THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9502270137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
It's just about that time of year for James Claxton of New Haven, Conn.
Not tournament time.
Tournament memory time.
Claxton will soon grab an old cassette, pop it into his VCR and watch his daughter put on one of the greatest rebounding shows in NCAA history.
``He watches it every year around this time - and not just once, but sometimes three and four times,'' said daughter Tracy Claxton, whose 20 rebounds and 17 points made her most valuable player of Old Dominion's 70-65 victory over Georgia in the 1985 NCAA women's tournament.
``A high school teacher of mine taped it and gave it to him right after we won,'' Claxton continues. ``I've watched it three times, and I'll watch it if I happen to be visiting when he pops it in. But I'm not nearly as attached to it as he is.''
In fact, Claxton says she has never watched the first half of the game.
``We played bad,'' she said. ``I can't stand it.''
Claxton wasn't present Sunday at ODU's 10-year championship commemoration at the field house. In December, she underwent surgery on a benign tumor on her right pinky finger. She also is under doctor's care for high-blood pressure and high cholesterol.
``My sister and I are going to start working out soon,'' she said. ``Do some running and some weight work. I've got to get back in shape. I do nothing now.''
She means athletically.
Claxton works as a claims processor for a health-care company in Connecticut. She attends graduate classes in elementary education at Sacred Heart University. She is the mother of a four-year-old son, Jerrel.
``I'll certainly be there in spirit,'' she said. ``People have dreams, and this one became a reality. I was shocked. I knew we could do it, but for it to come true. ...''
Claxton and Medina Dixon were the team's stars. Each had a nickname. Claxton's was ``Chairman of the boards,'' a tribute to her 11-rebound average per game.
``It was not easy,'' she said. ``God blessed me with that gift. Knowing where you are on the floor at all times. None of it was luck.''
Ten years later, she has no trophy, no plaque, nothing to indicate that she was tournament MVP. The NCAA doesn't do that sort of thing.
But she has the memories, and the tape, and that's good enough for her. And her dad. by CNB