ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
Virginia Tech, which has appeared in each Associated Press men's basketball poll since the preseason, apparently has experienced a ripple effect in recruiting.
Rolan Roberts, who helped lead Potomac High School to the Group AAA championship last year, said Tuesday night he has made an oral commitment to Tech.
The Hokies, with three scholarships available for the spring, also are expected to sign high-scoring Tony Stanley from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. Stanley, a 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 26.7 points and ranked second in the Washington, D.C., area in scoring.
``I don't want to be the one to tell you,'' said Washington-Lee coach Bobby Dobson, who reported Stanley was on hand to watch the Hokies play Xavier in their final home game, ``but I think it's going to happen.''
There are unconfirmed reports the final scholarship will go to 6-71/2 Jesus Rodriguez from Levittown, Puerto Rico, and Hargrave Military Academy. Rodriguez and Stanley are believed to be close to meeting NCAA standards for freshman eligibility, while Roberts thinks he will qualify.
``No junior college, no prep school, no redshirt year ... I will play there,'' said Roberts, who has a 2.1 grade-point average in the ``core'' curriculum, but is making up several courses in which he had poor grades as a freshman.
Roberts, a 6-6, 230-pounder, averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and 61/2 blocks this season for Potomac, which finished 21-2 after losing to William Fleming in the Group AAA tournament.
Roberts said he considered Pittsburgh and George Washington and was interested in Georgetown until the Hoyas' staff stopped calling. He took an unofficial visit to Pitt.
``The Pitt coach seemed cocky,'' Roberts said, referring to Ralph Willard. ``He was mean. I like to look at coaches on the sideline and, when I watched [Tech] Coach [Bill] Foster during the Massachusetts game, I liked the way he came across. They're the nicest people at Tech.''
Roberts said he originally became interested in Tech at the recommendation of Potomac football coach Keith Jones, a one-time Hokies football assistant.
Georgetown and Maryland were among the schools that inquired about Stanley, who originally was viewed as a Colonial Athletic Association prospect, but later drew the interest of Atlantic 10 schools and took a trip to Dayton..
``He can shoot from anywhere,'' Dobson said. ``He can shoot off the dribble, he can shoot off a screen and he's really athletic. He can really, really jump. Plus, he's a good defensive player.''
Tech's lone fall signee was Nathaniel Bailey, a guard from Johnson City, Tenn., who recently was suspended from his team and may need to spend a year in prep school to work on academics.
The Hokies have been linked with Brendan Dunlap, a point guard from Bronx, N.Y., who also has attracted the attention of Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia.
KILLER B'S: East Carolina junior Tim Basham from Roanoke and North Carolina-Wilmington sophomore Mark Byington from Salem finished No.5 and 9 in the CAA in 3-point field goals per game. Basham was 63-of-166 (38.0 percent) and Byington was 60-of-169 (35.5).
Basham, a member of Patrick Henry's Group AAA championship team in 1992, led the Pirates (17-11) in scoring with 13.4 points per game. Byington was the second-leading scorer, averaging 9.5 points, for a Seahawks team that reached the CAA championship game.
AROUND THE STATE: Lefty Driesell, who is in the fourth year of a five-year contract, apparently will return for his ninth season as the James Madison men's basketball coach. The Dukes, who were 5-19 at one point, won five games in a row before falling to Old Dominion 75-72 in the CAA tournament.
Driesell, incidentally, caught heat four years ago after he suggested North Carolina signee Ed Geth never would play for the Tar Heels. However, Geth played sparingly for UNC and was introduced with the seniors before Carolina's final home game, an indication he may not be returning.
Norfolk State, which defeated Virginia Union 72-70 in the championship game of the CIAA tournament, has applied for Division I status and is ineligible for the Division II NCAA Tournament. The Spartans finished 23-4 and earlier had beaten Union when the Panthers were No. 1.
North Carolina State associate athletic director Jim Miller, who was on VMI's basketball staff in the 1980s, is one of the finalists for the AD vacancy at William and Mary.
NON-REVENUE: Virginia, which carried an 8-2 record into its baseball game Wednesday at Liberty, had won as many as eight of its first 10 games only twice in the previous 25 years. Back-to-back shutout victories over Seton Hall were UVa's first since 1962.
Former football kicker Kyle Kirkeide hit a pinch-hit home run in his first at-bat of the season and ex-quarterback Symmion Willis is batting .316 as a part-time right fielder, but the real story is the team's 3.38 earned run average. Virginia's victories included a 7-4 triumph over then-No.7 Arizona State.
The good news for Washington and Lee's men's lacrosse program is that senior attackman Ande Jenkins, who did not play as a freshman, will return for a fifth year in 1997. Jenkins has more goals (13) than W&L's first three opponents (nine), although the competition stiffens this weekend, when three Top 20 teams come to Lexington for the W&L Lacrosse Tournament.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB