ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
THE FORMER NBA STAR handles his duties as speaker at the Radford University Sports Hall of Fame dinner with grace - a quality also displayed by all the inductees.
It's too early in Wes Unseld's latest incarnation as a Washington Bullet for him to decide which of his most recent ones suits him best.
Unseld, still 6-foot-7 and still strong enough to inadvertently break the hand of anybody foolish enough to offer the NBA Hall of Famer a dead fish of a handshake, cannot say which of his two most recent jobs he likes best. Was it as the Washington Bullets' general manager, a post he accepted May 1, or as the team's coach, a job he had during the lean years from 1987-1994?
The big man stepped as lightly as a ballerina around that one.
``Uh, how about player?'' he said.
Unseld's place in Bullets history had long since been secured because of his contributions to the team's 1978 NBA championship and his long years of service to the organization.
His reputation has been enhanced because he was able to take advantage of some good luck and re-sign forward Juwan Howard this summer.
But not without the usual agonies of high-stakes NBA contract negotiations.
``I had the experience of offering a man [Howard] $82 million for seven years and was told I'd insulted him,'' Unseld told an assembly of Radford University athletic boosters Thursday night.
Unseld was in town to speak at a dinner honoring the second class of inductees to the Radford University Sports Hall of Fame.
Among those who were honored were retired women's tennis coach Tom Hondras, soccer players Peggy Poore and Billy Gerber, women's basketball coach Pat Barrett and basketball player Ron Shelburne, the all-time leading scorer in Radford men's history.
The emotional highlight of the evening was the introduction of a damp-eyed Hondras by his daughter Irene. Hondras was forced by ill health to retire in 1995, leaving behind a 16-year legacy that included a 248-143 record.
There were other touching moments, not all of which came during the formal ceremonies.
One was women's basketball coach Luby Lichonczak listening respectfully as Barrett, who might as well be known as the founder of modern women's basketball at Radford, describe how she made the transition from six-woman basketball to the modern game by being one of the few women attending clinics that featured coaches such as Adolph Rupp, John Wooden and Bobby Knight.
Barrett's teams went 198-95 and never had a losing season.
Or how Billy Gerber, who played at Radford from 1982-85 thanked his wife for understanding his ``adolescent'' love of the game that continued to prompt him to play in adult leagues.
Or Poore, who once had eight consecutive shutouts as a soccer goalie, introduced teammates Cathy Cox, Lori LaCava and Marie Onorato and said, ``Surround yourself with great people and it helps make you look good.''
Or Shelburne thanking his teammates. ``Especially the ones who threw me the ball,'' he said.
Over it all presided Unseld, one of the few players in NBA history with more than 10,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. A man whose picks were feared more than a tax increase. A man who could go toe to toe but not chin to chin with players 6 or more inches taller.
The best player he ever played with? No hesitation: Elvin Hayes. The best he ever played against? Again, no pause: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Unseld clearly has found there is life after competing in sports, even if your life still is in sports.
On the end of his 13-year career, Unseld said he woke up one morning to an unsettling discovery.
``My knees buckled and pants wouldn't,'' he said. ``So I quit.''
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Unseldby CNB