ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260090
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
WILLIAM BYRD graduate Andy Gray is bringing his Gar-Field High team to the
NationsBank tournament.
BASKETBALL PILGRIM WILL SHOW HIS PROGRESS
``These people have been absolutely great to me,'' he said.
As well they should be for a coach who has gone 46-21 and been a postseason regular.
The Dale City school lost 12 games last season, five more than Gray's first two seasons combined, but went to the Group AAA Northwest Region tournament anyway. Ten players returned this year from that squad and life has been very good so far.
Gray, 31, who played at William Byrd and Hampden-Sydney and apprenticed under esteemed former William Fleming boss Burrall Paye, has been well-prepared for his career. Yet he was unprepared for for one aspect of the Gar-Field experience.
``I always assumed that at schools as big as this one, that you'd have a high frequency of super-duper, top-notch, big kids,'' he said. ``But since I've been here, all of ours have been in the 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 range.''
Gray will show the folks back home what he has this season when Gar-Field takes on Salem in the last game of the opening round of the NationsBank Holiday Hoops event today at Salem Civic Center.
The tournament, in its fourth year, opens with Cave Spring and Glenvar at 2 p.m. followed by Patrick Henry and William Byrd. The night session starts at 6 p.m. with Northside and Riverside of Durham, N.C., the defending champion.
The double-elimination affair continues with four games both Friday and Saturday. The first game each day starts at 2 p.m.
Patrons can expect a number of fan-friendly promotions. ``This is a time of giving and that's what we want to do,'' Salem coach Charlie Morgan said.
As long as the Spartans aren't giving up a bunch of turnovers, Morgan will keep his holiday mood.
The Spartans won impressively their last time out, 65-49 over Christiansburg on Dec.20. That was Salem's first victory of the season and it was accomplished without its most explosive player, Herschel Thomas, who was serving a disciplinary suspension.
Thomas is expected to be back for the tournament, just in time to play Gar-Field, a team whose coach has put a great deal of thought into his return home. He knows there will be a lot of folks interested in how his team does. Some of them, such as Glenvar coach Art Lawrence and Byrd coach Paul Barnard, he's played for. Some of them he's coached with, such as Paye.
``Coaching with Burrall was the best thing that ever happened to me professionally,'' Gray said. ``He's been an inspiration to me.''
Other area coaches have shown Gray the way as well.
``They've taught me everything I know,'' he said. ``Thing is, it's about 10 percent of what they know.''
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB