Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 10, 1994 TAG: 9402100021
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Inside, close to the basket, is the zone where big bodies collide - oaccasionally with evil intent - in the never-ending battle for position, possession of the basketball, and a good look at the hoop.
On any particular play, there may be a forest of arms to peer through. Your view of the basket may be further obscured by leapers in the initial stages of launching themselves into orbit.
At a moment's notice, you can get slapped, kicked, poked, gouged, or undercut. And that on occasion can be courtesy of an overzealous teammate, should you come too close as he makes his appointed rounds. The military calls it "friendly fire."
Your enemies are even more deadly.
Yes indeed, playing inside can be downright dangerous.
But patrolling the inside is like a quiet, reflective afternoon in a church sanctuary compared to the place Safford came from before he arrived at Blacksburg High School two years ago.
Safford is from Keystone, W.Va., where he'd lived with his grandmother since he was 3. Both his parents, no longer together, live in Connecticut.
Over the years, Keystone and surrounding areas became increasingly disorderly neighborhoods for young people to grow up in.
Safford went to the local high school, Mount View, which is down the road in Welch. Now Welch will never be mistaken for the big city, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some big-city type perils.
The high school, for example, has developed into such a rough place that they have restricted entrance, camera surveillance in the halls, and metal detectors. The goal is to keep the non-student outlaws out and to keep a close eye on the scoundrels within so they are not active in illegal commerce or, worse, take a notion to bonk, filet, or fill with lead one of their fellow students.
Not a cheerful place.
"It's like a prison," Safford said. "Pitiful."
No different than a lot of places trying their best in an attempt to educate young people in these troubled times.
Safford himself was touched by the menace. One friend was shot down and murdered. Another murdered himself.
In stepped one Anthany Wheeler of Blacksburg, the father of Safford's cousin Tony Wheeler. Wheeler had been after Safford's grandmother for a while to let Jay move in with them. Wheeler thought that Safford should be out of the unsavory environment. Furthermore, Wheeler was among those who believed Safford had some promise as an athlete and would be better exposed in that regard to the rest of the world in Blacksburg.
Safford's grandmother was reluctant to turn him loose, though. At length, she relented.
Safford, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior, started his junior year at Blacksburg. Sports over at the high school haven't been the same since. Safford has been a highly-productive member of three programs including football and baseball as well as basketball.
Tony Wheeler is also terrific in all three sports. Wheeler is the better football player; Safford the better at basketball. The jury is still out on baseball. There haven't been such athletic standouts living under the same roof and playing at the same time at Blacksburg in who knows how long.
"I've really got to tip my hat to Mr. Wheeler for what he's done for Jay," Blacksburg basketball coach Bob Trear said.
You have to tip your hat to Safford for what he's done for Blacksburg. The defending New River District player of the year, Safford has averaged 15 points and seven rebounds per game during the current campaign. And that while sneering at the triple threat of a gimpy knee and double pneumonia.
The knee has kept his former aerial show closer to the ground, which has deprived the paying customers the privilege of witnessing some flamboyant dunks.
"I can't leap the way I used to," he said. "I used to be able to dunk it backwards, any way. Now, I can barely do it with two hands."
The knee, which was banged up in football, is one big throb after most strenuous activity. Ice is mandatory after practices and games.
Surgery after the season remains a possibility.
As for the pneumonia, that laid him low and put him in the hospital for a while. He missed parts of four games. He's rounding back into form now.
Form for Safford often means there is none. Because his basketball background didn't involve a lot structure, running set offenses and defenses has been a problem. Too, Trear's system isn't the easiest to pick up.
"He's the type you can't put a whole lot of restraints on," Trear said. "You can see the raw talent there. You worry if you polish it up too much, you might not have something as good as you had before."
So basically, they just turn him loose.
"You just let him roam the floor and let the others play around him," Trear said.
Safford is unorthodox in more ways than one when he plays. Sometimes, it's like he's making it up as he goes along. While most of what he does is far from textbook - his jumper, for example, has almost no rotation on it and comes in almost like a knuckleball - the results speak for themselves.
Trear recognizes that, of course. You don't stay in coaching as long he has when you make a habit of fooling around with something that works.
by CNB