Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 25, 1993 TAG: 9303250061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
TOP GUARD KNOWS SHOWTIME
With the elimination of New Mexico State, the NCAA men's basketball tournament lost one of its more colorful characters and one of its few players with a VMI connection.When asked what the entertainment is in Las Cruces, where New Mexico State is located, senior point guard Sam Crawford said, "You're looking at it."
Crawford, touted by himself and others as a first-round NBA draft pick, knows all about showtime from his days around the Los Angeles Lakers. Crawford's guardian, former VMI star Ron Carter, played for the Lakers in 1978-79 before going to work for team owner Jerry Buss.
Crawford lived in Chicago until he was 9, when he went to live with his aunt, who was married to Carter.
"I had been out there before and the ticket was always one-way," Crawford said. "The last time, I kept asking Ron, `When am I going to go home,' and they kept putting it off and putting it off. To me, it was like a vacation that didn't end."
Days before he left Chicago for the last time, Crawford went to the funeral of a friend who had been killed.
"How could I go wrong?" Crawford asked. "I went from the lifestyles of the poor and nothing to hanging around with Ron and Norm [Nixon] and being on a first-name basis with Magic Johnson."
Carter and Crawford, who was married this summer, eventually drifted apart before having a reconciliation of sorts when Crawford went to New Mexico State.
"Ron never wanted me to grow up," Crawford said. "He wanted me to stay `Little Sam' forever. He wanted to be able to control everything I did in my life instead of saying, `OK, he's of age now. He's going to do what he's going to do.'
"There was . . . one or two years when we didn't talk at all. We started talking again when I started going to junior college. He didn't understand how to be a father, so we were more like friends. Then, all of a sudden, he wanted to be a father. It just didn't work."
Crawford, an All-Big West selection who had 16 assists in the Aggies' first-round NCAA win over Nebraska, does not minimize Carter's influence on his career.
"As far as teaching me basketball, he didn't do that," Crawford said. "He just created a lot of opportunities so I could get somewhere to learn about the game. Being able to go to all the Lakers games and practices, that was all through him. Everything's fine between us now."
\ JUCOS ON PARADE: When Cincinnati played New Mexico State in the second round, nine of the 10 starters were junior-college transfers. The only exception was Cincinnati guard Tarrance Badgett, starting in place of injured Allen Jackson, another junior-college transfer.
\ DAY BREAK: Radford University star Doug Day, who broke the Division I record for 3-pointers made in a career, has been selected to participate in the Spring Long-Distance Challenge at the Final Four in New Orleans.
Day's competition will come from Ronnie Schmitz of Missouri-Kansas City, Mark Alberts of Akron and Bill Elliott of Mid-America Nazarene. Elliott holds the NAIA record with 467 3-pointers, Day has the Division I record with 401; Schmitz has 378 and Alberts 375.
"It will be a little different shooting in this type of contest, but I think it will be easier because I won't have a defender flying at me," said Day, a Blacksburg product who holds 13 school records, including career points with 2,027.
\ DON'T BE SURPRISED: Massachusetts concludes each practice by taking half-court shots until somebody makes one. "We started it four years ago," said coach John Calipari, who got the idea from the University of Kansas. "I won't be surprised if we make one in a game. We've shot over 6,000 of them."
\ THEY'RE EVERYWHERE: Much has been made of Bill McCaffrey, a transfer from Duke who has helped Vanderbilt reach the final 16, one round further than the Blue Devils. Another former Blue Devil, Crawford Palmer, was selected to the All-Ivy League second team for Dartmouth. Palmer, from Arlington, was third in the conference in scoring and first in rebounding.
\ COACHING RUMORS: The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that former Denver Nuggets and Loyola Marymount coach Paul Westhead met with officials at George Mason about the coaching vacancy at the school. The paper also reported that former Duke player Bob Bender, the coach at Illinois State, is interested in talking with Richmond.
\ MORE WEATHER STORIES: After losing nine of its first 11 baseball games to rain or snow, Washington and Lee staged its home opener Saturday - four hours from Lexington at Virginia Wesleyan.
"It's the worst I've ever seen - not even close," said Jeff Stickley, in his ninth year on the Generals' staff, the past seven as head coach.
Washington and Lee's rescheduling problems are compounded by the school's winter-exam break, which starts March 31. The Generals will not be able to play or practice until April 9, at which point they will have 11 games in 15 days.
"And that's not counting any more cancellations," Stickley said Wednesday. "The sun isn't out today, so it's [the field] not going to be dry tomorrow. And I hear it's going to rain some more this weekend. The New York Mets don't have the pitching staff to deal with this."
\ NON-REVENUE: Roanoke College's men's lacrosse team has two players named Matt Graham, both of whom made their first start Saturday in a 21-11 victory over Pfeiffer. Freshman Matt Graham started on defense and junior Matt Graham started in goal, although he is expected to be in reserve Saturday when fourth-ranked Roanoke College entertains No. 5 Ohio Wesleyan. Regular goalie Craig Fleming missed practice before the Pfeiffer game to attend a wedding.