boys' bracket, while Derrick Speas _and- Pablo Smith, were co-MVPs ? in the intermediate division. Dar ius Brewington swept up the hon ors in the youth division. According to reports in Durham, over 1,000 athletes par ticipated with teams representing New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts., Pennsylva nia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Photo by Max Dunhill In the junior girls' division, Jatarsa Hayes qualified for the reglonals In the 100, 4x100 relay, long jump and triple jump. Georgia. This meet served as prepara tion for what the club is really seek ing -- another trip to the AAU nationals. This year's regionals are being hosted at the new Alabama A & M track in Huntsville, Ala. The top three fin ishers in each event qualify for the nationals that are scheduled for Aug. 8-12 in San Antonio, Tex. ?The Jet' For yet anoth er weekend, Brew ington, aka "the Jet" mystified peo ple with his fleet ness. The 14-year old appears to have unlimited potential as a sprinter. The 100 and 200 were his sole property on that day. He blazed the shorter distance in an incredible 10.84 and came back with an awe some 22.04 in the half-lap race. Both times (Accu-trak) have been sub mitted for verification as national records for that age groups Brew ing ton also placed third in the high jump (5-8). Kendrick McClain was the other gold medalist in the youth bracket. McClain took the 400 (54.7) and finished third in the triple jump (38-9). Greg Millner finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 39-2. If Millner can manage to consistently shift his momentum forward, he'll go past the 40-feet mark. Track reports note that on his jumps, he has a tendency to fall backwards after he has landed in the pit, thereby losing anywhere from one-and-a-half to two feet on his attempts. Dropped baton The youth's 4 x 100 team appeared to be a clear cut winner except that Brewington committed one of the few mistakes he's made Sis summer when he dropped the baton as he approached the finish line. Brewington had become accustomed to running people down because he would almost always receive the baton last. In this meet, TC coach Lemuel John son inserted James Cotton as the lead-off man, and the Relays had a comfortable cushion by the time Brewington got the stick on the anchor leg. Upset by Weaks In the senior division the story of the day was Weaks, who captured wins in the 100 (10.9) and 200 (21.9). Weaks' biggest victory came in the 200 when he upset teammate Julius Reese, this year's county high school champ in the 200. Weaks seized control of the race, beating Reese to the curve, then holding off the long-striding Reese coming down the final straight away. It was Weaks' first Please see page C6 Black investors will reportedly purchase Denver Nuggets DENVER (AP) ? A group of black investors led by business man Bertram M. Lee is buying the Denver Nuggets in a move that would make the team the first minority-owned major league sports franchise in the nation. Lee, 50, a financier and former television executive, has offices in Chicago and Boston. He arrived in Denver Saturday night but refused comment. But Walter Richards, the Nuggets' chief financial officer, said Lee was completing negotia tions to buy the Nuggets for a reported $65 million. 'It isn't finalized yet, but I imag ine he's here to attempt to' do that," said Richards. "We hope to have an announcement Monday or Tuesday." A news conference to announce the planned sale was scheduled tentatively for Monday. Completion of the sale hinges on National Basketball Associa tion approval, but little difficulty is expected Nuggets owner Sidney Shlenker vowed Saturday that "the Nuggets will remain in Denver. There is no condition ? none - under which the Nuggets are leaving." The franchise has a binding lease agreement at McNichols Sports Arena through the year 2003. The sale reportedly includes operation of the arena, the team's lease agreement and all advertis ing, scoreboard and restaurant operations installed by Shlenker. Lee has tried to buy a profes sional sports franchise in the past, offering a reported $50 million for the San Antonio Spurs basketball team last year and expressing interest in buying the Baltimore Orioles. In a May 1988 offer for the Spurs, Lee led a group of investors including Ron Brown, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a con gressional lobbyist for Denver. Also in the group was New York banker James R. Kelly. It was unclear whether Kelly or Brown, a business partner of Lee's, would have a stake in the Nuggets. Lee, a major contributor to Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential cam paign, is chairman of the Boston Bank of Commerce and president of BML Associates Inc., a Boston investment holding company that owns a chain of radio stations in Nebraska and Utah. He is the former president of WNEV-TV, the CBS affiliate in Boston. Lee left the station in December 1986, when he joined a group of shareholders that sold about 40 percent of the company for $100 million. Last December, Lee and Brown bought a Washington, D.C., radio station for a reported $50 million. one of the highest amounts ever paid for a single FM radio station. In the Nuggets, Lee and his partners would get a team that v*&n the NBA's Midwest Division championship in 1984-85 and 1987-88. But from a 54-victo*y season in 1987-88, the Nuggets slipped to 44 victories last season and were eliminated in a three - game sweep by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. Nuggets coach Doug Moe signed a contract extension this spring through the 1992-93 sea son, and team President and Gen eral Manager Pete Babcock also signed a contract extension this spring through the 1994-95 sea son. Shlenker bought the Nuggets from B.J. "Red" McCombs, a Texas businessman, for $19 mil lion in 1985. Shlenker put another $11 million to $16 million into the operation in arena improvements and restaurants. If the sale to Lee is finalized, Denver will pocket $1 million because of a revision in 1987 of the franchise agreement with the city. Gov. Roy Romer said Saturday that if the team is being sold, Tm pleased it is to be^purchased by minority ownership. "It's long past the time when a minority has access only to the field. It's time they have access to the owners box."
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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July 13, 1989, edition 1
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