Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993 TAG: 9302040097
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CHRIS STEUART STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
HAIRSTON INSIDE-SCORING FORMULA: `TURN AROUND AND JUMP QUICK'
Through the eyes of a coach or a fan, Chris Hairston is an exquisite basketball player with agile moves and flowing grace.Defensive opponents, however, are seeing an entirely different Hairston. They gawk at the domineering player who is wreaking havoc by pouring basketballs in the net like a gas-man pours gas into a Winston Cup race car.
Hairston is a swingman on the Radford High School boys' team, and he is simply scalding the nets for the Bobcats.
"He's a scorer. Not just a shooter," said Radford basketball coach Brenda King.
Indeed, Hairston is averaging 22.3 points per game, which leads the New River District and is fifth best in Timesland.
A recent move from an off-guard slot to the low post has increased Hairston's production, and his confidence.
In three consecutive Radford wins, Hairston has tallied a combined 72 points, capped by an 18-point, 11-rebound effort in a 60-54 win over Marion Tuesday night.
"I am a lot more comfortable down on the blocks," Hairston said. "When I was playing outside and I would have a an open shot, I would be scared to shoot."
The main reason Hairston has found a comfort zone in the post is because it nearly is impossible to match up against him.
He has a simple formula for scoring inside: "I just turn around and jump, and jump quick," he said.
That speed makes him tough to guard for a big man, and he foils the other alternative - a smaller, quicker defender - with his 6-foot-2, 169-pound formidable frame.
"Chris is very difficult to match up with because he is quicker and more agile than most post players," King said. "He's graceful . . . poetry in motion. He makes everything look so effortless. He does the things you just can't teach. From a physical standpoint he's a kind of player you dream about coaching."
If he's a dream player, last year was a nightmare season.
"Last year I wasn't on the team half of the season because of my grades," he said. "That woke me up. This year I haven't made anything below a C."
After the team takes care of its drive to the New River District title and makes the regionals, which are Hairston's team goals, he has some other business to attend to:
"I want to go to college and play basketball, somewhere. I have talked to the coach at Clinch Valley College," he said. "Coach King wants me to make up a list of colleges and I'm going to do that this week. I think I want to go to a junior college."
Hairston, who played quarterback, running back, wide receiver, defensive back and wide receiver on Radford's football team, says there is no contest between the two sports.
"I like basketball more than football," he said. "I'd rather go anywhere and play basketball."
Hairston said there is one thing that would set him apart from other players a college coach may be recruiting.
"I am a better athlete than he is," Hairston said.
But, Hairston said his top priority will be grades. "Yes, they come first."
He said he would go to college and stay off the basketball court if his grades weren't up to snuff.
One major flaw in Hairston's game is "free-throw shooting," he readily admits. "That's the one thing that's messing me up."
But he said he and his brother, Steven, head for the Dedmon Center most Sundays to practice free throws.
Tonight, Hairston hopes that practice helps the Bobcats (6-9 overall, 1-1 in NRD) continue their three-game win-streak when they host NRD-leading Blacksburg tonight.
"At the beginning of the year we weren't playing as a team," Hairston said. "But things are starting to go for us now. Everybody is playing well and they are getting confidence that we can beat some of these teams."