Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 9, 1990 TAG: 9007090149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Easy enough, Kevin Martin says. Just pack up and move the family to Henry County.
Before this Piedmont all-star took took the floor Sunday in the Open division gold-medal game of the Virginia CorEast State Games, Martin sounded like a summer employee of the Henry County Chamber of Commerce.
"I owe a lot of my game to playing where I have," said Martin, who grew up in Collinsville, in the heart of the basketball-rich Martinsville area.
"The people in Henry County are crazy about basketball," he said. "During the summer, all the kids around Martinsville are playing the game.
"And even at a young age, the kids are out to kill one another. It's crazy. It's just so competitive. Shoot, just make the team down there and you've done something."
Martin had no difficulty making the team at Fieldale-Collinsville High. The 6-foot-3, 165-pound swingman led Timesland in scoring last season, averaging 28.8 points a game.
Although he is considered a good shooter, Martin said he likely was a step slow to get much serious attention from NCAA Division I programs. He eventually signed with Division III Roanoke College.
"I talked to some Division I [schools] during the year, then more at the end of the year," Martin said. "A few talked about walking on. I talked with VMI, Campbell and Radford. But I wasn't really expecting to go Division I.
"It didn't work out, so I just had to look at things realistically. [Going Division I] was something I wanted since I was a little kid. But I guess that's part of life. You can't always get what you want."
Unlike some in Martin's shoes, he's not bitter.
"I was what they call a borderline player," Martin said. "I'm not a super athlete like some of these guys here, but I'm good fundamentally.
"Hey, if I had been good enough, I would have gone somewhere. I'll just have to play Division III as if I'm a Division I on a Division III level.
"One thing, there should be a lot less pressure in Division III. I can play, relax and have some fun.
"Besides, with Roanoke being so close, I'll be able to bring my clothes back home to get washed."
Back home. With Kevin Martin, that's where everything seems to begin and end.
"The pressure is on us," said Martin, glancing at his Martinsville teammates.
"Right now, the little kids from Martinsville, the 12-and-under team, are out playing in a national tournament in Utah.
"And in two weeks this team will go to the national AAU tournament in Florida.
"We've got to win."
It's that kind of spirit that Martin figures will keep basketballs bouncing for years to come in Henry County.
"If you want to play this game, Martinsville is the place," he said.
"Believe me, you can always find a game around Martinsville. It's no problem there. Just look and you'll find one."
\ Charlottesville man-child Junior Burroughs didn't show for the bronze-medal game Sunday at North Cross.
But from the sound of things, Burroughs put on quite a show Saturday.
After scoring 20 points in his only game, the 6-foot-7, 215-pounder dazzled the competition by scoring a perfect 10 in a dunk-off to win the State Games' Slam Dunk Contest over William Fleming's Joe Fitzgerald.
Burroughs began the dunk-off with what he described as a "between-the-legs, reverse tomahawk slam."
"Just one of those dunks," Burroughs reportedly said.
Not quite so, others said.
"What was it? It was nasty," said Franklin County's Josh Underwood, a teammate of Burroughs on Saturday.
"Burroughs went to the foul line, stood backward to the basket, bounced the ball between his legs off the backboard into his hands and slam-bammed it.
"Nobody could believe it. Fitzgerald just gave up after that. He couldn't top it. Nobody could. I haven't seen anything like it."
Burroughs, a top 25 prospect according to some recruiting services, will play his senior season at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson.
by CNB