THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995                 TAG: 9504120146
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS      PAGE: 22   EDITION: FINAL 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   66 lines

LONGTIME YOUTH VOLUNTEER HONORED AT PIT LUNCHEON ERIC SASSER HAS SERVED AS HEAD OF CHURCHLAND YOUTH BASKETBALL FOR SEVEN YEARS.

Eric Sasser, a longtime volunteer worker in the Churchland Youth Basketball Association and its president for the past seven years, is the recipient of the Harry ``Hook'' Hillman Memorial Award.

The award is an annual presentation of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament to an individual for outstanding service to youth basketball in the Hampton Roads area and was made at the Celebrity Luncheon of the PIT.

Sasser, 36, has served as a coach at virtually every age level in the Churchland league for both boys and girls. He also had a two-year stint on the board of directors of the Churchland Little League.

Since Sasser became president of the basketball league it has expanded from 180 to more than 300 children.

He also organizes a joint run-a-thon between the high school track teams of Churchland and Western Branch at the end of April each year to benefit the March of Dimes.

``I certainly want to share this award with all the volunteers and particularly the folks in my office for all they do. It's almost like another business for us,'' said Sasser, who is president of Sasser Construction.

Sasser is the 17th winner of the Hillman Award. It was initiated in 1978 at the suggestion of Georgia Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremins, a former PIT participant who came under Hillman's guidance when Cremins attended Frederick Military Academy here.

Hillman conducted a youth basketball school at the Portsmouth YMCA for many years and was among those who helped develop the PIT into one of the outstanding basketball tournaments in the nation.

The Hillman Award winners:

1994 - Eric Sasser

1993 - Robert Tucker

1992 - Barbara Hawkins

1991 - Cary Warren

1990 - Phillip Piersall

1989 - Lewis Dunbar

1988 - Frank Stafford

1987 - Don Taylor

1986 - Barney Stevenson

1985 - Jim Short

1984 - Gracie Lee VanDyck

1983 - Durland Coltrane

1982 - Billy Skeeter

1981 - Mahlon Parker

1980 - Corky and Sis Spence

1979 - Bill Leffler

1978 - Benn Griffin

The PIT also presented scholarship awards to four area high school students. They went to Churchland's Summer Speidell, Norcom's Dale Oltarzewski, Wilson's Adrienne Rogers and Western Branch's Matthew Lawrence.

Speidell has been accepted at Mary Washington. Oltarzewski will attend either Syracuse or Michigan. Rogers will go to Longwood and Lawrence will attend Virginia Tech. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER

Eric Sasser received the Harry ``Hook'' Hillman Memorial Award.

by CNB