ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FERRUM
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
MICHAEL HUNTER has overcome a heart murmur and some academic difficulties to play the game he loves - basketball - at Ferrum.
Michael Hunter has decided he can't live without basketball, even though a year ago, some thought he couldn't live with it.
The Ferrum College swingman has followed the beat of a bouncing basketball since eighth grade. But during the fall of 1994 doctors noticed a change in his heartbeat, and a problem with a vital organ forced Hunter to give up the game he held vital to his sanity.
``It was something I always had,'' said Hunter, who has had the condition - diagnosed as a murmur - checked every four years throughout his life. ``My doctor said [the change] was from a lot of stress - basically from classes.''
Whatever the problem's source, the Clifton Forge native had to stay away from competitive basketball. But that wasn't anything new. After first playing basketball seriously in the eighth grade, Hunter had divided his time among football, basketball and track at Alleghany High School in Low Moor.
Football was figured to be the 6-foot-2, 180-pound youngster's ticket to college. He was excellent as Alleghany's quarterback, and James Madison and Wake Forest wanted him as a safety. His basketball profile was much simpler.
``All the fans wanted to see me dunk, so that's what I did,'' Hunter said.
As a high school senior, Hunter wanted to stop getting hurt, so after suffering bruised ribs and a back injury during the 1992 football season, he gave up the fall sport.
With basketball on his mind, Hunter met Ferrum coach Bill Pullen at a tournament and soon after visited the Franklin County campus. Saying it ``reminded me of home,'' Hunter signed on with the Panthers. The youngster who dreamed of playing basketball professionally overseas was taking the first step toward that goal.
Then, he took a step away.
After two days at college in August 1993, Hunter left. Apparently, Ferrum wasn't enough like home.
``I don't even think he unpacked,'' said his mother, Carlene. While his father, Russell, had wanted him to play football, Carlene favored basketball.
``Michael came home, and I told him, `Your goal is gone.'''
With an ear to his mother's words but still apprehensive about higher education, Hunter enrolled at Dabney Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge to pick up a few credits. ``I wasn't ready,'' Hunter said.
But he also wasn't ready to quit competitive basketball. Intramurals at Dabney Lancaster only made him want it more.
Hunter went back to Ferrum in the fall of 1995, but because of the heart murmur, he still wasn't playing college basketball. He took vitamins to fortify his blood and took courses in a social work curriculum to keep away the homesickness.
Both remedies seem to have worked. Hunter, formerly a marginal student, is flourishing in the classroom and leading the Panthers on the court this season with an average of nearly 22 points per game.
Still a freshman in athletic eligibility, Hunter twice has been named the Dixie Conference's rookie of the week. He made the all-tournament team at Roanoke College's Salem Bank & Trust Tournament and was named the NCAA South Region's player of the week on Dec.12.
``A whole lot of people doubted me,`` Hunter said. ``They can't believe I'm playing again.''
Pullen wasn't one of them. With 16 of 18 players on his roster either freshmen or sophomores, Pullen hoped he would see the Hunter he courted back in 1993.
``I didn't know how quickly he'd adjust,'' Pullen said, ``but being the player he was in high school, I knew he'd probably be a threat very quickly.''
Because of a rash of injuries, Pullen and the rest of the Panthers have needed Hunter's output even more than they once thought. Hunter is one of only three players who have been healthy enough to appear in all of Ferrum's games.
Hunter's basketball burden has become greater lately with the Panthers' second- and fourth-leading scorers, Marcus Toney and Rodney Ponzo, respectively, battling maladies.
The player whose health was a question mark has been the most vibrant man on the team. Maybe that's because Hunter doesn't worry about his well-being when he's on the court.
In a 63-51 loss to Newport News Apprentice on Jan.5, Hunter showed he could play defense, too, by swatting away a Builder's shot. Once he made the block, however, his head crashed into the backboard.
``I didn't realize I was that high,`` Hunter said.
``It knocked him out,'' Pullen said, ``but he played after that and still got 17 points.
``Nothing has stopped him from playing.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Michael Hunter, a 6-foot-2 swingmanby CNBfrom Alleghany High School in Low Moor, hopes playing at Ferrum
College will lead to a pro basketball career overseas.