PORTS
-- - "G ( "t, -
v'i - ! fi i 's. ---t i- i
i v j , y J
V-lV : iig. ., f f I ' ? . ....
Talented tailback Torin Dorn hopes his junior season is injury-free
Fenner heads for
Ford hired; Re id
By CHRIS SPENCER
Assistant Sports Edrtor
While most of us sunned our buns
in high-temperatured locales, some
Tar Heels and ex-Tar Heels, slapped
with the latter designation for various
reasons, made headlines throughout
the sports world. Here are some of
the more notable happenings.
Derrick Fenner just won't go away.
The former UNC running back burst
back into the headlines Aug. 16 by
signing a South Atlantic Conference
(SAC-8) letter of intent to play
football for Gardner-Webb, an
NAIA school in Boiling Springs.
Fenner's eligibility is contingent on
his making a "C on a correspondence
course. His final exam was turned in
last week.
. "I think everything will be fine,"
Fenner said. "I'm excited and happy
to get a second chance. This is a small
school, but the opportunity is still
here. It gives me a good opportunity
to prove something, and that's what
I'm shooting for."
The Bulldogs are now a strong
favorite to win the NAIA national
championship. They return 17 star
ters from last year's team, which went
11-2 and won the SAC-8
championship.
"Derrick Fenner can be a great
football player, but we were not
Kenan to be
'functional'
for Oklahoma
By MIKE BERARDINO
Sports Editor
The majority of a $7.1 million
makeover of Kenan Stadium will be
sufficiently completed in time for the
Sept. 10 home football opener against
Oklahoma, UNC athletic director
John Swofford has said.
According to Swofford, Metric
Contractors has assured him that the
summer-long renovation of Kenan,
which was lagging ominously behind
in mid-August, will be finished in time
for the game with the third-ranked
Sooners.
Swofford said he expected the
stadium to "basically be complete and
it will be useable and functional" by
the Sept. 10 date. However, some
final touches as painting and clean
up work may not be finished until
the Tar Heels' second home game of
the season, Sept. 24 against
Louisville.
While the original contract called
for the project to be completed by
Aug. 25, Swofford said he was not
surprised by the delay.
"We expected this to be a down-to-thc-wire
type thing," he said. "A
See STADIUM page 2B
mi .i.iii ii in . in. m ii ! imi ii ii L-m . ' xmt" 'in mntw w
approaching it from that angle," said
Woody Fish, Gardner Webb's
athletic director and football coach.
"We'd be a good team without him
and well be a good team with him.
"The truth is, we can probably
mean more to him at this point than
he does to us. That's not to say he
doesn't mean a whole lot to us, but
we can do a lot for him personally."
Fenner burst on the scene at UNC
in grand fashion. During the 1985
season, the Oxon Hill, Md., freshman
rushed for 393 yards. After coming
on strong in the early part of the 1986
season, Fenner set an ACC single
game rushing record on Nov. 15,
when he used a rainy Saturday in
Kenan Stadium as his setting for a
spectacular 328-yard performance as
he almost single-handedly picked
apart the Virginia Cavaliers.
But that was his climax on the Tar
Heel football field.
Fenner was then suspended for the
team's Aloha Bowl game for aca
demic reasons in December. Then the
cookie really crumbled, as on April
9, 1987, he was arrested in Prince
George's County, Md., on charges of
cocaine and weapons possession.
The plot thickened June 2, as he
was slapped with a first-degree
murder charge in connection with a
May 23 shooting in Hyattsville, Md.
Those charges were dropped Nov. 30,
as prosecutors said the evidence
raised "substantial doubt" about his
involvement.
But on April 15 of this year, he
pleaded guilty to the cocaine posses
sion charge and recieved three years
probation. North Carolina athletic
director John Swofford said it dis
qualified him from playing for the Tar
Heels.
Fish also said that Fenner needs
to tone down his lifestyle, including
leaving his BMW sportscar at home.
"I told Derrick if he wanted people
to accept him and if he wanted people
to treat him like nothing happened
and to be fair with him, he was going
to have to make some adjustments,"
Fish said. "He can't just come rolling
in here driving that sportscar. That's
the first thing people would notice.
He needs to fit in, not stand out."
Gardner-Webb president Dr. Chris
White said that while he expects
mixed reactions to Fenner's signing,
the right decision was made,
n
Most of the other Tar Heel news
made this summer revolved around
the basketball program. On July 8,
former UNC assistant coach Roy
Williams was introduced as the new
coach at national champion Kansas.
Williams, 37, replaces another
former Tar Heel aide, Larry Brown,
who jumped ship to take over the San
Antonio Spurs of the NBA.
"My hope is that you don't have
to go through another press confer-
Friday, September 2, 1988
DTH file photo
and filled with touchdowns
Card ner -
if
J.R. Reid has made it to the final
ence to hire a new head basketball
coach for the next 30 years," Williams
said.
The Asheville native signed a four
year contract worth $78,000 per year.
Williams is a 1972 UNC graduate.
He coached at Owen High School in
Swannanoa, N.C., before joining
Dean Smith's staff in 1977.
"Roy is a highly organized person
who has all the characteristics of a
great coach," Smith said in a prepared
statement read at the press confer
ence. "He's played a key role in the
success we've had here in recent years.
His goal is to be a head coach and
he will be an outstanding one."
Five days later, Smith announced
his replacement for the departed
Williams, former three-time All-
makes
U
' , , v' 4 V I
I V
- -4 -'
:iWft- ...-..' -v0
' N..
B ro wim besi n f o irst
with yoyim
sqyacfl; dofficyltsclhiedlyle
By MIKE BERARDINO
Sports Editor
For the past XA months, ever since
he was hired last December to succeed
Dick Crum as North Carolina's head
football coach, Mack Brown has been
experiencing what is commonly
referred to as "the honeymoon
period.'
It's the best part of a new coaching
job. Everywhere the 37-year-old
Brown has gone so far in 1988, he's
been heralded as the savior of UNC
football, held up as a future star in
his profession, greeted with open
arms by boosters and recruits, and,
thanks to his disarmingly outgoing
personality, treated as an old favorite
by the same media that helped run
Crum out of town.
Saturday night in Columbia, S.C.,
though, Brown's "honeymoon" will
officially end.
A disturbingly inexperienced Tar
Heel squad will open the 100th season
of UNC football, and the first in the
Mack Brown era, with a game against
19th-ranked South Carolina in one
of the college game's deadliest sna
kepits, Williams-Brice Stadium.
A raucous crowd of 75,000 is
expected for the 7 p.m. contest, with
the Gamecocks, 8-2-2 a year ago and
losers to Louisiana State in the Gator
Bowl, rating as a strong favorite.
MI don't think there could be a
tougher opener for us than South
Carolina," Brown said. "They've got
a lot of guys coming back on defense.
They blitz 85 percent of the time, and
it's so loud it's hard to hear your
checks sometimes.
Webb;
s x
DTH file photo
cut of the U.S. Olympic team
s
team
gntmh-ti 4'----3
America and 1978 player of the year
Phil Ford, who left Chapel Hill as
UNC's all-time scoring leader.
Ford and Randy Wiel will share
Williams' old duties. The Rocky
Mount native is one of three coaches
who can go on the road recruiting,
as Wiel has teaching responsibilities
at the university.
"We had a great number of our
former players to consider for this
position," Smith said. "However, I
had no idea Phil would be interested.
But I am extremely excited he does
want to be a college coach. His loyalty
to the university, ability to meet
people and intelligence make him a
valuable addition to our staff."
See SUMMER page 5B
yopredlDctatolle
1 988 Football Schedule
Sept 3. . . .............. .at South Carolina
Sept 10 .OKLAHOMA
Sept 24. . .... . . ..... .... ....LOUISVILLE
Oct 1 ........... . ; . ........ . . .at Auburn
Oct 8. ........ . . . . . . . . ... .at Wake Forest
Oct 15 .N.C. STATE
Oct 22 ...... . v. ...... . . .GEORGIA TECH
Oct 29. .MARYLAND
Nov. 5. . . ... ........... . .atClemson
Nov. 12. ... . . . . ...... . ... .VIRGINIA
Nov. 19 . . . ... . . .... . ; . ..... .at Duke
"They're coming off a bowl game;
and they were disappointed in their
bowl game, so theyll have a lot of
enthusiasm. Well have to limit out
package, but still theyH throw so
much at us it's going to be hard for
us to have confidence and get things
established. I would not expect it to
be a pretty game." .
Indeed, if North Carolina is not
absolutely prepared for the gambling
Gamecock defense and coach Joe
Morrison's big-play offense, things
could get downright ugly for the Tar
Heels.
Junior quarterback Todd Ellis, a
product of Greensboro Page High
UNC tecru it falls
io Kansas
By MIKE BERARDINO
Sports Editor .
The strange, sad saga of North
Carolina basketball recruit Kenny
Williams took several intriguing
twists and turns this summer. In
the end, Williams wound up in the
Land of Oz.
Too bad it all wasn't just a weird
dream.
The 6-foot-9 Williams, who was
named state player of the year after
averaging 31 points and 12
rebounds for Northeastern High
School in Elizabeth City, signed
a letter-of-intent last spring to
attend UNC.
By late June, Williams had been
released from his commitment to
UNC, and two months later
Williams enrolled in Barton
County Community College in
Great Bend, Kan.
When Williams originally
decided to attend UNC, Tar Heel
fans could hardly contain their
excitement over the prospect of a
front line including both J.R. Reid
and Williams, whom many con
sidered to be one of the top three
or four high schoolers in the
country last year.
Soon thereafter, however, it
became apparent that Williams
had not yet met the Proposition
48 guidelines for freshman eligi
bility. His best score on the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
was reported to be 690, a mere
10 points shy of the prescribed
minimum.
Williams took the SAT again
and was still awaiting the results
in June when it was learned he
had not graduated with his class,
falling lxi credits short of the
required minimum.
On June 23, UNC basketball
coach Dean Smith announced he
was releasing Williams from his
commitment.
"I told Kenny that he had to
give me some ammunition to take
before the (admissions) commit
tee," Smith said. "He had to have
some B's. He had to show he could
do the work. But he didn't give
me the ammunition, so IVe made
the decision to tell him not to
apply.
"He got lazy this year. Maybe
this will help him."
After that setback, Williams
reportedly enrolled in summer
school at the College of the
Albemarle in Elizabeth City. He
had hoped to gain enough credits
to earn his Graduate Equivalency
Degree (GED) and attend a four
year school.
"We told him that when he got
ready to decide what he wanted
seasoo
School, keys the USC attack. His
remarkable physical skills (size, arm,;
mobility) not only make him a;
legitimate Heisman Trophy candif
date, they also have pro scouts
panting.
How good is Ellis? Good enough;
some say, to start right now for the
L. A. Raiders and carry that leaderless
group of vagabonds right into the
playoffs.
For balance, South Carolina has
bruising Harold Green at tailback.
Scoring points should be no problem
for the Gamecocks this year.
See FOOTBALL page 3B .
juc
to do, we would try and help him,"
Smith said at the time. "But where
he goes is his decision."
Throughout the months of July
and August, Williams was recru
ited heavily by Dan McGovern,
Barton's coach. McGovern, who,
successfully persuaded Loyola of
Chicago academic casualty Kenny
Miller, the nation's leading
rebounder last season, to transfer
to Barton, soon had Williams ear,
too.
On Aug. 23, Williams enrolled
at Barton and was attending class
that same day.
"We run a very disciplined
program here; I think that
appealed to Kenny," McGovern
told The News and Observer. "He
knows that he cannot step on the
court if he misses a class or a study
hall. He is a bright and articulate
youngster.
"I don't know all about his
problems in North Carolina, but
I am completely confident that he
will do college-level work academ
ically. I tried to make it very plain
to him that my No. 1 job is getting
him ready academically to attend
a four-year school. His basketball
talents will take care of that end."
McGovern said he expected
Williams to attain his GED at
Barton and be eligible to play for
the school this winter.
According to UNC assistant
coach Bill Guthridge, Williams'
decision was somewhat of a
disappointment.
"We wanted him to go to North
Carolina Wesleyan and play for
(ex-UNC player) Bill Chambers,"
Guthridge said. "It's too bad he's
not here."
Williams' academic problems
did not exactly come as a shock.
After an outstanding sophomore
season with the Northeastern
varsity, he transferred to Fork
Union (Va.) Academy in an effort
to improve his study skills. Wil
liams returned to Northeastern for
his senior year.
It's more than ironic that Wil
liams ended up in Kansas, a state
in which two of the top three
college basketball teams are
coached by ex-UNC assistants.
Eddie Fogler has headed up the
Wichita State program the past
two seasons, while earlier this
summer Roy Williams was hired
to replace Larry Brown at Kansas
University.
Don't be surprised if young
Kenny Williams winds up in a year
or two on either one of those
campuses, playing basketball the
"Dean Smith way," just not for
Dtan Smlth