North Carolina Newspapers

LEW HEGE Southern Teams Winning Now With Local Talent Three of the Final Four teams in this year's NCAA basketball tournament were from the South. National champ North Carolina, Louisville, and Houston were joined in the Final Four by borderline Georgetown. Last year, UNC was in the finals with Virginia, Brigham Young, and Indiana. Only Indiana, of that group, could be considered a "Northern" school. While all the finalists still import players from north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the fact that their rosters are filled with home grown talent is significant. Let's look closer. North Carolina counts three New Yorkers among its starting five, but two native Tar Heels helDed the Tar Heels to the crown. James Worthy (Gastonia) and Michael Jordan (Wilmington) were joined on the UNC team by several other native North Carolinians. Louisville gets plenty of its talent from that city, but two Georgians and two players from Mississippi were vital cogs in the Cardinal machine. Coach Denny Crum has had players from the Deep South on his teams for years. Houston gets practically all of its players from the Houston area. Even Georgetown, located in the nation's capital, had two players on the team from North Carolina, and one. Sleepy Floyd, was an ail-American. The significant fact of all this is these black players would not have enrolled at North Carolina, Virginia, or any other Southern school 20 years ago. Before desegregated schools, the top black players in the South migrated north to schools like Pitt, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio State. Now they stay home. This fact has not only improved Southern basketball, but football and other sports as well. Back in the middle 60's, a great quarterback came out of Fayetteville. Jimmy Raye would like to have played for State, but there were no black players in the ACC at that time. So Raye went to Michigan State, then a terror on the gridiron. Another great footballer, LeRoy Keyes of Newport News, went to Purdue for the same reason. Basketball stars, like Joby Wright from Georgia, went North for their collegiate careers. Wright went to Indiana. Two pro greats, Lou Hudson (Greensboro), and Happy Hairson (Winston-Salem) went to Minnesota and NYU respectively. But desegregation slowly changed all of that. No longer were there black and white schools, just schools. It was difficult at first, but fortunately, the school systems ironed out the kinks. No longer did the top black players automatically head North — or enroll at predominantly black colleges. When Charlie Scott enrolled at North Carolina, a new era unfolded not only for ACC schools, but for all Southern colleges. Scott was put on the spot by the media, much like a major league baseball player nearly two decades earlier. It was only a matter of time before the other ACC teams and colleges throughout the South began to actively recruit the black athlete. This transformation in racial recruiting policy would eventually hurt programs in the North, as they would greatly improve the athletic programs in the South. Twenty years ago, greats like David Thompson, Walter Davis, Rod Griffin, and Phil Ford would either have headed North, or been lost in one of the small-college black conferences, which get very little publicity. A case in point is Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, who came along prior to this period and played at Winston-Salem State. Monroe was probably the best college guard (and maybe player) in the land, but Winston-Salem was never on TV, played small college ball, and Monroe was an unknown. When a game involving the Rams was staged in Reynolds Coliseum, the white fans went to see the Pearl perform. Forty-four points later, those fans knew what a terrific player Monroe was. A 1982 version of Monroe would likely play in the ACC and make allAmerica. Players like Thompson and Ford received a tremendous amount of media exposure and became heroes nationwide. Unfortunately, players like Monroe and Sam Jones were unknowns prior to turning pro. The NBA teams knew how great these players were, but no one else did. But that has changed. Let's look at three of the top players coming out of North Carolina's high schools this year. First, Curtis Hunter of Southern Durham. Twenty years ago, this 6-4 whiz kid would probably have packed his bags for DePaul or Georgetown, two schools that recruited him. But Hunter is going to UNC, and Duke was second on his list. Brad Daugherty of Swannanoa is 6-11 and was recruited by every big-time college. He is also bound for Chapel Hill, but 20 years ago that wouldn't have even been thinkable. Our own David Henderson received letters from all over the country. But the schools that actively sought his services were all from the South. State, Duke, Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, etc. Twenty years ago, those wouldn't have even been on his list. This farm kid likely would have wound up at a small college or some outpost up in the hinderlands. Desegregation not only revolutionized our school system and way of thinking, it boosted every collegiate athletic program in the South. With the ACC receiving the bulk of the publicity, an argument could be made that the small black colleges don't get any David Henderson or Brad Daugherty's anymore. But the population is much greater than in 1962 and a much higher percentage of high school graduates are going on to college. In a word, there's more talent to spread around now, so the small colleges — both black and white — have much better teams. The Northern schools don't get the top-flight Southern talent as they once did, but they haven't declined that much. It's just that the Southern schools have improved that much! North Carolina won the basketball crown this year, after finishing second last year. Virginia finished third a year ago with another Southerner (Ralph Sampson) leading the way. Georgia won it all in football in 1900, then Clemaon took the brass ring in 1981. Results of thi* nature make the point crystal clear — that desegregation changed the course of intercollegiate athletics in the United States. When you sit back in your living room TV chair and watch David Henderson play basketball in the ACC for the next four years, lust be thankful that the great players produced in thu state now have the opportunity to stay home for their college careers. Coach Bill Frazier has been selected Conference Football Coach-of-the-Year. Pictured above, Warren County High School principal and member of the Roanoke River Board of Control, Benjamin Terrell, presents Frazier with the Coach-of-the-Year plaque. Frazier's Eagles were undefeated in conference play this year as well as winners of the district. The amazing Eagles scored an astonishing 361 points while allowing only 63. Warren County High School Varsity Basketball Coach James Howell has be<| selected Conference Basketball Coacb-of-the-Year. Recently Warren County Hlg School principal and Roanoke River Athletic Conference Board of Control membr Benjamin Terrell presented Howell with the Coacb-of-the-Year plaque. Howellk Eagles, not only won the conference, district, and eastern regionals, but were also staff 3-A champions. Duke May Have Best Recruits Of Any SchooS By LEW HEGE Duke's Blue Devils signed six blue chip high school seniors last week to national letters of intent, and may have the best group of basketball recruits of any school in the country. The Blue Devils signed Warren County's AllAmerica guard, David Henderson, who selected Duke over N. C. State, Maryland, and South Carolina. Coach Mike Krzyzewski also signed pointguard Johnny Dawkins of Washington, D. C., a 6-3 operative rated the best at his position in the country. Other Devil signees included 6-8 forward Mark Alarie of Phoenix, Ariz., 6-9 Bill Jackman of Grant, Neb., 6-9 Jay Bilas of Rolling Hills, Calif., and 6-7 forward Weldon Williams of Crete, m., just outside Chicago. All are rated among the top players in the United States. National champion North Carolina signed two of North Carolina's top three prospects, inking 6-11 Brad Daugherty of Swannanoa and 6-4^ Curtis Hutner of Durham. Both were first team All-Americans. The Tar Heels also got 6-3 Steve Hale of Jenks, Okla , whose value to a team congested with guards is questionable. Daugherty and Hunter flopped in a series of high school all-star games recently. Maryland, like Duke, is hoping to rebuild into a national power. The Terrapins signed 6-7 center Len Bias of Hyattsville, Md., 6-2 Jeff Baxter of Washington, D. C., 6-7 Edward Farmer of Wilson, and 6-10 Bryan Palmer of Glen Rock, Pa. Farmer was a standout at Beddingfield High School a year ago and played at Glen Mills Prep in Philadelphia this year. The Terps already have transfers 6-9 Andre Hines (Furman,) and fr-9 Ben Coleman (Minnesota) in school. Maryland also hoped to get 6-5 David Wingate of Baltimore in a Northwest Halifax Downs Eagle Nine AURELIAN SPRINGS - Northwest Halifax pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to nip Warren County, 5-4, in a conference baseball game last Thursday afternoon. The visiting Eagles tallied four runs in the top of the third inning to take a surprising 4-0 lead. Ite Vikings scored two each in the fourth and fifth frames to knot the score. The Eagles got five hits off Viking pitcher Pierce, with Randy Garrett going 1-3 with two runs batted in; Calvin Edwards 1-3 with one rbi; Lester Henderson 1-3; Troy Neal 1-3; and late signing. The other ACC schools die not fare as well as their trio, but Clemson signed a host of lesser quality players. The Tigers got 6-9 Ed Bleynat of Valdese, 6-9 Glen McCants erf Columbia, S. C., 6-7 Pat Suttle of Lafayette, Va., and 6-3 Warren Wallace and 6-5 Chris Michael, both of Fork Union Military in Virginia. Michael hails from Rutherfordton. Georgia Tech signed 6-9 Tim Harvey of Plainfield, N. J., and 6-7 Jack Mansell of Sharon, Pa. Tech also got 6-9 John Salley of Brooklyn, N. Y., and was still in the race for question mark 6-10 Yvon Joseph of Miami, a junior college center. Virginia's only signee to date is 6-4 Ken Lambiotte of Woodstock, Va., who spurned some 100 football offers to play basketball for the Cavaliers. Lambiotte was rated as one of the top quarterbacks in the East, but chose to play basketball instead. He may fill Jeff Jones' big guard spot. The Wahoos want to sign a couple more cagers including 7-0 center Benoit Benjamin of Monroe, La. Benjamin is rated as the second best prep player in the land, but was a royal flop in some of the major high school all-star contests. He will go to LSU. Wake Forest signed 6-9 Tony Krasek of East Moline, 111., and 6-5 Steve Warden of Winston-Salem, who played at Forsyth Country Day. The Demon Deacons are still in the hunt for heralded 6-8 forward Todd May of Virgie, Ky., and 6-6 Kenny Green of Ft. Eustis, Fla. State lost Henderson with some shabby recruiting by Coach Jim Valvano, but the Wolfpack signed 6-7 forward A1 Battle of Nashville, who was a juco allAmerican last season at Merced, Calif. JC. State also got 6-6 forward Walter Densmore of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and 6-3 wonderguard Ernie Myers of the Bronx, rated as one of the top big guards in the country. Nationally, the top player is considered to be 6-8 Rodney Carroll had one rbi. Senior Garrett again turned in a stellar performance on the mount for Warren County, yielding just three hits. But horrendous fielding by the Eagles spelled doom for the visitors. The Eagles committed eight errors and wasted a great performance by Garrett, who fanned 9even Viking batters and walked none. Pierce struck out 10 Eagles and walked four batters. Next game for Warren County: At Weldon. Score by innings: Warren Co. 0040000 - 4 5 8 Northwest 0002201 - 5 3 3 forward Billy Thompson of Camden, N. J., who signed with Louisville. Waymon Tisdale, a 6-9 first team Ail-American from Tulsa, signed with Oklahoma. Tisdale was reported to be headed for Georgetown, but yielded to in-state pressure and inked with the Sooners. Academy Loses Pair Of Games Warren Academy dropped a pair of baseball games last week in Carolina Academy Conference action. The Warriors lost to N E W. 11-6 and to Northeast 6-3. The Warriors now stand 2-3 in conference action. In the N.E.W. game, errors proved to be the downfall of the Warriors as N.E.W. scored only two earned runs. Todd Davis started and went the distance to absorb the loss. The Warriors out-hit N.E.W. 5-4. Bruce Shearin had two hits and Davis Capps, Dee Perry and Bryan Perry had one hit. In the Northeast game, the Warriors lost their third straight conference game after two wins. Northeast broke a 3-3 tie with a run in the fifth inning and added two insurance runs in the seventh. Davis Capps went the distance and suffered the loss. Darin Smith, Tommy Lee, and Karl Daeke went 1 for three to pace the Warrior's attack. The Warriors will host Enfield Academy on Friday. Norlina Loses Two Contests GOLD SAND - Norlina dropped both middle school games last week, losing to Gold Sand, 11-8, then dropping a 23-0 contest to Creedmoor Hawley. The Blue Waves are winless this season. In Thursday's game at Gold Sand, the Waves took a 3-0 lead after their bat in the first inning, but Gold Sand rebounded to get six runs in their turn at the plate. Mark Lawhorne and Thedrick Moseley paced Norlina with a home run and double respectively. The Waves had Ave hits, while Gold Sand pounded out 11 hits off Moseley. Brodie homered for the Blue Devils. Norlina got ambushed 23-0 at Creedmoor Hawley last Tuesday. Hawley led 9-0 entering the bottom of the fourth, then scored 14 runs and the game was halted. Hawley had 15 hits with Faircloth getting a home run. Moseley had Norlina's lone hit off Hawley's Moore, who also had two hits for the winners. The Blue Waves' next game is scheduled against John Graham. Kentucky signed 6-8 Kenny Walker of Roberta, Ga., and Indiana's "Mr. Basketball," 6-1 Roger Harden of Valparaiso, Georgia lost Walker, but got 6-2 point guard Donald Hartry of Milledgeville, Ga., who narrowed his choices to Georgia and Wake Forest. Virginia Tech got 6-10 Bob Beecher of Danbury and 6-4 Wardell Curry of Ft. Defiance, Va., who picked the Gobblers because they start school late in the fall. Curry did not want to lose his income priming tobacco, so jilted several schools that start fall terms in August. Here's a listing of schools and committed players: CLEMSON: Ed Bleynat (6-9) Valdese; Glen McCants (6-9) Columbia, S. C.; Chris Michael (6-5) Rutherfordton; Pat Suttle (6-7) Lafayette, Ga.; Warren Wallace (6-3) Fork Union, Va. DUKE: David Henderson (6-5) Norlina; Mark Alarie (6-8) Phoenix, Ariz.; Jay Bilas (6-9) Rolling Hills, Calif.; Johnny Dawkins (6-3) Washington, D. C.; Bill Final Tryouts Are Scheduled Final tryouts will be held Saturday, April 24, at the Armory Field in Warrenton for T-Ball (ages 6-8), junior baseball (ages 9-12), and senior baseball (ages 13-15). T-Ball will meet at 9 a. m., junior baseball at 10 a. m., and senior baseball at 1 p. m. Those who are planning to participate in these activities must attend Saturday's tryout. This will be the last opportunity to play as teams will be selected at the end of tryouts. The rain date is May 1. Softball Tourney Is Being Planned The Warren County Eagles Club will sponsor a double-elimination men's softball tournament on May 15 and 16. First, second and third place trophies will be given and an entry fee of $50 will be charged. Games will be played at John Graham Middle School and Norlina Middle School. The deadline for entry is May 3. Persons interested are asked to contact Tommy Frazier at 456-2910, or Bill Frazier at 257-4558. Two From Here Are Accepted Martin Earl Bowman and William R. Garrett, Jr., Warrenton students who are seniors at Warren County High School, have been accepted for admission to Chowan College for the fall semester beginning August 22. Jackman (6-9) Grant, Neb.; Weldon Williams (6-7) Crete. 111. GEORGIA TECH: Tim Harvey (6-9) Plainfield, N. J,; Jack Mansell (6-7) Sharon, Pa.; John Salley (6-9) Brooklyn, N. Y. MARYLAND: Jeff Baxter (6-2) Washington, D. C.; Len Bias (6-7) Hyattsville, Md.; Ed Farmer (6-7) Wilson; Andrea McCloud (6-5) Alexandria, Va.; Brian Palmer (6-10) Glen Rock, Pa. NORTH CAROLINA: Brad Daugherty (6-11) Swannanoa; Curtis Hunter (6-4^) Durham; Ste Hale (6-3) Jenks, Ok homa. N. C. STATE: A1 Batl (6-7) Nashville; w£ Densmore (6-6) Tusc loosa, Ala., Ernie Mye (6-3 Vi) Bronx, N. Y. WAKE FOREST: To: Krasek (6-9) East Molir " 111., Steve Warden (6Winston-Salem. VIRGINIA: Ken Lar biotte (6-4) Woodstock, V] RICHMOND: Jol Davis (6-5) Chapel Hill. EAST CAROLINA: C Vanderhorst (6-1) Fayettj ville; Troy Robinson (6-| Goldsboro. i A parachutist prepares to touch down on the Johdl Graham Athletic Field as the Special Olympics open on Friday morning. The jumper was one of three secured by Vaughan Elementary School as a way of drawing attention to the annual games. (Staff Photo) Special Olympics Held J (Continuedfrom page 1) Warren ton Supply Company, T. T. Clayton, Larry Short Logging, Blaylock Funeral Home, Princine Owens, W. L. Rose, assistant state director for Exceptional Programs, Leighs of Norlina, Traylor's Hardware, Brown and Sons Grocery Store, Littleton, Miles' Hardware, Country Store of Norlina and Lanier Hardware. The judges' decision for the Heath Beckwith Memorial Trophy was read by T. T. Clayton. The trophy is awarded annually to the team that best represents the ideals of the Special Olympics. Mr. Clayton indicated that the Judges' decision had been a difficult one, but South Warren Elementary School had stood out from the others. Mrs. Minnie Brame, special teacher, and Principal Lucious Hawkins proudly accepted the trophy for the school. The trophy will bejon display at South Warren until the games nextl spring. The happy, tired and sunburned athletes march-! ed to their buses, ribbon; flapping in the breeze andproud smiles on their faces. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the competition and looks forward to next year?'. Sponsors for the games were Norlina Ladies Auxiliary, A. B. Hair Carpets, Warrenton Furniture Exchange, Inc., Warren County Jaycees, Weldon Bottlers, Henderson Oxygen Supply Company j Peoples Bank, Branch Banking ft Trust, Hardee's, Parents of South Warren, Hawkins Funeral Home and the coaching staff of Warren County High School.