Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990 TAG: 9006140035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wake Forest has received a commitment from Itzik Cohen, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound member of the Israeli national team. Cohen, 21, spent three years in the Israeli air force as a fighter-pilot navigator.
"I asked him why he was a navigator and not a pilot," Wake coach Dave Odom said, "and he said he was too big to fit into the cockpit and wouldn't be able to eject."
Odom wasn't looking for another Nadav Henefeld, an Israeli product who starred at Connecticut this past season, but he was worried for a while that signees Rodney Rogers and Trelonnie Owens would not be eligible as freshmen.
"We couldn't find anybody who could help us in the junior colleges," Odom said, "so I just threw up my hands and told the staff to start working on next year. But I called a couple of NBA scouts I knew - they're always looking for international talent - and one of them told me to call the sports editor of the Tel Aviv newspaper.
"It so happens that the sports editor of the Tel Aviv newspaper is an American who has been over there 15 years. I got him on the first call and he said, `What do you need?' In my mind, I thought I described [Virginia's] Matt Blundin, somebody who was fearless and a tenacious rebounder."
Cohen, who was talking to a half-dozen other Division I programs, called Odom the next day and eventually committed to a visit. The only problem was, Owens and Rogers had met Proposition 48 standards.
"I just liked [Cohen] so much over the phone and everything had gone so well that we decided to pursue it," Odom said. "He's the kind of kid who will convert the time difference and get up at three in the morning to call you."
Odom has been told not to expect another Henefeld, one of the Division I leaders in steals and a good shooter, but Cohen, who will have at least two years of eligibility, will take up considerable space.
"I had heard he weighed 230," Odom said, "but, when he came in, he looked bigger. He told me, `Coach, I've got to tell you, I've been converting from kilos.' So, I got him on the scale and he weighed 254."
Former Maryland assistant coach Ron Bradley is a leading candidate to join the staff of Radford University basketball coach Oliver Purnell. The Highlanders are looking for a replacement for Tim Franklin, who has entered a doctoral program at Virginia Tech. Bradley worked with Purnell at the University of Maryland.
James Madison guard Todd Dunnings, a former All-Group AA choice at Robert E. Lee in Staunton, said he plans to withdraw from school for a year and then return for a final season of eligibility in 1991-92. Guard Bryan Edwards, who earlier had decided to leave Boston College, has visited JMU. The Dukes did not have a scholarship available until Dunnings announced his plans.
Louisville signee Anthony Cade from Oak Hill Academy did not meet Proposition 48 guidelines for freshman eligibility and will enroll at Sullivan Junior College in Louisville. . . . Steve Smith of Oak Hill was named national high school coach of the year by Bob Gibbons in his All Star Sports Report.
West Virginia has added a late recruit in 6-7 Ricky Robinson from Roselle, N.J., by way of the Canterbury School in New Milford, Conn. . . . Mike Crotty, younger and shorter brother of Virginia guard John Crotty, has signed a letter-of-intent with Dartmouth.
Clinch Valley chancellor Jim Knight announced Wednesday that the school will field a football team for the first time in September 1991. The program will be financed through private donations because Clinch Valley, located in Wise, may not receive state funds to support intercollegiate athletics.
The program will be conducted at the Division III, non-scholarship level, but Knight said there would be $250,000 in start-up costs, of which half has been raised, and a yearly cost of $250,000. Clinch Valley, which does not have a stadium, probably will play a reduced schedule in 1991 and use high-school stadiums in the area.
David Dyson of Roanoke College scored on his only shot and took every faceoff for the South team in its 18-16 victory in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Classic. Dyson won only 17 of 38 faceoffs, but was credited with neutralizing Yale's John Reese, the Division I midfielder of the year.
Tracy Coyne, first-year women's lacrosse coach at Roanoke College, has been named Division III national coach of the year by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association. . . . Washington and Lee defenseman Reid Campbell was one of three players recognized as Scholar All-Americans by the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.
Tony Jackson, who left Virginia Tech's basketball program after transferring from Notre Dame, will wind up his college career at the College of St. Rose, an NAIA program in Albany, N.Y. . . . Jim Miller, who was MVP when Virginia won the East Regional in 1984, has joined the basketball staff at Randolph-Macon.
Dawn Coleman, a first-team All-Group A selection and second-team All-Timesland choice from Parry McCluer, has accepted a grant-in-aid to play basketball for Liberty University. . . . Timesland track athlete of the year James Baker and All-Timesland running back Shawn Eaves of Giles have decided to attend Fork Union and play football.
Clinch Valley pitcher Bill Higgins, from Castlewood, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and will report to Clearwater, Fla., for reassignment, possibly to Martinsville. . . . Although Virginia had a team ERA in excess of 7.00, both UVa players who were drafted are pitchers, left-handers Doug Johns and Keith Seiler. Johns went to Oakland in the 14th round.
Virginia Tech reports that 54 student-athletes had grade-point averages of 3.4 or higher and made the dean's list this past semester, and 129 had GPAs of over 3.0.
by CNB