SportsWeek
April 24, 2014
Robinson Headed to Salem
? ?
Submitted Photo
Winston-Salem Prep's Barbara Robinson will be making plays for Salem College this fall. The S'8" senior made it official
last week, signing her letter of intent while flanked by her parents, Alvin and Gwendolyn Robinson, and other family mem
bers and friends. The Salem Spirits had a record season last year, and Coach Anita Howard is predicting an even rosier
upcoming season.
DCCC player signs with the Rams
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT _
Davidson County Community
College Storm basketball player Robert
Story has accepted a basketball scholar
ship from Winston-Salem State
University. Story, a star shooting guard
who helped lead the men's basketball
team to a regular season championship
this year, will
r 1 nr-?-?p?i transfer to
Winston-Salem
State.
"Robert is one
of the most prolif
ic shooters we
have had here in
the history of our
program." said
Head Coach Matt
Ridge. "We are
extremely proud
of his accom
Wilkelmi
plishments.
Story has been a key contributor to
the team for two straight seasons. This
past season, he made 106 three-point
shots in 27 games, giving him a 42 per
cent shooting average from the three
point line.
"Winston-Salem State is getting a
knockdown shooter who will blend in
nicely with the pieces they already have
in place," adds Ridge. "Without ques
tion, I believe Robert's best basketball is
ahead of him. Just like former Storm
players Justin Glover. Kimani Hunt and
Maurice Nash. 1 expect Robert to help
Winston-Salem State continue its win
ning tradition in men's basketball."
Story is the fourth DCCC player to be
signed to a full scholarship by Winston
Salem State. As a member of the Rams
team. Story will continue his role as a
shooting guard. In the classroom, where
he equally excels, he plans to major in
either sports management or sports sci
ence.
"I am excited to get the opportunity
to take my talents to the next level," said
Story. "It has been a great experience
here at DCCC."
Story will initially play for James
Wilhelmi. who was named the Rams
interim coach last week by Interim
Director of Athletics Tonia Walker.
Wilhelmi is filling the shoes of Bobby
Collins, who resigned as coach at WSSU
to lead the basketball team at the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
"It is an honor and a blessing to have
been chosen to continue to serve WSSU,
where we believe in graduating student
athletes and winning championships,"
says Wilhelmi, who joined the Rams in
2011 as an associate coach. "We are con
tinuing to work hard in preparation for
another exciting season of Rams basket
ball."
DCCC Photo
Robert Story (center) signs with WSSU as his (from left) grandmother Ruby C.
Holeman, grandfather Willie L. Holeman and mom Angelia Holeman watch.
Rams prove to be best on the diamond I
CHRONIC1.I-: STAFF REPORT
The Winston-Salem State
University Lady Rams
Softball and WSSU Baseball
teams both won Central
Intercollegiate Athletic
Association Championship
titles last weekend in
Petersburg, Va.
The Lady Rams beat the
Saint Augustine's Lady
Falcons 5-4, while the Rams
topped Virginia State
University 9-5.
The Lady Rams clinched
their seventh CIAA
Championship in program
history with the win and will
make an NCAA Division II
Atlantic Regional appearance
May 9- 11.
WSSU junior Monet Daly
led the Lady Rams to the vic
tory after a stellar perform
ance in every facet of the
game. She earned the CIAA
Tournament Most Valuable
Player honor. Three Lady
Rams - Francesca Edgerton.
Mercedes Hargett and Daly -
Coach Kevin Ritsche receives
his award from CIAA com
mittee member Dennis
Hessal.
earned spots on the 2014
C1AA All-Tournament team.
Ray Crawford, who a day
before the championship
clinching victory was named
the C1AA Baseball Player of
the Year, led the Rams to vic
tory. He was named the tour
nament's MVP and to the All
Tournament Team. Rams
Devin McLemore and Alex
Grubb also made the All
Tournament list.
Head Coach Kevin Ritsche
earned his third consecutive
CIAA Baseball Coach of the
Year honor. Ritsche is in his
fourth season as the head
coach for the Winston-Salem
State University
Rams. Ritsche started the
baseball program in 2010
after a 38-year hiatus and
instantly took it from non
existent to their fourth
straight 30-win season.
Since the program's resur
rection under Ritsche, the
Rams have won four CIAA
Championships.
WSSU Photos
The
Lady
Rams
pose
after
their
victory.
TAAAJI P BENSON MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN
ROUGH
Puryear
serves as
consultant
for golf film
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
?
Winston-Salem native Sam
Puryear served as consultant for a
movie about the trailblazing woman
who was his golf coach at Tennessee
State. The film, "From the Rough," is
based on the true story of Catana
Starks, the first woman to coach a
NCAA Division I men's golf team.
The movie debuts in selected
cities nation
wide on Friday,
April 25 and
will be shown
at the The
Grande Theater
- Four Seasons
in Greensboro.
The film cen
ters around the
monumental
hurdles Starks
faced as she
built a golf
program from
scratch into
one of champi
onship-caliber.
Oscar nom
inee Taraji P.
Henson plays
Starks. "From
the Rough"
also stars the
late Michael
Clarke Duncan,
Tom Felton,
Puryear
Starkj
Henry Simmons and LeToya Luckett.
"It's exciting," said Puryear, a
Carver graduate. "I'm very happy
that Coach Starks is having her life
put on film. It's just great to see that
happen for somebody who defied the
odds and touched so many lives."
Puryear is the director of Golf
Operations at Queen's University in
Charlotte. He too has shattered glass
ceilings. At Michigan State, he
became the first black head coach of
a major Division I program. During
his four-year tenure, the Spartans
captured the 2008 Big Ten
Conference championship. In that
same year, Puryear was named Big
Ten Coach of the Year. The former
TSU golf team captain started his
college coaching career as an assis
tant with the Stanford team that won
the NCAA championship in 2007.
Even though the movie focuses
on the ups and downs of a fledgling
college golf team, Puryear believes
that "From the Rough" has an unde
niable big-picture message that he
hopes will deeply resonate with
moviegoers.
"When people see the movie,
they should come away with the idea
that anything is possible," he said.
"Dreams do come true if you're will
ing to work hard and believe in your
self. What the movie shows is that
your background really doesn't mat
ter when it comes to pursuing goals
and making those goals come to pass.
Socioeconomic status, race and gen
der does not define who a person is
or what they can become. Those
things do not define you. You define
yourself."
-A