SportsWeek
Sect,on 8 Also Religion, Obituaries, Classifieds , jut?3i.2oo8
Photo by Charlie Pfaff
Rob Little celebrates after connecting with one of many 3
point baskets during last week's Hang the Net.
Gotta love
Hang the Net
One of my favorite events to
attend is the Hang the Net
Celebrity Shootout at the Hanes
Hosiery each summer. The
event took place last Thursday.
Hanes Hosiery director Art
Blevins and his staff really do a
great job with that event. For
those of you that aren't too
familiar with the special event,
it's basically a competition
where different
Ihe real goal
of the event is to
see which partici
pants can hang the
net the most times
after connecting
from long range.
classes compete
against each other
in a shootout to
see who can hit
the most 3-point
baskets.
former was 14th Street director
Rob Little. Little is a former
NCCU bailer and Globetrotter.
Most of you know that. Little
took the Legends title for the
second-straight year.
I'm not kidding when I tell
you that Rob put on a clinic. He
still has it. I must admit that I
was shaking my head when I
saw him shoot from the comer
to make the
FROM THE
HUDDLE
Anthony
111
net hang about
five times.
Really. I was
like, "Why
didn't I shoot
from the cor
ner.'
I will
admit that I
don't feel
comfortable
calling myself
a local celebri
for tne tmra
straight year I competed in the
media class. I won my class the
first year I participated in the
special event. There's a media
class, college/ professional
bailers class, legends class and
female star class. Shout out to
all the other competitors. I
thought everyone did a great
job, and I know we all had a
good time. I couldn't stop
laughing.
Some shooters really put it
down. I actually finished sec
ond to WXII's Cameron Kent.
Hey, C-Kent was locked in and
focused on' winning. He
deserved it. My favorite per
ly. i ieei ukc
everyone else. My picture just
happens to be in The Chronicle
every Thursday. The people that
I interview and write about are
the real stars. But I really felt
like a celeb last week. I mean,
kids were asking ya boy (Me)
for my autograph and every
thing. Former Wake Forest star
Porsche Jones got a kick out of
watching me sign a couple auto
graphs. I thought it was funny
too. It was still cool.
Thanks for inviting me
every year, Art. I appreciate it
buddy.
See Hill on B2
Parkland hopes to catch fire
Mustangs want to be
more consistent this
upcoming season
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
The following story is the
first of a series on some of the
high school football teams in?
Forsyth County. Fans will get
an early look at what's going
on with their favorite team this
summer.
had one of the most potent
offensive attacks of any team
in the area last season, espe
cially through the air. Rising
The
Mustangs
senior
quarter
back D.J.
Adams
finished
the sea
son with
well over
3,000
passing
yards
ana
Bel1 almost
30 pass
ing touchdowns to go along
with 14 rushing touchdowns.
The Mustangs also had
arguably the most dangerous
wide out around in Nick
James, who's also a rising sen
ior. But not even those two
weapons could overcome the
tragic losing streak at the end
of the season that led to a 6-7
finish. But head coach Dee
Bell insist that his troops are
focused on making sure this
season goes well. "
"We're real focused?' said
Bell. "We've been focused
since ending the season with a
6-7 record last year. That isn't
Parkland standards. We're
ready to turn things around.
We're really expecting
things from our guys* this year,
especially the seniors. I always
look for my seniors to lead
because they're trying to go
See Parkland on B4
Pbolo by Charlie Pfaff
Parkland 's dangerous wide out Nick James hauls in a pass during a voluntary workout.
Brent Pridgen wins Gillespie Invitational
BY LARRY BARBER
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Local golfer Brent Pridgen
won the 2008 Gillespie Golf
Invitational championship on
Sunday, finishing strong with a
birdie on the last hole to shoot
an even-par 72 after scoring a
tidy 69 last Saturday.
His 141 squeezed out a one
shot win over Greensboro's
Charles "Smitty" Smith, who
closed on Sunday with a 68.
"I felt I would need a birdie
at the last to win it and I was
lucky enough to place the tee
shot on the left fairway for a
clean shot at reaching that par 5
in two," said Pridgen. "I also
had a good par three, sand save
on 17 coming out of a back
bunker."
o The 38-year-old sales pro
fessional stated this 3
championship was.
very satisfying having
played the Gillespie
tournament at least 10
previous
times. Pridgen, who
has been playing golf
since he was 10, stat
ed his real
prize would be when
he reached home to ""
give his little girl the
good news.
Smith, who won at Gillespie
in 1992 and 1993, also was the
runner-up last year.
"I had my chances even
with the good round today, but I
really let it get away from me
on Saturday shooting the 74,"
said Smith as he
walked trom tne
clubhouse. The
annual event is held
at Greensboro's
Gillespie Golf
Club. Greensboro's
Ashley Fuquay
placed third in the
championship flight
with his two-day
Pidgin
143 and Chris
Evans, a former res
iaent now living in
Lumberton, tied him but fin
ished 4th after a card playoff.
Bill Wilson of Martinsville,
VA won the first flight, shooting
I
a 146 (75-71), the second flight
winner was Greensboro's Jerry
Gregory at 156 (80-76) and the
third flight went to Bob
Williams, also of Greensboro,
with a 162 (87-75). Closest-to
the-pin winners were Kirk
Fisher of Altavista, VA on
Saturday and Stephen Mabry of
High Point on Sunday. Fisher
was the 2007 Gillespie champi
on.
"We had another quality
field of players and we are
extremely pleased with that,"
said Terry Jennings, Director of
Gillespie Golf Course. "The
staff had our course in excel
lent condition and we appreciat
ed all the participants and spec
tators."
Monte Purvis becomes assistant coach
Former QB
returns to his
alma mater
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE
Former Winston-Salem
State and Parkland quarter
back Monte Purvis has always
wanted to be a high school
football coach.
Even ,when he was per
forming in front of packed sta
diums for the Rams he envi
sioned giving up calling plays
in the huddle for a shot to call
the shots on the sidelines. His
former high school coach Dee
Bell knew that, and told Purvis
that if things didn't work out
on the field he would have a
place on his staff.
"It's good to have my
money man back," said Bell.
"He led Parkland to our first
state championship in school
history. Now he's coming
back to coach. That's a big
Photo by Charlie Pf?ff
Former WSSU quarterback Monte Purvis talks with PHS
quarterback DJ. Adams.
deal. He's going to be a good
one. I made 4, good hire. He
will help us out a lot."
Purvis added: Things are
going pretty good so far. I like
being out here with the play
ers. They're easy to get along
with. Plus, they're willing to
work to get better. They
understood that it takes a lot of
work to win a state champi
onship. And, they understand
that I know how much work it
takes. Hard work took my
team to a state championship."
Purvis led Parkland (15-1)
to a 2001 state championship
before heading to Winston
Salem State two years later.
He went to Winston-Salem
State as one of the most high
ly touted recruits in history in
2003. He redshirted that sea
son before starting the next
four years. He finished the
2006 season with 86S total
passing yards.
Last year Purvis finished
with arguably his best season
of his career, with 1033 total
passing yards and eight touch
downs through the air. He also
rushed for 985 yards last year.
He still hopes to play some
arena ball, and has some team
tryouts lined up in the coming
months. But that hasn't
stopped him from getting
started with his dream of
coaching. k
Purvis, who will primarily
coach wide outs, said that he
instantly got flashbacks when
he walked into his old locker
See Purvis on B4
Camel Love
nmo by CMk PWT
Three Atkins High cheerleaders take time to pose for
Charlie Pfaff over the weekend. The Camel cheerlead
ers were at the Ray Agnew Field to support the
Winston-Salem Tiny Indian organization during their
annual Family and Fun Day.