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SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1997
Bowman keeps West Charlotte roaring
By Eric James Bozeman
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Reginald Bowman has never
seen a shot he doesn’t like.
And he’s met a few.
“Most people say he’s in range
with his jump shot when he gets
off the bus,” said West Charlotte
basketball coach GosneU White.
“But I like his calmness. We’ve
been in a situation where we
have had leads, and we lose con
centration, and Reggie settles us
with a three.”
'The Lions guard has the abili
ty to do major damage to any
defense he runs up against.
Averaging 17.8 points per game.
Charlotte
Stinson’s
home
court
By Karl Petraroja
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
; When the NBA season wraps
up sometime in mid-June, bas
ketball fans won’t have to wait
until November to get their
roundball fix.
The Women’s NBA is coming to
town, promising an exciting, up
tempo and competitive game.
'The new eight-team league,
sponsored by the NBA, will
showcase some of the top women
players in the world. Charlotte is
one of the cities given franchises
8md owner George Shinn could
n’t be happier.
“Anybody that followed the
Olympics this past summer
knows that the women’s basket
ball team was one of the most
exciting events and people also
began to realize that these
women are great athletes and
play an exciting brand of basket
ball,” he said.
There’s a distinct ACC flavor to
the Charlotte franchise after the
WNBA allocated its first 16
signed players. Charlotte, which
will have its nickname and logo
unveiled in mid-February,
acquired 5-10 guard Andrea
Stinson from N.C. State and 6-3
center Vicky Bullett from
Maryland.
Charlotte fans know Stinson
well as a graduate of North
Mecklenburg High School and a
two-time All-ACC performer
with the WoUpack. She’s played
professional basketball in Italy
and France the past five seasons
but can’t wait to showcase her
game again in the Carolinas.
“I’m so excited about coming
back home to play professional
basketball,” she said.
“When the sites for the WNBA
franchises were announced, I
told everyone right then, I want
ed to play for Charlotte. It’s been
over five years since I’ve had the
opportunity to play in front of
family and friends.”
Stinson is currently lighting
up the Italian league at 'Thiene,
averaging 23 points per game.
Last season, Stinson played for
Cesena, where she averaged
See WNBA on page 3B
Senior is one reason why the Lions are 16-0
4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals, the
senior keeps opponents honest.
“Reggie is the type of player
that it depends on how you
defend him, he finds ways to
score,” White said. “He shoots
the ball from so deep, and he has
a very quick first step. He makes
it tough on your defense, when
he is hitting that outside shot,
because you can’t rest because
he win make you pay.”
For the 16-0 Lions, Bowman is
a valuable clog in the West
Charlotte offense. He sets a scor
ing tempo for the rest of his
teammates by not only scoring
but breaking down defenses.
“It makes it difficult to pack it
in on the inside vrith his outside
shooting ability and his ability to
penetrate,” Write said. “He’s
extremely mature for his age,
and basketball wise some people
may question his shot selection,
but I have to let him get away
with some of those.”
Bowman contends that though
he is labeled as a shooter, he
knows the importance of work
ing as a unit.
“One person can’t be on, every
body has to be together,”
Bowman said.
“People say.
That’s the
only thing
Reggie can do
is shoot.’ It’s a
team thing.
It’s not all
about scoring.
“When I was
yormger that’s
all I worried
about, but as I
got older I saw other things
being more important. I try to
White
PHOTO/WNBA
Andrea Stinson starred at North
Meckienburg High and N.C.
State.
PHOTO/WADE NASH
Green Bay’s Desmond Howard, returning a kick past New Engiand defenders in Super Bowi
XXXI, figures to cash in on his Most Vaiuabie Piayer award next season.
Big cheese
Super Bowl hero thinks
about getting paid in ‘97
By Dave Goldberg
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS - It’s the norm for the mod
em NFL.
On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers win the
Super Bowl and Desmond Howard wins the
MVP.
On Monday, everyone’s thoughts turned to
money.
Howard said he’d like to be back with the
Packers, particularly if he can get more time at
wide receiver.
And coach Mike Mike Holmgren said he’d
love to have back the man whose 99-yard kick
off returned the momentmn to Green Bay in its
35-21 victory over the New England Patriots.
In the middle of this steps agent Leigh
Steinberg, who foimd Howard a job in Green
Bay last surmner for $275,000 after his client
failed in Washington and Jacksonville.
Steinberg now suggests seven figures would be
a nice starting point for a Super Bowl MVP.
'This is Steinberg’s specialty. In the past five
Super Bowls, he’s had either the MVP or the
wirming quarterback or both, as in Steve
Young two years ago and 'Troy Aikman in 1992.
Another Steinberg specialty is luck. Howard,
whom he signed when he was the Heisman
TVophy wiimer and fourth pick in the 1992
draft, happens to be the only Packer he repre
sents.
His third specialty is accommodation.
“Desmond W2mts to go back to the Packers
and I think we can work something out,” says
Steinberg, who has helped Dallas and San
Francisco with salaiy cap problems by renego
tiating and extending deals for his players on
those teams.
“People said the Cowboys would have no
room for Darren Woodson last year and we got
it done,” he said.
The Patriots, to no one’s surprise, seemed
ready to lose their coach.
Bill Parcells didn’t fly back to Boston with
the team. And commissioner Paul Taghabue is
to resolve the dispute between Pats owner
Robert Kraft and Parcells, beginning vrith a
conference call Tuesday.
See HOWARD on page 3B
penetrate or pass... and tiy to get
the other players into it.”
White isn’t as concerned with
Bowman being labeled as self
ish. What concerns him is
Bowman’s improvement in
learning the Lions offense and
improving defensively.
“He’s stiU learning, his offciwi-
has been so uncanny that he
hasn’t had to play defense, but
for me he has to play defense,”
White said.
“A lot of times he is playing
defense when you don’t think he
is, and a lot of people question
his ability to play defense, but
Reggie is willing to do whatever
it takes to vrin.”
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
Reginald Bowman.
Promoter
wants to lift
local boxers
By Eric James Bozeman
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Reggie Isaac is positioning himself to be a friend to Charlotte boxers.
“I am a firm believer that when you teU children to say no, you have
to give them positive things to focus on,” Isaac says. “There are other
aspects of boxing other than fighting that yoimg black kids can get into
such as coaching, refereeing, and promoting.”
Isaac, president of Charlotte-based Sports One, is a former boxer and
trainer who lists former world champion Kelvin Seabrooks as one of
his clients. Through his work with Seabrooks, Isaac realized Charlotte
had virtually no functioning boxing body.
“What had happened was that North Carolina had no sanctions in
boxing, so when I got down to the gym to train Kelvin, others wanted
me to train them as well,” he said. “It then occurred to me that the pros
had horrible records. I investigated more and found out there was no
boxing in Charlotte.”
Isaac also discovered that boxers he came in contact with were tal
ented, but because of a lack of professional representation, they
weren’t getting the best opportunities to make the most of their
careers.
“Fortimately Tm finding out that a lot of young black kids are natu
rally talented,” he said. T look for coachability and a semblance of
some sort of talent, Hke speed. I also look for personality. 'There are
some that don’t have personality or good records and vrill allow them
to work out at the gym, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sign them
to a contract.”
Isaac knows everyone doesn’t have what it takes to be a world cham
pion, and he is trying to make room in a poor man’s sport for those who
don’t have the God-given ability to fight.
T offer the Une of Sports One promotions, where we promote fights.,
as well as spread out into other sports,” he said. “We can teach these
kids how to manage boxers. Tve put together a flow chart to list every
thing that could go wrong in hoxing.”
See ISSAC on page 3B
Garinger’s Vanderhorst
overcomes setbacks
By Eric James Bozeman
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
When an athlete overcomes
adversity, he or she is labeled
courageous. Jervay Vanderhorst
has exceeded the definition.
In 1995, Vanderhorst was a
backup point guard at
Independence High. It was then
that Vanderhorst was diagnosed
with a liver disease. That
December, he had life-threaten
ing surgery and memaged to
return to the team for its stretch
run in February. Although
Vanderhorst had fully recovered,
he became frustrated by a lack of
playing time.
“When I was there, they didn’t
let me show my talents,” he said.
“While I was gone they were try
ing to boost my head up. But
when I came back it was a dif
ferent story.”
Feeling he needed a change of
sceneiy, Vanderhorst transfered
to Garinger (10-3, 4-2
Soutwestem 4A), where he
hacks up point guard T.C.
FutreU.
T did remember him from last
year. He was a defensive-type
kid, and he gave our guards fits,”
Garinger coach Rick Lewis said.
“Usually when someone comes
in like that, you’re leery, but
Jervay is the typical point guard.
veiy quick, high intensity. He
had liver disease and had
surgery in the middle of the
year, and he has made a remark-
ahle turnaround.”
A turnaround wasn’t the only
goal the 5-8 Vanderhorst had set
for himself. He wanted to prove
to his old team that he was capa
ble of being an impact player. In
a critical conference showdown.
See VANDERHORST on 3B
PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON
Jervay Vanderhorst is a major
contributor at Garinger.