Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``We've been getting our work done quietly,'' said Pullen, in his 10th year as Ferrum's men's basketball coach. ``We've been slipping up on people, which is the way we like it.''
Pullen will have a hard time keeping his team a secret much longer. Ferrum, a preseason choice for fourth place in the Dixie Conference, took a 4-0 conference record into a road game Wednesday night against Shenandoah.
There was little indication of a turnaround Jan. 6, when Newport News Apprentice hammered Ferrum 97-70 in the first round of the Roger Taylor Invitational at North Carolina Wesleyan.
``That's what brought things to a head,'' Pullen said. ``We met for most of the night and I just decided the team no longer existed as it had for the first two months. I had no more loyalties.''
Pullen started five freshmen the next night, when Barber Scotia pounded the Panthers, but he got his message across and the Panthers haven't lost since.
``I was very, very concerned,'' Pullen said. ``Any time you come into a season with high expectations and you're 3-7, you're doing a lot of soul-searching.''
Pullen undertook something of a housecleaning after last year's 13-13 season, bringing in 10 freshmen, but he can't fault the play of the veterans. John Breedlove is leading the Panthers in scoring with 19.7 points per game and fellow senior Kevin Keatts has been a marvel on defense.
In the absence of injured center Albert Hobbs, who finished the 1993-94 season with 12 straight double-doubles in scoring and rebounding, the Panthers do not start a player over 6-2.
Pullen praised the play of freshmen Marcus Toney, a 5-8 guard from Magna Vista, and Nathan Baker, a 6-3 forward from Parry McCluer. Toney is second on the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game and is one of three Panthers with more than 25 3-pointers.
``He's going to be a great one,'' Pullen said. ``We always felt we had a lot of untapped potential, but we were down and out. Our last chance to draw a line in the sand was the start of conference play.''
REJECTIONS GALORE: Tamiko Martin, a senior from Magna Vista, has 99 blocked shots through 15 games for the Ferrum women, who were 8-3 before losing three games in a row by a total of 12 points. Freshman Aimee Barker from Bassett is third on the team in scoring (13.9) despite starting only four games.
AROUND THE STATE: Laurie Miller, a 6-foot freshman at Eastern Mennonite, broke the NCAA record for all divisions when she blocked 18 shots in a 63-56 victory over Emory & Henry, including 13 in the first half. ... VMI was one of three men's basketball teams without a Division I victory through Tuesday night, joining San Jose State and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.
MILAM LEAVES LONGWOOD: One-time William Fleming standout Terrell Milan, who began his college basketball career at VMI, left the team at Division II Longwood College after playing in nine of 11 games and averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds.
ACC TALK: North Carolina State, whose 10-5 record has raised hopes of a postseason bid, suffered a damaging blow when second-leading rebounder Ricky Daniels suffered a hand injury that will keep him sidelined for 2-4 weeks. The Wolfpack has not won more than 12 games since 1990-91.
Rhode Island junior Cordell Llewellyn, who began his career at Wake Forest, is third in the Atlantic-10 Conference in scoring and has been ranked in the top 10 in four other statistical categories.
METHENEY SITS: Virginia men's basketball coach Jeff Jones said he regrets his decision to use 7-4 freshman Chase Metheney, who is ineligible for a red-shirt year because he played in two exhibition games.
Metheney has not dressed for a regular-season game because of injuries to his back, hamstring and ankle - none of them of the season-ending variety that would qualify him for a hardship ruling.
``He's healthy now,'' Jones said. ``If he gets to a point in practices where I think he can help us, then I'll dress him, but he's missed over six weeks of practice. He's behind in his conditioning and everything else.''
PACKER PREACHES: Billy Packer, college basketball commentator for CBS, has voiced concerns about a recent North Carolina workout attended by former Tar Heels' star Michael Jordan, who played one-on-one with some of the players.
``How can this be allowed when the NCAA has gone to such lengths to eliminate a coaching position?'' Packer asked. ``If Michael Jordan is allowed to work with Dean Smith's team, then other schools should bring in consultants. ... It makes you wonder what the definition of coach is.''
COACHING CAROUSEL: One-time Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Pat Watson has joined the staff of new Georgia Tech football coach George O'Leary. Watson, the Yellow Jackets' offensive-line coach under Bobby Ross from 1987-91, has been at Texas for the past three seasons.
LOCAL UPDATE: Former Salem High basketball standout Shaunice Warr scored 26 points in her first game for Northern Arizona, a Division I program in the Big Sky Conference.
Warr, a transfer from Virginia, started and averaged 12.2 points in her first 10 games after becoming eligible Dec. 19. She spent her first two years at Snow Junior College in Ephraim, Utah.
Tim Nininger, a junior from Christiansburg High School, is the starting 118-pounder for Clemson's wrestling team.
NON-REVENUE: Ferrum has been ranked No. 20 among Division III men's golf programs by Golf Weekly. It was the first ranking for the Panthers, who finished first and a second in two of their three fall tournaments.
The women's lacrosse team at Roanoke College has been ranked No. 5 in the preseason by College Sports magazine, which will feature former Maroons' star Liz Florence and her fight against cancer in an upcoming issue.
by CNB