
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994                   TAG: 9405060034
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JAMES MADISON AIDE, RECRUIT JOIN VMI TEAM

Bart Bellairs, VMI's new basketball coach, has had a productive week.

Bellairs added Kenny Brooks to his staff as a full-time assistant on Thursday. Today, Mike Spinelli of Falls Church High School will become VMI's third signee of the season.

Brooks worked with Bellairs as a player and a coach at James Madison, where Bellairs was an assistant for six seasons before becoming the Keydets' coach April 14. Brooks, 25, was a guard for JMU from 1987-91 and spent last season as a restricted-earnings coach on the staff of Lefty Driesell.

"I'm very excited about making the move up to VMI. It's a great opportunity to turn around a program. It's going to be a lot of fun. I have confidence in Coach Bellairs and Ramon Williams that we can do that," Brooks said.

Bellairs said Brooks would bring enthusiasm and a good recruiting base to the Keydets' staff.

"He's young, and he relates well to players. And he's from Waynesboro, so he'll give us an edge in recruiting around the state. A lot of people know his name," Bellairs said.

Williams, a full-time assistant at VMI last season under Joe Cantafio, has been retained by Bellairs. The Keydets also may hire a restricted-earnings coach.

Bellairs' work on the recruiting trail will pay off today when Spinelli, a 6-foot-8 center, signs with the institute. Falls Church basketball coach Pat Dolan said Thursday that Spinelli would sign a letter of intent at 9:30 this morning.

Spinelli joins 6-10 Greg Robison of Chilicothe, Ohio, (via Fork Union Military Academy) and 6-5 Nate Shiflett of Charlotte, N.C., who signed with the Keydets in April.

Spinelli, a first-team all-Potomac District selection, averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Jaguars, who posted a 4-17 record this season. He set school records with 48 points and 25 rebounds in a game against George Marshall this season.

Bellairs said he expected to fill VMI's remaining scholarship with a point guard.

by CNB