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http://www.thechaiiottepost.com c Section Cliarlotte $0!E(t SPORTS THURSDAY JULY 7, 2005 Black College Sports 4C Business 8C j Buckled up for race promotion Driver diversity program grad Morty Buckles moves up to ARC A series C. Jemal Horton ACCESS MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Morty Buckles moves from the Dodge Weekly Series to ARCA in NASCAR’s ladder system. Caught in NBA draft and more Just a few random thou^ts about what’s going on in the sports world, while wondering whatever happened to \dnce Evans ... Despite the national applause that took place after the NBA and its players union agreed to adopt a minimum age requirement recently, don’t expect college seniors to become the new flavor of the NBA Draft. Underclassmen and foreign players still will domi nate. Here’s the unfortunate ti*uth for playem who aspire to play in the NBA: If you’ve played four years of college basketball, chances are you weren’t a top-tier player. Shoot, tl^ese days, if you’ve played ball as a college JUNIOR, you’re going to need yom' degiee almost immediately Consider the list of college seniors who were bypassed in last week’s NBA Di’aft: Notre Dame point guani Chris Thomas, who had considered leav ing school fifter his sophomore season before being convinced to stay, Jawad Williams, the starting power forward for the national- champion North Carolina Tar Heels; Eddie Baisden, the Charlotte guard who was Conference-USA’s player of year last season. And so many others. The bottom line? College seniors generally are perceived by NBA coaches and general managers to be closer to being finished prod ucts than, say, a 19-year-old kid who exhibited a propensity to be spectacular at times (see: Williams, Marvin). Basically since Tin! Dimcan left Wake Forest in 1997, tha^ aren’t any more players who are in col lege simply because they want to be there. ... Speaking of NBA draftees, the most intriguing pick of the draft was former North Carolina star Rashad McCants, who was taken ' with the 14th overall pick by the Minnesota Tlmberwolves. Look, Tve been one of the biggest critics out there of the incendiary McCants, who once compared- playing at North Carolina with being in prison. But it doesn’t mean I was against McCants; I just thought he lacked maturity and I never quite understood why he felt the whole world was against him - especially when 20,(X)0-plus fans were screaming for him in the Dean E. Smith Center. Well, none of that matters any more. Fm cheering for McCants now. Loudly Whatever problems McCants has, I hope he has put them behind him, now that he’s become a millionaire. I hope he’s finally able to find some peace. By Herbert L. White herb .whitefl ihecluirloneposlx'otn The Chaiiotte-based Drive for Diversity has its first graduate. Morty Buckles has moved up from Belnavis Motorsports’ National Guard team in the Dodge Weekly Series to the ARCA Series with "^^ctoiy Motorsports, a team owned by former Atlanta Falcons receiver Thrence Mathis. “Morty has been a member of the Drive For Diversity pingram fix)m the foundation of the initiative and we are thrilled about this great opportunity for him with \fictory Motorsports,” said Greg Calhoun, president of Access Marketing and Communications, which oversees the program. “I would really Hke to thank Sam Belnavis, Belnavis Racing and everyone at the National Guard for giving me such a magnificent opportunity to drive for their team during 2004 and 2005 in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series,” Buckles said in a statement. “Also I would hke to thank Access Marketing and Communications for giving me the opportunity to have partcipated and advanced finm the Drive for Divei’sity pro gram.” Belnavis Racing, owned by' Charlotte marketing executive Sam Belnavis, was one of five teams to support Drive for Diversity Belnavis is chief diversi ty officer at Roush Racing and owns teams in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series and Nextel Cup series. Brianne Cronrath, one of 18 dri vers to try out in a driver combine, win replace Buckles at Belnavis Racing. “I am so excited about this oppor tunity to get behind the wheel of a great car with a team like Belnavis Racing and I am really happy for Morty,” Cronrath said. “He is such a wonderful pei*son on and oflf the ti'ack. I hope we can continue to transition smoothly and get some good finishes under our belt.” PHOTO/WAYNE JERNIGAM ' Charlotte Sting point guard Dawn Staley earned her fourth WNBA All-Star game appearance despite Charlotte’s 2-12 record. Shining star Staley an All-Star starter despite Sting struggles By Herbert L. White lierb.nhite^ thecharloaepostjconi The Cliarlqtte Sting’s on-court troubles haven’t dimmed Dawn Staley’s All-Star power. The Charlotte point guard will make her fourth All-Star appearance Saturday in Connecticut, her third as a starter. Staley topped all Eastern Conference guards in voting by fans, A six-year veteran, Staley averages 6,3 points, 5.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per game. She is second in the WNBA in assists-to- tumover ratio (3.45-1), third in assists and fourth in three-point shooting percentage at 47.8 per cent. Staley has been durable in (Charlotte, never missing a start in her WNBA Career, playing in 210 straight games going into tonight’s game against Minnesota. Other East starters include New York guard Becky Hammon, Indiana forward Tamika Catchings, Detroit forward Swin Cash and Detroit center Ruth Riley Livingstone honors athletic standouts See HONOR1NG/2C SPECIAL TO THE POST Livii^tone College inducted 13 into its fourth annual athletic HaU of Fame June 17 at the University Hilton in Charlotte. Inductees included former coach, instructor, and athletic director Fred Ponder, football athlete and interim president Roy Hudson (Class of ‘55), foot ball and basketball athlete Charles Kirk, Sr. (‘60), football and tennis athlete Jam^ Talley (‘63), football athlete and former coach Thomas “Rudy” Abrams (‘64), football and golf athlete Judge William “Pete” Hunter (‘66), contributor WfiUiam Bunch (‘69), football athlete John Farrar (‘73), football athlete Horace Ballard (*74), softball and track athlete Jacqueline Kendall (‘81), basketball athlete and former coach Antonio Davis (‘87), volley ball, basketball, and track ath lete Sherie Bell (‘93), and volley ball and basketball athlete April Hawkins C97). Ponder sccelled at Livingstone as a tennis coach fiom 1973 to 1985. His teams won seven CTAA Southern Division titles and was conference runner-up six times. Ponder also served as track coach, assistant football coach. See LIVINGSTONE/3C Felton Go West, young Bobcats Felton, May going to Salt Lake revue By Herbert L. White berb.white®thecharlonepostjcom The Charlotte Bobcats are preparing for summer basketball, and they’re taking fii'st- round draft picks Raymond Felton and Sean May with them. Original Bobcats Bernard Robinson and Melvin Ely will also play out in the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake (^ty The team will begin its mini camp today at the Bobcats Basketball Center in Fort Mall. Fium Thursday through Satmday, the Bobcats will hold two-a-day practices fix>m 8:30-10:30 a.m. Afternoon practices will last fix)m 3-5: p.m. Practices are closed to the public. Following an oflf day on Sunday, the mini camp will continue with one-a-day practices on Monday, Tliesday and Wednesday On July 14, the team will leave for the RocLy Mountain Revue, which will run fix)m July 15-22. CTiarlotte will open against Seattle at 8 p.m. on Jooly 15. Other participating teams include Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle and Utah. NBA rookies have no passion for fashion So North Carolina made history at the NBA Draft with four lottery picks, eh? Big deal! The real question is how did they look doing it. Did they - Rashad McCants, Sean May, Marvin Williams and Raymond Felton — and the other draftees represent, or did they resemble leftover cheese? When it comes to fashion, the wannabes have nothing on the NFL. NFL prospects set their own fashion rules. No color is off limits, no stjde is too daring, and no athlete is too big. Of course, when you’re that big, nobody is going to say otlier- NBA Bontita Best NBA draft picks, on the otiier hand, tend to go more towards the conservative route as evidenced by last week’s draft. Navy blues, blacks and browns permeated the affair. Even with those colors, however, it is poa- sible to still go wrong. Let the Fashion Police tell you how. • I haven’t hired a tailor yet. Utah center Andrew Bogut might be the No. 1 pick, but he was middle of the road in making a fash ion statement. Height — taU or short — is no excuse for elephant legs. ((Jet a needle and some thread, and hem those pants son!) Or better yet, get your mama to do it. • You can borrow my tailor. On the other hand, Felton, who looked qtoite dashing in his brown pinstripe suit and multidolored tie, had his pant legs tailored at just tiie right spot - a tad below the shoe. Ditto for teammate Williams, who cut a fine and tall figure in Navy blue pinstripe with Carolina blue tie, shirt and handkerchief • Not so heavenly Carolina Blue, Only See NBA/2C oi
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