Ram Report
WSSU seeks to extend athletic family
By DAVID BULLA
Chronicle Sports Editor
Kevin Reid walked onto the
campus of Winston-Salem
State University last week
looking a little timid and spor
ting a recent haircut.
There’s nothing unusual
about that. Yet, Reid’s not
just another new student. He
was an all-state basketball
player at 4-A state champion
West Charlotte. His 14-point
scoring' average and 11 re
bounds a game attracted the
eye of WSSU basketball
Coach C.E. “Bighouse”
Gaines, who signed the
Charlotte product to an
athletic scholarship.
Like his fellow freshmen,
Reid will discover the college
experience to be as much an
initiation into a new world as
anything else. But for the
student-athlete, who invests
his or her time in two com
petitive worlds, there are extra
pressures. At historically black
colleges like WSSU, student-
athletes often come from one-
parent families. When they
find themselves in college at
mospheres for the first time,
alienation and confusion often
set in. In short, a need for a
substitute family arises.
Gaines, who also serves as
WSSU’s athletic director, sees
such situations every year.
While Gaines has to act as
part-time father to many of
the athletes in the Ram athletic
program, one man cannot give
enough immediate attention to
so many young people. This
school year Gaines is im
plementing a program that he
got from another school a few
years ago. He calls it “Adopt
an Athlete,” which will give
WSSU basketball recruit Kevin Reid listens to former Ram
all-America football player Troy Davis talk about his
priorities in life (photo by James Parker).
The WSSU athletic director
Ram student-athletes homes
away from their natural
homes.
“The attitude of the parent
often is, T got him into col
lege, but he’s on his own now;
I’m no longer responsible,’ ”
Gaines said last week as
freshmen were orienting
themselves for fall semester.
“It’s not that they don’t care
for them! It’s just a fact of
life.”
Gaines gave the example of
a basketball player who grew
up with his mother and signed
with WSSU because his remar
ried father lived in Winston-
Salem - only to find his father
moving to another town when
the student-athlete arrived on
campus.
“He felt he didn’t have
anyone,” Gaines said of the
basketball player. “He needed
someone receptive to his situa
tion.”
The student-athlete has
since transferred to another
college.
said the home-away-from-
home program is designed not
only to give athletes a relaxed
family atmosphere but also to
give the community an oppor
tunity to associate with the
university more closely.
“The program has a good
public relations value,”
Gaines said. “It will act as a
liaison between the university
and the community.”
The Adopt an Athlete pro
gram, which will seek to at
tract Winston-Salem business
and civic leaders, as well as
retirees, has a precedent here,
Gaines said. Over the years,
several families in the city have
helped look after students.
One of the most visible
liaisons was between Ram
basketball players and the late
Emagan Reid, who provided
brown-bag dinners after every
home game.
“Volunteering was part of
her gift,” said Evon L. Reid,
Please see page B7
The Chronicle, Thursday, August 28, 1986-Page B3
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ing starters, except Spruill and
free safety Bruce Dunlap. Hayes
said Donald Franks, a former
wide receiver, has moved into the
free safety position, but he had
not decided who would play at
Spruill’s “Zip” linebacker slot.
Allan Ireland was listed as his
backup last season. Ireland is
6-foot, 215-pound junior out of
Greensboro Page.
“It’s a pleasure to play with
players like Marky and Beasley,”
Franks said. “I’ve learned a lot
and become a more experienced
player.”
With the departures of Danny
Brailsford, Dwaine Jackson and
Bobby Clark, the defensive line is
being reconstructed. Hayes has
inserted the brawny Donald
Evans, a former halfback,
freshman Willie Jones and Roy
Phillips into the lineup.
Hayes said that he is expecting
much from the defense early in
the season.
“Defense usually comes
around before the offense in the
beginning of a season,” said
Hayes, who faces a murderous
six-game start to the season.
“They’ll have to carry us until
the offense comes together.”
The Rams finished third in
pass defense in 1983 and remain
ed in the top three through ’84
and ’85. A contributing factor to
the team maintaining that posi
tion was the addition of all-CIAA
defensive back Anthony Blaylock
in ’84.
“Blaylock is excellent on pass
coverage,” Hayes said. “He’s a
vicious hitter and will carry any
responsibility given to him.”
Blaylock, a product of Garner
High, had a choice of attending
WSSU, North Carolina State, the
University of Virginia or UNC-
Chapel Hill. He was influenced
by former Ram linebacker
WSSU 1986 Schedule
Sept. 6 - Virginia State 7 p.m.
Sept. 13 - at N.C. A&T 1:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 - at Central State, Ohio
1:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 - Hampton 7 p.m.
Oct. 4 ~ at N.C. Central 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 11 — at Howard 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 18 - Fayetteville State 7 p.m.
Oct. 25 - Bowie State 6 p.m.
Nov. 1 - at J.C. Smith 1:30 p.m.
Nov. 8 - open date
Nov. 15 - Livingstone 1:30 p.m.
Home games played at Bovtman
Gray Stadium
Dwayne Smith, also a graduate
of Garner High.
“Smith spoke highly of the
program,” Blaylock said. “It
sounded like a place I could fit in
and be myself.”
The Rams were in need of so
meone who could fill the shoes of
the departed Jack Cameron, who
had been all-CIAA and went on
to play a season for the NFL’s
Chicago Bears. Blaylock knew
that trying to win the spot would
not be easy.
“Cameron had left and I knew
there were a lot of good players
here already,” Blaylock said.
“Working for it was hard in the
beginning, but I got it.”
Blaylock has made several
notable plays and has established
himself as one of the most
outstanding defensive backs in
the conference.
The most memorable game for
Blaylock and the Ram secondary
came last season game against
North Carolina Central at
Bowman Gray Stadium. The
Rams cut the average passing yar
dage of Black College all-
America quarterback Earl “Air”
Harvey nearly in half. Harvey,
who averaged 319 yards passing
per game, threw for only 180
yards against WSSU. Blaylock,
who was covering all-CIAA wide
receiver Robert Clark, believes it
was that game that propelled him
to the all-conference team.
“Harvey only threw to Clark
for 42 yards,” Blaylock said. “I
think that was the game that did
it for me.”
Central Coach Hank Lat-
timore came away quite impress
ed with the Ram defenders.
“Hayes is fortunate to have
such a group,” Lattimore said.
“They can cover and they can
knock your head off. They did a
fine job against us - better than
anyone else.”
Sometimes turnabout is fair
play and Blaylock’s funniest
memory on the field came against
those same Eagles during his
freshman year.
“I was running down the field
on punt coverage,” he said. “I
looked up to locate the ball and.
when I turned around Gerald
Payton came from nowhere and
bowled me over. The guys were
picking on me about it until my
sophomore year.”
No fewer than four of these
Ram defenders are preseason all-
CIAA selections, including
Beasley, Blaylock, Wallace and
outside linebacker Johnny Coles,
who has been slowed in preseason
by an injury. Spruill and junior
cornerback Raymond Puryear
also have legitimate shots at all
conference honors.
“Overall, our defense is a
group with a lot of speed,”
Hayes said. “That’s why we
build our defense around speed
and aggressive hitting.
“If someone has the patience,
they can beat us by pounding the
ball down our throats. You have
to be willing to go three downs
and punt a lot. But one team
Please see page B7
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