THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502080172
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 27 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
They are a diverse group, the young (and not so young) men who play for the Tidewater Community College-Chesapeake basketball team.
An atypical squad by conventional college standards, a talented though unheralded collection of players has been assembled by coach David Moore. Although they all have different reasons for playing, each comes together with the others to attain one common goal:
Gaining respect and acceptance for the program.
``You want to win basketball games because you want other colleges to look at you with respect,'' said team captain Keith McCray.
Although Moore started the team when he came to TCC 11 years ago, the Cougars are only in their second year in an organized conference, the Virginia Community College Basketball League.
Last year, TCC finished third in the region.
This year, the expectations are much higher.
``We've got size, speed, and intelligence. . . the whole package. I fully expect us to win the regional and go to state,'' said Moore.
The bad news is that the team's only three returning players - McCray, Tony ``Doc'' Dawkins and Brad McKnown - are in their last year with the program.
``That's why I feel like we have to do it this year,'' said Moore of TCC's state title hopes. ``This is our best shot. It's now or never.''
The team has a very good shot. At 7-2 with two games left, TCC is in first place in its six-team conference and is averaging 100 points a game, according to Moore. The only remaining home game (played at TCC's Portsmouth campus) is Saturday at 11 a.m. against Paul D. Camp. Admission is free.
For McCray and Dawkins, the team's player-coach, there is more to this basketball season than winning games. There is another, more long-term goal at stake.
As the oldest players on the team (McCray is a 30-year-old family man and Dawkins is 23), they know from experience that basketball can be a steppingstone to greater things.
``We're trying to establish an effective program here, where players from high school can come if they're not meeting the academic requirements of Prop 48, or they're not ready for college,'' said Dawkins, a Deep Creek graduate who has been an assistant coach with the Hornets' girls basketball team for the past six years.
One of those players is Lamont Cuffee. A former varsity player at Great Bridge, Cuffee didn't take the SAT in high school because he ``didn't plan on going to college.'' He took a year off after graduating in 1993 to work before deciding to go back to school. Without the SAT, community college was the answer.
``I looked at other (four-year) schools, but I needed to get my grade-point average up,'' said Cuffee, a 6-7 center/forward. ``I knew I could come to TCC and get the 2.0 and 24 credits I needed.
``But the team is the real reason why I came. A friend told me I could play basketball and get my grades up. I saw it as a chance to start fresh.''
For others on the team, playing for the Cougars is simply a chance to keep playing the sport they love.
``It's something I just can't get out of my system,'' said McCray, who plays any position on the floor and averages 40 points a game. ``Basketball relieves a lot of tension and keeps me in shape.''
Although splitting time between school and basketball doesn't leave a lot of free time for his family (McCray and his wife, Wanda, have a 2-year-old daughter named Kelli), helping get the TCC program off the ground has certain intangible benefits.
``There are so many kids coming out who can't go to a four-year school because of grades. We need to show them that they can start here and still have a lot of good opportunities,'' McCray said. ``A lot of these kids went to high school and stayed in because they could play sports. It's the same thing here. This team is another incentive to keep them in school.''
Players on the team must keep a minimum 2.0 grade-point average. McCray often plays big brother on the road, making sure the younger players ``hit the books on away games.''
To a man, the Cougars say that playing basketball for TCC has been different than they expected.
``I thought it was going to be like rec ball,'' said Lance Goolsby, a 1994 graduate of Great Bridge who chips in 40 points a game for TCC. ``I thought the coaches would be really laid back and not hardly care, but they do.''
``It's been more than I expected. I thought it was going to be like rec basketball too, but this really is college ball,'' said Cuffee. ``Some people take it for a joke, but that's just because they've never seen us play.'' by CNB