THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 13, 1995 TAG: 9503130112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
On a day when Selection Sunday kicked March Madness into fourth gear on the road to the Final Four, it was tempting to hang an alliterative handle on Randolph Childress, the premier player of this ACC tournament.
Ragin' Randolph has a ring to it, but it doesn't capture Childress' way-cool demeanor.
Deacon Disaster sounds about right, especially if you wear Carolina blue.
What about Wake Forest Wirewalker? Or Winston-Salem Superman?
Nothing does him justice. But if it's this hard locating the proper nouns, imagine the difficulty in finding the adjectives to describe Childress' performance over three days.
``I call him the best in college basketball,'' said teammate Tim Duncan, the 6-11 center.
College basketball's best? With the game on the line, he just might be.
``Everybody knew I was going to take the last shot,'' said Childress.
A lot of good it did the Tar Heels.
``He's so calm and loose out there,'' said North Carolina's Pat Sullivan. ``He just hits those long threes like they're nothing.''
Childress hit nine 3-pointers in Wake's 82-80 overtime victory Sunday but settled for an 8-footer when it came time to put away North Carolina for good.
``He waits until the clock ticks down and sticks a dagger in you,'' Sullivan said. ``What could we do?''
Stand back in admiration, maybe. With a wince - from Childress' dagger? - Dean Smith tried to explain why Wake's Duncan hardly touched the ball in the low post once Rasheed Wallace limped off.
``It's pretty hard to touch a ball that Childress is shooting, and shooting in,'' said Dean.
This was a few minutes before attention in the press room turned to the NCAA pairings. Things happen in a hurry on Selection Sunday. After Dave Odom's Deacons had snipped the nets, but before their No. 1 seeding in the East was announced, the coach was warning about complacency.
``The only danger,'' Odom said, ``is savoring this too much and too long.''
Odom can tell his players what he wants. But before the glare and blare of the NCAA tournament builds any more, some of us will take time between calls to our travel agents to savor this just-completed intramural tournament.
Fellow travelers on the Road to Seattle shouldn't hesitate to sneak a peak in their rearview mirrors at Greensboro, where a highly hyped league delivered the goods.
The exploits of Duncan and Virginia's Junior Burrough, of Maryland's Joe Smith, and UNC's Jerry Stackhouse and Donald Williams more than lived up to the advance billing. So did the play of Wallace, whose turned ankle denied him an opportunity to eclipse Randolph's star.
Once and for all, Childress claimed this tournament for himself and Wake Forest when he scored all nine of his team's overtime points, then accepted the accolades with grace and modesty.
Noting that this was Wake's first ACC title in 33 years, he said, ``If nowhere else, I'll always be remembered at Wake Forest for helping them do something they haven't done in a long time.''
Even Selection Sunday must take a back seat to that. On a day when Randolph's aim was true, the ACC tournament felt like much more than a prelude to pandemonium. by CNB