ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270134
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: 61 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
Welcome to Radford University, a sporting and exciting institution of higher learning if ever there was one.
Just as with anything else, though, one can have a little too much excitement. So some cautionary words before we sample the athletic buffet:
* Don't sit too near the windows in the upper floors of the Muse Hall dormitory. Skydiving is not a sanctioned NCAA sport.
* Keep your eyes on the road when driving past the tanned but exhausted athletes reclining on chaise lounges on the terrace outside the Dedmon Center pool. They are worn out from the rigors of swimming and deserve to relax without being gawked at.
That isn't all you must know about Radford's sporting life. A sampler of other helpful athletic-minded information:
* There are 16 varsity sports at Radford University, nine for women and seven for men. While this may appear to be an instance of gender inequity, that is a false presumption. Scholarships are evenly distributed between men and women.
* Radford is, to a limited extent, a member of the Big South Conference. Not all of the Highlander athletic programs are under the big umbrella of the Big South. Gymnastics and lacrosse inhabit the lonely world of NCAA independents. Field hockey is an associate member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
* Now that the Colonial has been mentioned, there are those on campus who think that league would make a cheerful match with Radford's program. That opinion has not yet gained wide acceptance in the halls of the Colonial, however.
* Dede Logemann, a women's basketball player of uncommon skill, last year was forever linked with George A. Christenberry, a man whom she may not know at all. Should they ever be introduced, Christenberry can congratulate her on receiving the award in his name that is the Big South's top academic honor for student athletes.
* Radford's men's basketball team broke a five-year small-screen drought earlier this year when it had a home game (Coastal Carolina was the opponent) on television. Unlike the Highlanders, the Chanticleers proved not yet ready for prime time.
* Field hockey coach Jeff Woods was an assistant coach for the U.S. men's Olympic field hockey team, which is an interesting development considering that only women play the sport for him at Radford.
* At many schools, those who dribble, run, shoot and throw are (unofficially) considered athlete-students. At Radford, the student part of the deal has always come first. Radford ranks No.10 in the nation, as USA Today reckons it, in graduation percentage of those who prefer to be thought of as student-athletes. Thirty-four of the 38 athletes who enrolled in 1989 have graduated. For those whose grasp of math is not as good as that of many of those in the aforementioned group, that is a success rate of 89 percent.
* When Jason Lansdown and Jason Buzzard graduated from the basketball team last year, Coach Ron Bradley achieved a 16-for-16 mark in graduating players whose eligibility expired during his tenure. In basketball, any time you shoot 100 percent, that's pretty good. |ANDRES ALONSO When Jason Lansdown and Jason Buzzard graduated from the basketball team last year, Coach Ron Bradley achieved a 16-for-16 mark in graduating players whose eligibility expired during his tenure. In basketball, any time you shoot 100 percent, that's pretty good.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Andres Alonso. When Jason Lansdown and Jason Buzzardby CNBgraduated from the basketball team last year, Coach Ron Bradley
achieved a 16-for-16 mark in graduating players whose eligibility
expired during his tenure. In basketball, any time you shoot 100
percent, that's pretty good. color. Graphic. color.