THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 25, 1995 TAG: 9503250482
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
When Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard walked off the podium following a post-game, post-loss, press conference Thursday night, something strange happened.
Applause happened.
Applause is not on the agenda at these post-game rituals, even in relatively-homey Division II. But Bernard and players Derrick Bryant and Corey Williams said all the right things, and said them with such obvious sincerity, following an 89-81 loss to Southern Indiana, that some modest clapping ensued.
It was a classy way for the Spartans to leave the Elite Eight tournament, and to say goodbye to Division II championship basketball. A gracious exit, considering Norfolk State had just missed its last chance to win a Division II title.
Its last chance, but maybe not its best chance.
Norfolk State could be leaving Division II one year short of hanging a championship banner in Echols Arena.
Under different circumstances, the Spartans would have an excellent chance of getting back here next year. Williams is the only senior. Although he's an All-American, his loss should be at least partially offset by sophomore Rodney Carmichael, a major talent who began to assert himself late in the season after removing the rust accumulated in a two-year layoff.
Throw Carmichael in with starters Bryant, Blitz Wooten, Carnell Penn and Maurice Whitfield. Add point guard Michael Evans, who will be eligible next January. Mix in the usual strong recruiting class, and it would be hello, Louisville. Again. With a potentially better team.
But it won't happen. Norfolk State will soon petition the NCAA to move to Division I, and once it does, it's ineligible for Division II titles for two years.
No, this would have to be the year, and knowing that, Bernard and his coaches put together a championship plan.
The plan called for championship size, championship depth and championship experience. At the start of the year, Norfolk State had all three.
The 6-8 Williams and 6-10 Charles Newborn already made the Spartans imposing. The addition of the 6-8 Wooten, a transfer from LaSalle, gave them a bigger skyline than many Division I teams.
Depth came in the form of five recruits, expected to help immediately, and to blend with four returning starters.
As for experience, the Spartans had been to the Elite Eight last year.
Norfolk State was poised for a title run, and it made a stronger one than any team in school history. The Spartans routed Virginia Union to reach the Elite Eight. Then they blew by Alabama A&M to set up the Southern Indiana contest, which many here considered the de facto title game.
Early on, there were signs it wasn't going to be Norfolk State's night. The Spartans wore the home white but it was SIU's gym. More than half the crowd of 3,617 was from Screaming Eagle Country, two hours away in Evansville, Ind. The officials called it close, and Norfolk State, the most physical team in the tournament, was in foul trouble all evening.
In the end, The plan came up two games short. It wasn't a flawed plan, but by the end of the year it was definitely a little frayed.
It's tempting to think what might of happened had Newborn, a rebounding machine, not been suspended from the team back in December. Wooten more than made up for his absence, but with both of them, Norfolk State would have been that much bigger, and deeper.
It's also tempting to think what the Spartans could have done if they'd developed just a little more depth. The departure of Julian Dozier early in the season left the team with just one true point guard. And the team didn't get the consistent backcourt scoring it expected from newcomers Marvin Stinson and Carlton Cooper. The late-season rotation was eight, when the plan called for 10.
For Norfolk State, though, the most tempting thought of all is not what might have happened this year, but what could have happened next. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff
Maurice Whitfield smiles at the show of Norfolk State supporters as
his Spartans return home after being eliminated from the Div. II
tourney.
by CNB