Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Although he has played in 28 of 29 games, Nolan said he became so frustrated at one point that he wondered if UVa was the right place for him.
``That thought has crossed my mind,'' said Nolan, a 6-foot-8, 249-pound freshman. ``It's getting a little better, but the first thing you want to do is pick up and leave.''
Fellow freshman and McDonald's All-American Curtis Staples experienced similar feelings after his first game, but Staples took advantage of an opportunity because of an injury to Cory Alexander and became an ACC All-Rookie performer.
Nolan was playing behind three post players in their fourth year - Junior Burrough, Yuri Barnes and Chris Alexander - and there wasn't as great a need for his services.
``I knew that before I came here,'' said Nolan, from Dunbar High School in Baltimore. ``I was told they wanted me to play this year, and that's what I wanted to do.''
Nolan briefly was the first frontcourt substitute after Barnes was suspended for a violation of team rules, but he has played more than 11 minutes in a game only once since Christmas.
``I didn't feel like things should have gone this way,'' Nolan said. ``Part of it was my fault. I haven't been playing the way I'm capable. When I didn't get the time I felt I deserved, I didn't want to give up, but I felt like giving up. Everything started crumbling.''
Nolan enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds, with highs of eight points against VMI and seven rebounds in eight minutes against George Mason.
UVa coach Jeff Jones said recently on his radio call-in show that Nolan has more potential offensively than any post player in his five-year tenure, including Burrough.
``When I came in, I was out of shape, and it took me a lot longer than I wanted [to get in condition],'' Nolan said. ``Over the summer I plan on being in the weight room and running with the football players. I'm still not where I want to be, but I've made gradual improvement.''
ON NICHOLLS: Nicholls State, Virginia's opponent Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional, moved up to the Division I level in 1980 and had only three winning seasons before Rickey Broussard arrived as coach in 1990.
The Colonels were 3-25 in Broussard's first season before jumping to 15-13 - only the fourth time in NCAA history that a team has had a winning season after posting as few as three victories in the previous season. Since then, Nicholls has gone 14-12, 19-9 and 24-5.
``They've done a good real good job of recruiting in the state,'' said Ron Everhart, who coaches at McNeese State, one of the Colonels' rivals in the Southland Conference. ``These are all kids who have come up through the program; it's the first year they've really dominated people.''
Of the 11 players on Nicholls State's NCAA Tournament, 10 are from Louisiana. Two starters are transfers from junior-college players, but 20-point-per-game scorers Gerald King and Reggie Jackson are four-year players from Louisiana high schools.
Nicholls State, which enters the tournament on a 12-game winning streak, is 20-1 against league opponents, counting the conference tournament. The four non-conference losses, all on the road, were to Oklahoma, Memphis, Texas Tech and Mississippi State. All but Texas Tech (20-9) made the NCAA field.
``I think [the Colonels have] got a chance against Virginia; I really do,'' said Everhart, a former Virginia Tech player and VMI assistant coach. ``I wouldn't be stunned, but, outside of the top five or six teams in the country, I wouldn't be surprised to see Nicholls beat any of them.''
IN THE DARK: Jones said he went through the brackets after the selections were announced Sunday and determined that Nicholls State was one of three teams that he had not seen on television during the season. A handful of tapes, which arrived Monday, helped familiarize him with the Colonels.
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