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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995                   TAG: 9505240010
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

BARBER'S FALL GETS OFF ON WRONG FOOT

Now, he knows.

Barber, named ACC rookie of the year after leading the conference in interceptions, underwent surgery Thursday after tests revealed a broken navicular bone near the inside of his left ankle.

``I thought it was just bone spurs and that it was just something I had to deal with,'' said Barber, a rising sophomore from Cave Spring High School. ``It was getting pretty frustrating, to the point of being annoying.''

Dr. Frank McCue, UVa's orthopedic surgeon, did a bone graft from Barber's left leg and stabilized the ankle area with a screw. He expects Barber to start rehabilitation in six to eight weeks.

Barber appeared to be limping and complained of soreness in his foot following UVa's final regular-season game. He did not play in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., after aggravating the injury during workouts.

McCue decided more tests were necessary after Barber heard a pop in his foot at the Cavaliers' spring game in Richmond.

``It wasn't completely out of the blue,'' McCue said. ``It might have healed on its own, but there were probably some [stress] elements in there. There was a fracture line in there before, but we thought it was spurs.''

Barber was second in NCAA Division I-A in interceptions last year, with eight, and had enjoyed an outstanding spring before his injury, according to head coach George Welsh and defensive coordinator Rick Lantz. Off the field, Barber had his best semester academically, with a 3.56 grade-point average.

NEW FACES: Two of the Roanoke-area players the Cavaliers had been courting since February, Northside High School offensive lineman Jeff Painter and North Cross quarterback Hal Johnson, have decided to enroll at Virginia and will be featured in the UVa media guide among selected walk-ons.

Painter, a first-team All-Timesland and second-team All-Group AA selection, was rated one of the top 25 prospects in the state by SuperPrep magazine before the season. Johnson, who passed for more than 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns in his career, turned down Harvard and Princeton after receiving UVa's academic-based Jefferson Scholarship.

DIXON EMERGES: Mark Dixon, an All-America guard for Virginia in 1993, is starting for the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League of American Football. Dixon, released by the Philadelphia Eagles following a back injury in the spring of 1994, was working at a golf course when his agent got him a WLAF tryout.

METHENEY CLEARED: UVa men's basketball coach Jeff Jones said the NCAA has accepted the Cavaliers' hardship appeal on behalf of 7-foot-3 freshman Chase Metheney. The center played in two preseason games, which could have cost him a year's eligibility, but the Cavaliers persuaded NCAA officials that an accumulation of injuries was incapacitating.

Jones said he has received questions about the 1995-96 eligibility of freshman forward Norman Nolan, but indicated Nolan's academic standing is nothing that can't be resolved in study hall. Nolan is the leading candidate to replace Junior Burrough, the Cavaliers' leading scorer in 1994-95, at power forward.