ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
When members of the Georgia Tech men's basketball staff watched Jenis Grindstaff in January, they said they would take him on the spot.
Too late. Grindstaff already was spoken for, having signed with Virginia Tech in November.
Actually, Grindstaff committed to the Hokies in August in what was a definite coup for a staff making the transition from Bill Foster to coach-in-waiting Bobby Hussey.
The postseason awards already have started to roll in for Grindstaff, a 6-foot-2 guard from Spruce, N.C., who has been named player of the year in western North Carolina and is a legitimate candidate for state player of the year.
``If he had waited until the end of the year, he would be headed for the ACC right now, if that's what he had wanted,'' said Lloyd Church, Grindstaff's coach at McDowell High School. ``It was a steal then and it's still a steal for Virginia Tech. He'll probably start as a freshman.''
Grindstaff averaged 27.6 points, seven rebounds and nearly seven assists for McDowell, which reached the sectional final before finishing 24-5. He shot 53 percent from the field and 85 percent from the line and set a school record with 51 3-pointers (on 132 attempts).
``It surprised me that he could continue to improve the way he did because I thought he had a fantastic junior year,'' Church said. ``I thought he was 25 percent better. If you'd seen him as a junior, you'd have said there was no way he could improve like that.''
Some observers have compared Grindstaff, who scored 38 points in McDowell's season-ending loss to West Charlotte, to former Virginia point guard John Crotty. Crotty, a left-hander, is in his fifth NBA season.
``I've made the comparison myself,'' said Church, pointing out that Grindstaff is right-handed. ``I think he's stronger than Crotty. He's [Grindstaff] about 200 pounds and nobody catches him from behind. But, he's the same hard-nosed, gritty, intelligent competitor.''
MORE RECRUITING: North Carolina and Wake Forest are the frontrunners for one of Grindstaff's teammates, 6-8 Orlando Melendez, an exchange student from Puerto Rico. Kentucky and Minnesota are still involved with Melendez, who has not qualified on the Scholastic Assessment Test.
Virginia is involved with 6-4 Marquis Maybin, who averaged more than 28 points in his senior year at Clarksville (Tenn.) High School. Maybin originally committed to Tennessee, but sat out the 1996-97 school year in order to meet NCAA eligibility guidelines.
WATSON HAS BIG YEAR: Virginia signee Chezley Watson, a 6-1 point guard from Gainesville, Ga., was named first-team all-state for the third year in a row in Class AA and was rated one of the top 10 players in the state by the Atlanta Journal-Constituion.
Watson averaged more than 30 points in helping East Hall High School to an 18-10 record and a trip to the state quarterfinals. He finished his career with a school-record 2,411 points. But Virginia may ask him to concentrate on play-making early in his career.
``I haven't figured out why Georgia Tech wasn't more interested in him,'' said East Hall coach Mike Vining. ``It's hard to figure [coach Bobby] Cremins out, but Chezley could have gone to Georgia or Florida State.''
IN COACHING: Lefty Driesell's only regret upon taking the head coaching job at Georgia State in Atlanta was that he couldn't bring his son and longtime James Madison assistant, Chuck, with him. That was prevented by state nepotism laws in Georgia.
``That was one reason I hesitated about coming,'' Driesell said. ``That kind of broke my heart. He's going to be a really good coach someday. Hopefully, he'll land on his feet and get a head coaching job or an assistant's job somewhere else.''
New James Madison coach Sherman Dillard has honored the Dukes' scholarship offer to Dwayne Braxton, a 6-2 guard from Buckingham High School who had committed to the Driesell staff. Braxton, a second-team All-Group A selection, said he will sign next Wednesday, which is national letter-of-intent day.
IN FOOTBALL: UVa's football recruiting year was ranked 32nd in the country by SuperPrep magazine and Virginia Tech's was 42nd. ... The G&W Recruiting Report out of Sanatoga, Pa., has the Cavaliers' recruiting year 25th and Tech's 39th.
A WHO'S WHO: Recent visitors to Blacksburg include Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach Don Strock, a star player for Virginia Tech in the early 1970s. Head coaches Mike Ditka of the New Orleans Saints and Jimmy Johnson of the Miami Dolphins have scouted Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller in person.
All-Pro wide receiver Herman Moore of the Detroit Lions will hold his second annual celebrity basketball game to benefit the University of Virginia Children's Hospital. It starts with an autograph session between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Friday at University Hall.
Moore, an All-American at Virginia in 1990, has attracted Washington Redskins quarterback Gus Frerotte, Carolina Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Rod Woodson and many of Moore's ex-UVa teammates.
LOCAL UPDATE: One-time Clifton Forge High School standout Trudi Lacey, who scored 1,957 points at North Carolina State from 1978-81, has been hired by USA Basketball as assistant director of women's programs. Lacy, the head coach at South Florida from 1988-95, was an assistant at Maryland this past season.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB