Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Maybe that shouldn't have been so surprising. When he graduated from Lord Botetourt High School in 1992, Prince won the Roanoke Valley B'nai B'rith award for athletics and academics. The point guard also was labeled a marginal Division I prospect.
It appears Prince has proven Joe Cantafio right and wrong. The former Keydets coach was right in recruiting Prince, but perhaps wrong in not playing him more last season. Prince has become the floor leader in VMI's new system and one of the nation's leaders in playmaking.
``Sure, I'd like Bobby to shoot more,'' said Bart Bellairs, VMI's first-year coach. ``How much more can I ask of him, though? We press to force tempo, and he's playing end-to-end. He's handling the ball and penetrating. And when he does shoot, he doesn't take dumb shots.
``If I ask Bobby to do more, he might sue me.''
That's not likely, because the Blue Ridge resident has gone from a frog to the old Prince. He ranks fifth among NCAA Division I players in assists, averaging 8.4 per game, a rate at which he'll own VMI's single-season record by mid-February. That's a number that shouldn't stand alone, however.
Considering the furious pace at which the Keydets play, the blond junior's assists-to-turnovers ratio of 2.4 is remarkable. His shooting also has improved over his first two seasons, and he's averaging 11.2 points per game.
``The biggest difference is confidence,'' Prince said Monday night following a ninth consecutive VMI loss, 112-87 to Marshall. ``There's nothing different or abnormal about what I'm doing. I played a lot of summer-league ball, and I did more conditioning. Maybe with a new coach, the attitude is different. For me, it is a new lease on life.''
Prince started 19 games as a freshman and averaged 4.8 points with 93 assists. Last season, Cantafio, now at Furman, turned to freshman Darryl Faulkner at the point. Prince averaged fewer than eight minutes per game. Faulkner was an academic casualty this season, however, and in preseason, Bellairs saw in Prince someone who played smart and with control in a system that can swerve to the outer limits of cohesion.
``A lot of people asked me if I was going to transfer last summer,'' said Prince, 20. ``I heard that a lot in summer ball in Roanoke. I never thought about leaving. I wouldn't leave VMI for anything. I'm on scholarship, I'm majoring in civil engineering and I'm going to have a good degree when I'm through. My teammates are wonderful. And once you've gone through the `rat' line, it's like your class is a family.
``I don't know what happened last year. I just didn't play. I never had any altercations with Coach Cantafio. What happened, happened. That's about all that can be said.''
Prince's grade-point average is better than 3.8. Asked whether that means the 6-foot-1 guard gets to skip study hall, Bellairs said, ``He should be teaching it.'' Prince is enjoying basketball again, except when he looks at the scoreboard.
``I'm having fun, but you can have fun playing on an outdoor court,'' he said. ``We've got to start winning. It's time to do that. We can have fun in the off-season.''
Prince's emergence has been perhaps the most gratifying part of another season of struggle for the Keydets.
``Bobby was probably a Division II or III prospect who has become a self-made, quality Division I player,'' Bellairs said. ``He just wants to outwork everyone. That's why he plays at this level. The other day I made Bobby carry the water buckets. I told him that that way, we could say he really does everything for us.''
by CNB