Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190190
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
He was wrong.
"A couple of days later, a friend back home in [Virginia Beach] mentioned something about coming back for another year," said Barefoot, who already had been redshirted once and was in his fifth year in the program. "I knew nothing about it, but I went to see [assistant athletic director] Steve Horton because he had dealt in this sort of thing."
Horton, a former legislative assistant with the NCAA, determined that Barefoot would be eligible for an extra year of eligibility if it was determined that his injury was severe enough to prevent him from attending classes.
"I had met with my parents and already decided to drop out of school for the fall semester," said Barefoot, son of the former Tech receiver of the same name. "The doctors had told me I couldn't drive, and I couldn't move around well enough to catch the bus."
Until recent years, the NCAA waived the five-year rule only in the case of military service or church mission.
"It was an extremely unusual situation because we had to appeal to the NCAA to have the five-year clock interrupted, and we had to appeal to the Metro Conference for a hardship ruling," Horton said. "Usually, you don't need both. It's the first time I've heard of it."
Barefoot had reconstructive surgery after tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in the knee during Tuesday practice after Tech's opener against Akron.
"We weren't even in full pads," Barefoot said. "It was the sixth of 12 periods and I was scheduled to leave after the sixth period for a night class. I was walking back to the huddle when the momentum of the play caused one of the other players to run into me.
"I got hit directly on the knee, which hyperextended. After playing five years, I'd seen six or seven [major knee] injuries. I felt the pain. I heard the pop. I knew I wasn't going to get up any time soon."
Barefoot returned for classes in the spring, but did not participate in spring practice.
After rehabilitation, Barefoot says his left knee is 90 percent as strong as his right knee, and he has his eyes set on the starting job vacated when Brian McCall finished his career. Other contenders are Greg Daniels and Brad Jones.
"One of the main reasons I went through with it was the opportunity to start," Barefoot said. "I'm not coming back just to be a part of the team; I'm planning on contributing a lot."
Mike Thomas and Oscar Sturgis, cornerstones of North Carolina's much-acclaimed football recruiting class, said they have not qualified for freshman eligibility under Proposition 48 and will attend Fork Union Military Academy.
Thomas and Sturgis, teammates at Richmond County High School in Rockingham, N.C., have indicated they will enroll at Carolina in 1991-92 if they meet the 700 minimum on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Thomas, a high school All-America quarterback, was selected in the third round of the free-agent baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles and is with Bluefield (W.Va.) of the Appalachian League.
If Thomas qualifies to play football for North Carolina, he would have to pay his way because he is a professional in another sport.
North Carolina basketball player Rick Fox lost 15 pounds after taking a physical for the Canadian national team. Fox represents Canada because he was born in Toronto before moving to the Bahamas at age 2.
"It was terrible," said Fox, who, at 6 feet 7, played at close to 240 pounds last year. "I'm supposed to be an athlete. Here's the athletes in Canada, not considered great athletes, and they're in better shape than I'm in. It was embarrassing to me."
Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons has said the most impressive player at the NIKE camp in Princeton, N.J., was a rising junior, 6-4 Jason Kidd from Alameda, Calif. The camp annually brings together 120 of the top players in the country.
Radford University soccer star Dante Washington, the leading scorer in Division I in 1988 as a freshman, is training with the under-23 U.S. national team. Washington, redshirted in 1989 after suffering a broken leg in the Highlanders' second match, had one goal and two assists for the East team, which won a bronze medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival.
Former Radford University pitcher Phil Leftwich, the California Angels' first-round draft pick, is off to a 4-1 start with a 3.27 ERA for the Boise (Idaho) Hawks of the Class A Northwest League.
Carlton Reed, most valuable player at the Virginia High School Coaches' Association all-star baseball game, is headed to Ferrum College. Reed pitched and played first base at Randolph Henry High, alma mater of Panthers football and baseball star Freddie Stovall.
Former Virginia All-American Roddy Marino scored four goals to help lead the United States past Canada 19-15 to its third consecutive world lacrosse championship in Perth, Australia.
Jerry Cheynet of Virginia Tech has been selected to the NCAA Men's Soccer Regional Advisory Board. . . . Radford University women's field hockey coach Jeff Woods guided the East to a silver medal in the men's field hockey competition at the Olympic Festival. The U.S. national team represented the victorious South.
by CNB