ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604290101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Radford University men's basketball coach Ron Bradley got the toehold he has been seeking in the Virginia Beach area when he received a signed letter-of-intent from Rian Everett from Tallwood High School.
Everett is one of two Radford signees this spring, including 6-4 Jon Belt from Hargrave Military Academy, and Bradley said he hopes to add a big man in the next week.
Everett, a 6-foot-1 point guard, was named first-team All-Tidewater by the Virginian Pilot newspaper after averaging 18.9 points and six assists. He was the player of the year in the Beach District.
``He can be a pure point guard, but he can score, which is the way we like it,'' Bradley said. ``It's good news for us. We've tried to get something going [in Tidewater], but it's six hours away. We're closer to Washington, D.C.''
Belt was a prolific scorer in high school in Fairmont, W.Va., and received a scholarship offer from the University of Richmond. North Carolina Charlotte and UNC Greensboro expressed interest in him at Hargrave, which uses 12 players in a system that does not produce eye-opening statistics.
``He reminds me a little bit of Brian Schmall, who played here,'' Bradley said. ``He's probably not the handler that Brian was, not that Brian was a pure point, but he's the same tough, hard-nosed kind of kid.''
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB