Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Actually, only those who haven't seen the Highlanders since about the middle of last season might have problems recognizing them.
Known for years for its perimeter game (so perimeter that coach Ron Bradley used to refer to his ``four-guard offense'' with a straight face), Radford at last can pull off an inside job.
The Highlanders presented convincing evidence in the latter half of the 1994-95 campaign. With 6-foot-8 freshman Kevin Robinson starting the last 16 games and 6-9 classmate Eric Parker playing 272 minutes despite being slowed by mononucleosis and a dislocated finger, Radford had its best rebounding team in nine years.
Of course, 6.4 boards per game belonged to Antoine Dalton, who completed his eligibility and is considering an extended postgraduate hoops tour of Europe. The 6-9 center was one of the team's MVPs as Radford went 16-12, but 224 combined rebounds from Robinson and Parker offer substantial proof the days of Highlanders being laid low in the post are through.
``We're still learning to play this way after going to what we called the `bigger lineup' part of the way through last season,'' Bradley said. ``This is a young team, too, even though we do have some good playing experience.''
Bradley didn't earn a doctorate in sports psychology slinging around loud-mouthed bravado, but in this case, the Radford boss may be speaking in tones a little too soft.
These Highlanders may be carrying the big stick.
Big South Conference coaches and publicity agents picked Radford second in the annual preseason poll behind defending champion North Carolina-Greensboro, which welcomes back all five starters from a team that went 23-6 overall, 14-2 in the league.
Barely perceptibly, you sense Bradley give a casual shrug. He has his sophomore big boys to go with a heavy-duty backcourt of Anthony Walker (15.5 ppg, 5.4 apg) and Jason Lansdown (11.3 ppg, 3.0 apg, 40 percent from 3-point range).
``I don't know if Anthony is a true point guard or a true two [shooting] guard. I do know he's a true player,'' Bradley said. ``I'll put Anthony up against anybody in our region.''
Lansdown, the author of 2,346 points during his career at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, has spent the better part of the past two years impressing his coaches with his improvement as a defender.
There is a school of thought that Walker and Lansdown form the best backcourt in the conference.
More perimeter help is on the way with two more sophomores, 6-4 Chibi Johnson and 6-6 Corey Reed. Both had extensive playing time last season and both will contend for starting positions. Johnson is an athletic sort who led the team in scoring off the bench (5.2 ppg). Reed shot almost 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Then, there is freshman Leslie Ballard, a late backcourt signee from Washington, D.C. He will be groomed to play both spots, but particularly the point.
``He'll be a very good player in this league,'' Bradley said.
An infusion of talent also will be coming inside. Mike Petin, a 6-7 transfer from North Carolina-Wilmington is eligible. So is is 6-9 Jermaine ``Kojak'' Williams, a transfer from Sullivan (Ky.) Junior College. He's big and strong and will be able to defend and rebound as he works his way into the lineup. Another JUCO, 6-1 point guard Marquiz Williams, ``has been a real pleasant surprise with his knowledge of the game,'' Bradley said.
Elsewhere around the league, Liberty figures to be one of the top contenders, with 6-10, 240-pound Nigerian Peter Aluma, the Big South's best big man. The Flames were a conference tournament semi-finalist last year and will be among the teams to beat as long as the conference's postseason dance is at the Vines Center in Lynchburg.
Charleston Southern also should be strong. The defending tournament champion has a fine nucleus in Brett Larrick, T.L. Latson and Jeff Daniels.
North Carolina-Asheville will be improved. Like UNCG, Maryland-Baltimore County has a new coach in Tom Sullivan (UNCG's new coach is Randy Peel). Coastal Carolina is coming off a year of NCAA probation. Winthrop has been picked to finish last.
RADFORD SCHEDULE
November
Saturday, Tennessee-Martin, 7:30 p.m.; Monday, Davis & Elkins, 7:30 p.m.
December
2, at VMI, 1 p.m.; 5, at Richmond, 7:30 p.m.; 7, East Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m.; 9, Middle Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m.; 16, Catholic, 7:30 p.m.; 20, at Florida State, 7:30 p.m.; 23, at Marshall, 7:30 p.m.; 28, at East Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m.; 30, at South Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
January
3, Duquesne, 7 p.m.; 6, at UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m.; 8, Md.-Baltimore County, 7:30 p.m.; 13, Winthrop, 7:30 p.m.; 15, Liberty, 7:30 p.m.; 20, at Coastal Carolina, 7:30 p.m.; 22, at Charleston Southern, 7:30 p.m.; 27, UNC Asheville, 7:30 p.m.; 29, at Md.-Baltimore County, 7 p.m.
February
3, at Liberty, 8 p.m.; 7, UNC Greensboro, 7:30 p.m.; 10, at Winthrop, 7 p.m.; 16, Coastal Carolina, 7:30 p.m.; 19, Charleston Southern, 7:30 p.m.; 24, at UNC Asheville, 2 p.m.; 29, Big South Conference tournament at Liberty.
by CNB