Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102220357
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The William Fleming guard leads a double life. He's the Colonels' starting point guard, and for the last two Januarys, he's joined Dr. Paul Bowles, a Roanoke pediatrician, making rounds and seeing patients.
Jennings isn't a doctor, but he hopes to be one in the future. He attends the Roanoke Valley Governor's School and has a future that's bright, not because of the points he scores on the court but because of the ones he makes in the classroom.
Jennings, whose above 3.2 grade-point average earned him membership in the Beta Club, an honorary fraternity, has had a mentorship with Bowles for the last two years as part of the Governor's School program. He's also been accepted to the Who's Who list of high school students.
"Torino is interested in going to medical school and becoming a pediatrician," Bowles said. "He's spent the mornings going around with me, doing what I did, just to see what I did."
Jennings' hospital rounds and visits to patients with Bowles have whetted his interest in a medical career.
"At first I was interested in engineering, but I took some courses at the University of Maryland after my 10th grade year. It was after that I felt I'd be more interested in medicine," Jennings said.
Basketball has as much of Jennings' attention as medicine does. He hardly looks like a basketball player because, at 5 feet 6 and 115 pounds, he is perhaps the smallest varsity player in Timesland.
"When I was 8, I was cut from a team of 11-12 year olds," Jennings said. "I started to play hard every day so I could prove myself."
Jennings isn't self-conscious about his height or size and uses them to his advantage. He averages 6 points, 3 assists and 2 steals a game.
"When I was little, I had a very vivid imagination. I thought one day I would grow. It never happened. I learned to live with it as best I could," he said.
"The way I feel about my height, it's more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Players might jump higher or rebound more. What I miss out on rebounds, I make up for it in assists and steals."
Fleming coach Burrall Paye never had any doubts about Jennings. "He might have been mismatched [on defense] except for his quickness. He runs under people and he's quick and smart about it. If he's not the quickest player I've coached, he's close to it," Paye said.
For all his success on the court, Jennings admits that it almost never happened. "In ninth grade, I had just decided I was going for academics and was going to give up basketball," he said.
"I transferred to Ruffner, and Champ Hubbard [who starts at the other guard spot] had a little talk with me. He encouraged me, so I just went on and I haven't been discouraged since then."
If Jennings has been disappointed, it's been in seeing other athletes who didn't make it because they were academic casualties. "I consider that not only discouraging to that person, but also to me," Jennings explained.
"It hurts to see a person who could have had a good life with athletics. What hurts most are little kids who look up to athletes to set an example. I consider that [the ones who failed out academically] are not only letting me down, but also letting down the next generation."
Jennings, though, isn't one who tries to impress people with his academic prowess.
"Torino is very easy-going, very friendly and comes over as bright. But he is not an intellectually stuffy individual. He doesn't try and throw academics around. He's a very well-adjusted kid who has a variety of interests," Bowles said.
"No one kids me [about being smart]. It's a matter of mutual respect," said Jennings. "If the only thing I did was school work, then somebody might get on me.
"But I keep myself involved in enough other things that they won't say I'm a nerd."
Specifically, he's involved in church work, is vice president of the senior class at Fleming, is on the guidance advisory committee for Roanoke public schools and is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Still, there is always basketball.
"I like to succeed in the classroom, but as far as giving me a thrill, I like basketball more than I like schoolwork. It's just that I have my priorities set," said Jennings.
by CNB