ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
MAKING POINTS WITH FELLOW students is as important to Amy Athey as making them on the basketball court.
The other day, Amy Athey was talking about being a resident adviser in the dorms at Roanoke College. For 15 to 20 freshmen, she is a surrogate mother, a voice of reason, a calming influence.
Athey was describing all the crying that has been done on her shoulder, all the assurance she has tried to impart the night before exams, all the young women she has had to take to the infirmary, or worse yet, the hospital.
Strangely, many of the problems have a tendency to arise when she has a test of her own to take or a book to read by the next day.
``Just the smallest thing can freak someone out when they're a freshman,'' Athey said. ``You forget the little things that happen when you're a freshman by the time you're a junior.''
A few years ago, those who know Athey thought she would never forget her freshman year. She hasn't, either. Instead, she's used it to grow over the past three years.
In the fall of 1993, Athey took the short ride from Cave Spring High School to Roanoke College. She had been a wing player for the Knights' Group AAA basketball tournament qualifier the previous winter. Four of her best friends - Kim Stewart, Kelly Dierker and the Beightol twins, Aimee and Allison - were on the team.
``At Cave Spring, our team was a true family, too,'' Athey said.
By the time she arrived at Roanoke, the Cave Spring family was splintered. Stewart and Dierker were in North Carolina, Stewart at Elon College and Dierker at Pfeiffer College. The Beightols had two more years of high school ahead of them.
Wistful about the Roanoke College campus, enchanted by Maroons coach Susan Dunagan and eager to continue her athletic career, Athey chose Roanoke over James Madison University. A year later, after suffering a bout with mononucleosis and a sprained ankle before what would have been her first game as a freshman, Athey nearly changed her mind.
``That was really frustrating, just having the sickness and then having the injury,'' Athey said. ``It was a really rough year as far as that goes.''
Dunagan had seen players have a rough time adjusting to college before, but few were plagued with Athey's bad luck.
``That year was not a real pleasant one for her,'' Dunagan said.
``I decided to give it one more semester,'' Athey said, ``just to make sure. I came back and started R.A. training and I met some wonderful friends and it just kind of all clicked.
``My sophomore year was essentially someone else's typical freshman year. You meet your friends and your grades aren't always the best because you're playing Nintendo at 2 a.m. or something, you know?''
Athey is in the midst of her senior year and final season at Roanoke. She is a business major with a concentration on health-care administration. Aside from her R.A duties, Athey is a professor's assistant. She spends 10 hours per week doing bookkeeping for the college.
Her basketball duties draw much more public attention. She began her career as a small forward, where she played many minutes but was relied upon as much for her mental talents as her physical ones.
That has changed in the past two seasons. Although Dunagan still relies on her spiritual leadership - ``One of her specialties is communicating with the kids,'' the coach said - the Maroons also rely on Athey for points.
This has coincided with Athey's switch to the center position. Before last season, Dunagan and her assistants decided with her 6-foot-1 height, Athey could be an asset at center on the NCAA Division III level.
``I never thought I would be a center,'' Athey said. ``I learned real fast. It's a physical game, a lot of black eyes and bruises. It's fun, but it takes a lot out of you.''
Athey has been getting her licks in on Roanoke's opponents, though. She was last week's Old Dominion Athletic Conference player of the week and had a career-high 30 points against Emory & Henry on Tuesday night. For the season, Athey is 11th in the ODAC in scoring (16.4 points per game) and eighth in rebounding (7.8 per game).
``She's been able to maintain everything and become an impact player,'' Dunagan said. ``What a long way she's come since she got here.''
With a memory bank full of experience, Athey is bringing along another class of Roanoke undergraduates, whether they are on the basketball team or in her residence hall.
``Someone might come to me and I'd be like, `I can't believe they're stressing out over this,''' Athey said. ``But you have to step back and look, because it's a huge problem for them.
``I've enjoyed playing, but I think I always focused more on the other successful things, having a good friend on the team or having a true family to go to when there's a problem.''
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ANDRES ALONSO. Senior center Amy Athey (32) averagesby CNB16.4 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Maroons. color.