Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007040085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Sparrow completed 142 of 231 passes (61.5 percent) for 2,114 yards and 24 touchdowns, but he did not make first- or second-team All-Group AAA in what now appears to have been a gross oversight.
In the state championship game, Woodrow Wilson took a 20-0 victory over Potomac High and its celebrated quarterback, Notre Dame-bound B.J. Hawkins. Darnell White of J.E.B. Stuart in Falls Church was the first-team All-Group AAA quarterback and Hawkins made the second team.
"I don't know if [the showdown with Hawkins] was all that big a deal for Aaron," Wilson coach Darnell Moore said. "It was for his teammates. They felt he was the best quarterback in the state and wanted to make sure B.J. Hawkins did not have a big effect on the outcome."
Sparrow, who became a starter in the fourth game of his freshman year, has passed for nearly 4,800 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career. He has been timed in 4.6 seconds for 40 yards but prefers a pro-style or drop-back system. He has thrown a football 74 yards.
Sparrow was at Virginia's camp last week and tentatively is planning to attend Tech's camp later in the summer.
Moore said Sparrow has a rough list of 14 schools that consists of Tech, UVa, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Duke, Arizona, South Carolina, Howard, Illinois, Houston, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan and Alabama.
Conspicuous by its absence is North Carolina, although Moore said it is too early to eliminate any school. "They were on the list at one time," Moore said. "If you want to make it 15, then you can add Carolina."
Moore said he has a rating system that includes such factors as how much a team runs the option.
"Syracuse says it's going to run the option nine times a game," Moore said. "That's 90 times a year, and anybody who's seen Aaron play can see he's a franchise-type player.
"Aaron does not want to redshirt as a freshman. He does not mind not starting, but he does not want to come in behind a junior or sophomore who has a couple of years left in the program."
Sparrow has a 2.3 grade-point average and plans to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test a second time. Moore said he has no fears that Sparrow will be eligible as a freshman.
Herman Moore, who will be a junior at Virginia next season, has been rated the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation by The Sporting News in its preseason yearbook. UVa senior Shawn Moore has been rated second among all-purpose quarterbacks behind 1989 Sporting News player of the year Darian Hagan of Colorado.
Shawn Moore was ranked sixth by The Sporting News in its preseason rating of Heisman Trophy candidates. However, Moore was not rated among the top 10 favorites for the Heisman Trophy according to odds set by USA Today sports analyst Danny Sheridan. Quarterbacks Craig Erickson of Miami and Ty Detmer of Brigham Young were the front-runners at 5-1.
Garth Fennegan, considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation when he signed with Clemson in 1989, has transferred to Brigham Young. After being redshirted in the fall, Fennegan was injured on the first day of spring practice. He wanted to play in a drop-back offense.
Taylor Ruble, the defensive player of the year for North Cross School, has decided to attend Emory & Henry. Ruble, an offensive tackle and linebacker, was a four-year starter for North Cross. . . . Blacksburg High defensive end and four-year starter Nathan Drowne is headed to Emory & Henry, not West Virginia Wesleyan, as originally reported.
Washington and Lee has announced the resumption of its football series against Davidson, which is making the move to Division III and has expressed interest in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Davidson will be W&L's homecoming opponent in 1991.
One-time Maryland signee John Leahy, who averaged 30 points per game this past season in Cape May, N.J., announced he will enroll at Seton Hall. Leahy received a release from his letter-of-intent with Maryland on the grounds that NCAA sanctions against the Terrapins were more severe than he was led to expect.
The NCAA received 143,000 requests for tickets, with a maximum of two tickets per request, for the 1991 men's Division I basketball tournament at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Although the building seats approximately 47,000 for basketball, only 24,000 tickets were allocated for applicants. The rest will go to the participating teams, the host institution and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Don Turpin and Maurice Davenport, teammates for Group A basketball runner-up James River, are headed to Shenandoah College, a Division III program in Winchester. Turpin once was believed headed to Fork Union Military Academy and Davenport to Bluefield College.
One-time Washington and Lee lacrosse star Mike Pressler has been hired as head coach at Duke. Pressler had been at Ohio Wesleyan. . . . Marc Van Arsdale, a two-time All-America defenseman at Hobart and an assistant lacrosse coach at his alma mater for the past three seasons, has been selected for the staff at Virginia. . . . Lacrosse players David Dyson and Mary Brown were voted men's and women's athletes of the year at Roanoke College.
Radford High product Rob Graham has been picked captain of the tennis team at Emory & Henry. Graham was 15-5 in singles and 15-2 with Mack Carr in doubles. . . . Teresa Southard, a four-year letter-winner for W&L's tennis team, was selected for the Division III Scholar-Athlete team. Southard, from Turner Ashby High School, was valedictorian of W&L's 1990 graduating class.
Longwood College baseball player Terry Taylor, a third baseman from Jefferson Forest High School, has been selected Longwood's freshman athlete of the year. . . . VMI's baseball staff has signed Chris Graham, a right-handed pitcher and shortstop from Glenvar High, and Chad Evans, a catcher from E.C. Glass in Lynchburg. Evans also played in the secondary for the Hilltoppers' football team.
by CNB