Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993 TAG: 9308120052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"It's the old bird-in-the-hand thing," Jeffries said Wednesday. "There was definite interest in me from some NBA teams, but they couldn't guarantee me anything. I got a very generous, six-digit offer."
Jeffries, who started 127 games for UVa during the past four seasons, said he was contacted by eight NBA teams after the draft and elected to attend rookie camps held by Boston and Chicago. Later, he played for both teams in summer leagues in New York and Salt Lake City, respectively.
"Of all the many players who went undrafted this year, Ted Jeffries has the most talent of anybody I've seen," said Jon Jennings, an assistant coach and scouting coordinator with the Celtics. "It's unfortunate for us and the other teams interested in Ted that he went to Spain. We think he can play in this league."
Jennings said the Celtics could not offer Jeffries a guaranteed contract because they signed Dino Radja of Croatia and were getting back Ed Pinckney after a year's injury rehabilitation. Both play power forward, the spot Jeffries is projected to play in the pros.
"If this were last year, he would have made our team," Jennings said. "[Free-agent power forward] Marcus Webb did. If I were comparing Jeffries to someone in the league, I'd say he has a chance to be an Anthony Mason, who played in the CBA for a couple of years before the Knicks got him."
Jeffries was selected by Hartford in the fourth round of the Continental Basketball Association draft after hearing as late as last week that he might be a first-round pick.
"Frankly, the money is so much better in Europe that it's hard to pass up," Jennings said, "but scouts are constantly seeing you play in the CBA and there's a much better chance of being called up during the season. But I'm definitely going to be keeping track of Jeffries in Europe."
Jeffries leaves today for Spain, where a 55-game season starts in September and lasts until May, counting the playoffs. He had a choice of playing in Spain, France, Turkey and, until last week, Italy.
"I've got mixed emotions," Jeffries said. "I'm a little nervous. I'm excited. I'm sad. The draft wasn't that much of a disappointment because I'd set myself up to expect the worst. But to see some guys go who I had seen at the NBA predraft camp and [at a college all-star tournament] in Portsmouth and thought I was better than . . . that hurt a little bit."
\ FROM THE PRO CAMPS: Jeffries said former teammate John Crotty is in a battle for the last roster spot with Utah, where Crotty played last season on a guaranteed contract. . . . VMI standout Lewis Preston of Franklin County left Wednesday to play professionally in Luxembourg. . . . Liberty University center Julius Nwosu went to rookie camp with the Detroit Pistons.
\ BOWERS ON TECH-UVA: Roanoke mayor David Bowers, when asked about the decision to move the Virginia-Virginia Tech basketball game from Roanoke to Landover, Md., used the opportunity to give his thoughts on the schools' rivalry.
"What I think the University of Virginia should do is get off its duff and help get Virginia Tech in the ACC," Bowers said. "If they really want to promote great competition in Virginia, that's what would do it.
"I think that's why North Carolina has stronger athletic programs than we do in Virginia. Those schools [four teams] are in the ACC. UVa is the only one from Virginia in the ACC, and, in comparison, that's hurt Virginia."
Bowers told columnist Jack Bogaczyk that he thinks UVa should be urged to push Tech for ACC membership "through the state legislature."
"That's something that could be taken up at that level," Bowers said.
Bowers said he didn't know if he should be commenting on next year's Tech-UVa basketball game because the Virginia State Bar, of which he is a member, meets at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
\ RECRUITING: Tim Strachan, a national-caliber quarterback prospect from DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., suffered a spinal-cord injury while at a beach last week that left him paralyzed and with an uncertain prognosis. Strachan, who was being pursued by Virginia Tech and Virginia, was injured while body surfing in Bethany Beach, Del.
Strachan was on vacation with former DeMatha teammate Doug Karczewski, who left Sunday for his first year at UVa. According to a report in The Washington Post, Karczewski was in a cast for eight weeks and was told he would not be able to play sports when he fell off a bicycle and injured his spine in the eighth grade. He was cleared to play two years later.
\ ACADEMICS: Darryl Gilliam, a 300-pound line prospect who signed with Maryland after being denied admission to Virginia, met NCAA academic requirements for freshman eligibility, contrary to earlier reports.
Another one-time UVa target, running back Kenny Shaw from High Point, N.C., did not make the grade after signing with North Carolina.
West Virginia has announced that defensive linemen Keith Drayton and Frank Birts are academically ineligible as freshmen.
by CNB