SWAC Earns Respect with NBA Draft Hopefuls
Mississippi Valley was keeping up
with good company during the NBA draft.
Valley sent two players to the NBA
just like college basketball powerhouses
Duke, Michigan, Indiana, Kansas, Setan
Hall and Florida State.
"We easefl a couple into the draft,"
Valley coach Lafayette Stribling said.
"I'm just glad these guyswill get a chance
to play. It is up to the guys now."
The Delta Devils had high-scoring
guard Al Ford and center Mark Buford
drafted. Ford was the 32nd overall pick by
the Philadelphia 76ers, and Center Mark
Buford was the 49th pick by the Phoenix
Suns.
"It's going to bring extra respect to
the SWAC," Stribling said. "It's going to
let guys know that it's not where you go to
school, it's what you do when you get
there."
For Mississippi Valley State, a school
of about 2,200 in Itta Bena, it was the
biggest day in sports since Jerry Rice was
taken in the first round of the NFL draft in
1985.
"The kids find they don't have to go
to the Dukes to be drafted," Stribling said.
"They don't have to go to Kentucky to be
drafted. Because little ol' Valley is sitting
back there and had two drafted. It's a
tremendous thing for our school."
Ford, 6-foot-3, averaged 29 points
during his career at Valley. He scored
3,165 points and led the school to the
1992 SWAC regular season and tourna
ment championship.
'When the first round was over, I
started to get a little worried/* said Ford,
who averaged 26 points this season. "I
thought I would go in the bottom of the
first. I'm just glad I got picked."
The SWAC had four players selected
in the draft, which was only one less taken
from the Big 10, and one more than the
Southeastern Conference and Big East i
"Scouts are concerned about the
defense of the black schools, but they
don't let the concern outweigh the talent,"
said Will Robinson, the Detroit Pistons
assistant to the director of player person
nel. "If the talent shows elsewhere, they're
not reluctant," Robinson said. "We think
that a player can come from almost any
where."
Lindsey Hunter, the 10th pick overall
by the Pistons, was not surprised the black
schools fared well. In fact, he was sur
prised they didn't go higher.
"I think players are seriously consid
ering going to school at Jackson State or
Valley or Southern or Alcorn (State),
rather than jumping up going to Kentucky,
where they'll have to sit down."
As Stribling puts it, "It's not where
you start, it's where you finish."
Probably the most surprised person in
the draft was Buford.
The 6-10, 270-pounder said he was
shocked when he heard his name called by
NBA vice president Rod Thorn.
"I was surprised," said Buford, who
watched the draft at his parents' house in
Memphis, Tenn. "I was just sitting at
home and heardmy name called oil the
television. The people in my house went
JSU Has NFL, NBA Picks
Jackson State was among elite com
pany this year in athletics. The school was
one of seven colleges to have first-round
picks in the NFL and NBA drafts. Guard
Lindsey Hunter was taken by the Detroit
Pistons as the 10th overall pick, and
Lester Holmes, a tackle on the football
team, was selected by the Philadelphia
Eagles as the 19th overall pick. The other
schools to have two first-rounders were
Alabama, Florida State, Michigan,
Kansas, Tennessee and North Carolina. It
was the second time JSU has accom
plished the feat??1
Hunter and James Robinson, a guard
at Alabama, helped Murrah High School
in Jackson, Miss., become only the third
high school to have two or more of its
alumni taken in the first round of the NBA
draft in the same year.
Hunter was the 10th overall pick of
the Detroit Pistons, and Robinson was the
21st player taken. Both played in the same
backcourt at Murrah, which is coached by
Orsmond Jordon, an Alcom State gradu
ate. Hunter graduated from Murrah in
S988, a year before Robinson, but played
in the shadow of his younger teammate.
Robinson led Murrah in scoring with a
28.2-point average in 1987-88; Hunter
was fifth with a 6.3 average.
Only Baltimore Dunbar-High and Jer
sey City, New Jersey's St. Anthony's
have matched Murrah in the draft. Dunbar
had three alumni taken in the 1987 first
round: Reggie Williams, Mugsy Bogues
and Reggie Lewis. St. Anthony's, like
Murrah, had two alumni drafted this year:
Bobby Hurley by the Sacramento Kings
and Terry Dehere by the Los Angeles
Clippers.
In a recent report released by the
NCAA, Alcorn State had a 7 percent grad
uation rate of scholarship athletes who
entered the school in 1987-88 and had
graduated by 1992. That is the lowest
graduation rate among the nation's Divi
sion I universities.
"Quite naturally, I was surprised
about this report," Alcorn athletic director
Cardell Jones said. "Things are steadily
getting better."
Jones, who has been at the school the
last two years, said the athletic department
has established a mandatory two-hour
daily study session for all freshmen ath
letes and players in academic trouble.
? By DERRICK MAHONE
crazy. I thought I was going to te a free
agent and have to work hard at making it.
I know I still have to work hard.'*
Buford averaged 12.9 points and 7.5
rebounds this season for the Delta Devils.
He played only 2-1/2 years at Valley after
transferring from Coahoma Community
?* goHcgc.?
Buford was a standout football player
at Hillcrest High in Memphis. He was
recruited by Miami, Georgia, Texas A&M
and Memphis State* as a tight end and
defensive tackle.
"He only played basketball in high
school about a semester," said John
Anderson, Buford*s basketball coach at
Hillcrest. "He really didn't know which
sport he wanted to play. He got to Valley
and developed as a basketball player."
Phoenix officials said they realize
Buford hasn't been playing the game long,
but they are impressed with his raw athlet
ic ability.
"His size is what impresses you,"
Phoenix director of player personnel Dick
Van Arsdale said. "He is a hard worker.
He has quick feet for a big man. He can
shoot die ball from 10 to 15 feet. We don't
like the word project, but Mark has some
upside potential, especially with his size.
We are willing to take a chance on a guy
like this. He seems like a nice young
.1 ... " ? ..r
Leonard White of Southern was
selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with
the 53rd pick. White, an All-SWAC selec
tion who averaged 20 points and 10
rebounds a game, was the second-to-last
player picked.
While he said his selection was a big
moment in his life, he admitted he was
getting nervous wondering if he was going
to get picked.
"1 was nervous, but my friend was
telling me to hang in, that 1 would be cho
sen," White said.
White, a 6-7, 218-pound forward,
thanked Southern coach Ben Jobe for
helping further is career.
"Coach Jobe is the one who really
made things happen for me," White said.
"I've been waiting 21 years to be drafted.
Now, 1 have to take it one step at a time
and try to do well.,r
? By DERRICK MAHONE
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