Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 15, 1993 TAG: 9308150051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
"Actually, I can tell them apart now," Wilmer said. "Tiki has a scar on his left knee [from a bike wreck as a youngster]. Ronde has a birthmark on one arm. Tiki is a few pounds heavier, but a little shorter. Ronde talks a little slower than Tiki. And Ronde has a part in his hair."
Not for long.
"That won't help," Ronde said of the hairy edge between brothers. "The seniors are going to shave our heads soon."
The Barbers have been at UVa for a week and already, the identical freshmen have been separated. On Thursday, the coaches decided that Tiki would play tailback and Ronde would work at safety. On Friday, when the Barbers and their new teammates met the media, Tiki was wearing No. 21 and Ronde was No. 19. Those could change, too.
One set of numbers was identical in the Barbers' first few days. In the rookies' 40-yard dash, Tiki and Ronde both were timed in 4.5 seconds. No, the Cave Spring High School graduates didn't run together, but Wilmer and a couple of other UVa coaches discussed how cavalier the twins seemed about their 40s.
"It was almost like they were striding," Wilmer said. "Their times weren't anything to rant or rave about. I told them I hoped it wasn't a not-trying-to-show-off thing, because this is the time to start stepping it up."
The twins, each out of earshot of the other, made an echo.
"I wasn't holding back," Tiki said. "I slipped when I started and then I almost fell and had to turn it on. I don't know why, but I was really nervous. The pressure is there."
Ronde said, "I know I can run faster, but that was the most nervous I've been on a football field since the first game I got into in my sophomore year at Cave Spring. There's so much to learn here, it's amazing at times."
They won't get into coach George Welsh's lineup on their reputations, but neither are they intimidated by what lies ahead. They definitely don't seem to be homesick. The only call they've made to their mom, Geraldine, was one last week in which they informed her that someone had to pick up their car because, as freshmen, they weren't allowed to have it on campus.
And it's too early to say if it will be two Barbers, no waiting.
Tiki, who is 5-foot-10, 182 pounds, seems a certainty to play early, starting workouts as the third-string tailback behind Jerrod Washington and Kevin Brooks. Ronde, 5-10 1/2, 173 pounds, is a more likely redshirt candidate, because even though he could scratch the three-deep at safety, it's also a tougher position to learn.
Welsh said Ronde could figure as a punt-returner, but he wouldn't use him unless he clearly was going to be a backup safety who contributes. "You don't use their eligibility just to do that," Welsh said of returning punts.
"I thought I'd be playing defense," said Ronde, the older brother by seven minutes. "I thought it would be cornerback, though, not safety. It's going to be different. I have no feel for it at all. I know I have a lot to learn before I play."
Geraldine Barber got teary-eyed when she dropped off her sons on Sunday, but the twins were more relieved to arrive at UVa than anything. They'll be roommates in the old McCormick Road dorm. Tiki plans to major in industrial engineering. Ronde hasn't settled on his major.
"It's exciting to finally get to this point," Tiki said. "The recruiting was very tiring. You get sick of all of the phone calls."
There could have been more of those. Wilmer said he often wondered whether he could call the Barbers' home twice a week. NCAA rules permit a coach, during contact periods, to call a prospect's home once a week. But Wilmer was recruiting two players in the same house.
"I almost checked with our compliance people," Wilmer said. "But it never got to that. Sometimes I'd call and only one would be home, so I wondered if I could call back. If they were both home, I made it a point of talking to each of them."
Ronde said some schools called twice a week, but there never was a question that this would be a package deal.
"What's so great about our situation is that we have each other here," Ronde said. "Other guys are going through this, new like us, and they're alone, wondering what's going to happen. Tiki and I can talk about things, make mutual decisions. Having someone help you get through something always helps."
by CNB