Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510130051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
- There was never any question that Virginia was counting on Norman Nolan for the upcoming basketball season.
The problem was, would Nolan be available?
Nolan's status was so shaky at one point that Cavaliers' coach Jeff Jones said Nolan almost surely would miss the first semester.
That was before Virginia discovered that Nolan qualified for one of several exceptions to the NCAA's so-called ``75-25 Rule,'' which requires that a student-athlete earn at least 75 percent of his required credit hours during the regular term.
There was more involved than filing the required paperwork, however. Nolan would have had difficulty winning his appeal without the support of the dean's office, which had his summer-school performance to consider.
``I think my parents played a major role in getting me focused,'' said Nolan, a sophomore from Baltimore. ``I spent 21/2 weeks there [after school] and just talked and talked and talked. It was like a 360-degree turnaround.''
Nolan put forth the desired effort in summer school and was rewarded Sept. 29, when the NCAA restored his eligibility. He is an odds-on choice to start for the Cavaliers at power forward.
``I have very, very high expectations for Norman ,'' said UVa coach Jeff Jones at a news conference called in conjunction with the start of practice Sunday. ``It may not happen overnight. It might not be this year, [but] I fully expect Norman to be an outstanding player.''
That is a bold prediction for a player who averaged 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds last year as the backup to All-ACC tournament and All-Midwest Regional selection Junior Burrough. Nolan played sparingly and let it affect his class work and his conditioning.
``I was living day to day,'' said Nolan, who played in 33 of 34 games but averaged only eight minutes. ``The coaches kept telling me, `You're the man next year,' but I just couldn't see it. I just felt the whole year was wasted.''
Tutors were available to Nolan, who had been a good student at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, but he made limited use of them.
``I didn't like people telling me what to do,'' he said. ``Nothing was going right for me, and I was just being stubborn. I've still got some stubborn in me.''
Nolan, a Parade and McDonald's All-American at Dunbar, wasn't so upset that he said he never considered leaving UVa.
``Junior's gone, and the opportunity's there if I come in and do what I'm supposed to do,'' Nolan said. ``So, why leave? This here is the best situation for me. That's why I've worked so hard.''
Nolan, listed at 6 feet 8 and 249 pounds last season, weighed in this year at 242. Nevertheless, he doesn't look like the same player.
``The reason I looked so big last year was because it was mostly fat,'' said Nolan, who has lowered his body fat from 19 to 13 percent.
``I told him a couple of weeks ago that he was actually starting to resemble the athlete we saw before his senior year in high school,'' Jones said. ``There's no way he could have played 30 minutes in a contest last year. He would have collapsed.''
Jones said he doesn't know if Nolan can match the 31.7 minutes Burrough averaged last year, but he thinks Nolan could surpass Burrough's rebounding average (8.7) with comparable playing time.
``In terms of offense, clearly [Nolan] is our best inside scoring threat,'' Jones said. ``I've said before that Norman came in with more offensive ability than any post man we've had at Virginia in a long, long time. It's just a matter or production.''
Nolan thinks he could average 15 points and 10 rebounds, which would take some off the pressure off a perimeter game featuring 3-point specialists Harold Deane and Curtis Staples.
``Ever since he found out the news last spring, I've seen a different Norman,'' Staples said. ``That was a scare. But, in a way, I'm glad it happened. He's on his toes now. He's doing everything he's supposed to do.''
Certainly, there will be temptations for Nolan to slide back into his old lifestyle, but playing time will not be a source of depression.
``I think I know what it takes,'' he said. ``I feel I've learned my lesson. I can't let up now. I've got three more years of college left.''
by CNB