THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601180167
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Long : 171 lines
SOME COLLEGE athletes are better at dribbling and shooting a basketball than they are at learning how to succeed after they leave the hardwood.
Barry Hamler, head men's basketball coach at Elizabeth City State University, hopes to change all that with a program he has carried with him from his first days as a high school coach.
Hamler, the former coach at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk, has installed a ``mentor'' program for his team.
Each player has been paired with a prominent community role model who is willing to help ECSU basketball players succeed in every phase of their life.
Hamler said the first team he coached inspired the program.
``When I first started coaching, I was dealing with a group of at-risk students,'' Hamler said from his brightly painted office on the upper floor of the R.L. Vaughan Center on campus. ``They were coming to me with everything. I realized that they needed more than me.''
When he was hired to take over the coaching position at ECSU, Hamler talked to athletic director Ed McLean about some of the problems that ECSU athletes had in the past - ineligibility, dropping out or not graduating after four years of sports.
Seeing that a mentoring program would be useful, Hamler asked Gary Stubbins, principal at Perquimans Central School in Winfall, to help organize it.
``I had always been a strong supporter of ECSU, and I was introduced to coach Hamler by (former assistant coach) Alfred Johnson,'' Stubbins said. ``He mentioned that he had a mentor program in Norfolk and he felt like he could do the same thing here.
``I told him I would do anything I could to help him. He wanted me to be the contact person and come up with some mentors. He came up with the rules and regulations as to what we should and shouldn't do.''
Stubbins said the players and mentors came together at a fall cookout. Since then, the mentors and players have been in contact throughout preseason practice and the regular season.
``What we try to do is establish a rapport with the individual, then try to focus on the problems that they might have,'' Stubbins said. ``We're there for them, and they can contact us. We listen to what they have to say and try to do the best we can.''
Stubbins, who played basketball at ECSU under Bobby Vaughan, is also a mentor. He's paired with Adrian Bell, a junior from Rocky Mount. Stubbins has been Bell's unofficial mentor for several years. ``He's from Rocky Mount and my wife is from Rocky Mount, so we've been connected ever since he's been at the university,'' Stubbins said.
Bell has seen his share of ups and downs in the ECSU basketball program. As a freshman, he was the starting point guard for the Vikings team that made it two rounds into the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Last year, the program slipped considerably to a losing record. Stubbins has been there to help Bell through these and other problems.
``It's always good to have that person you can call,'' Bell said. ``We have a strong friendship. My parents aren't big basketball fans, so seeing him in the stands keeps me motivated. I can always count on him being there. He coaches me a little bit, too.''
``I've been real lucky,'' Stubbins said. ``Adrian does pretty well academically, and we talk about that. We talk about what he wants to do after school. There's a work force out there after basketball, and they need to think about that.''
Stubbins acknowledges that he also does some coaching.
``I like the way he takes control of the ball club,'' Stubbins said of Bell. ``He takes charge and does exactly what the coach wants him to do as far as running the offensive pattern.''
In a recent game against Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, Stubbins was right on the money. Bell played well at point guard, dishing off for several assists. But he scored just two points. Stubbins saw firsthand from the stands.
``I try to stay in contact with him at least twice a week, plus I go to all the home games,'' Stubbins said. ``He knows that if he needs me, he has my work and home phone numbers. Sometimes he even comes down to the school to talk to my kids.''
Another player benefiting from the mentor program is Bernard Cooper, a 6-foot-10-inch center from Windsor. Cooper, an integral part of the Vikings' lineup, found himself academically ineligible at the beginning of the season and looked to his mentor, funeral home owner Rodney Robinson, for help getting back on track.
``He keeps up with my professors and my schedule,'' Cooper said. ``He knows when I have tests. The main thing he told me was to get my assignments in early.''
Robinson, a former trustee at the university, said getting Cooper eligible was a top priority. But he didn't want him to compromise academic integrity for basketball.
``When he would cry to me for a shortcut, I told him you can't do that,'' Robinson said. ``I'm sure he didn't want to hear it. I realize the importance of being academically ready for the real world after basketball.''
Robinson said Cooper has helped him, too. Before the mentor program began, Cooper was involved in ECSU's new youth summer sports program for kids. He was hooked up with one of Robinson's sons, who at the time was giving him some trouble at home.
``I decided that since he did such a good job with my son, that I asked for him (Cooper) when I was contacted for the mentor program,'' Robinson said.
``I try to instill citizenship and discipline in his mind,'' Robinson added. ``He's 20 years old, and he's got good potential. He even told me that he wants to get married and have a family some day. I want him to go out and get a job after ECSU.''
A freshman far from home, Tim Williams was the perfect candidate for the mentor program.
His mentor, Billy Joe Reid, an ECSU graduate who owns a State Farm Insurance agency in Elizabeth City, said one of his main goals was to get Williams acclimated to the area.
``The program allows players who are coming in from out of town and from different locales to get a flavor for what the community is like from people who are already in the community,'' Reid said. ``This is a reaffirmation of what they have been told during recruiting efforts. It's like a lifeline. Tim calls me when he needs information on places to go - where to get a haircut - simple things.''
Williams said Reid gives him a place to turn.
``Sometimes you can't always talk to your parents because it costs a lot of money to call long distance,'' Williams said. ``There's not a lot of people around here you feel comfortable with, because you're new. But he's a real easy person to talk to.''
Reid also helped Williams with an academic problem he had during his first semester at ECSU.
``I had a class that I thought I'd make an `A' in. But I was having problems throughout the course, and I received a grade that I didn't think was fair,'' Williams said. ``He explained to me that you're not always going to understand. He told me to talk to the teacher and hear her side of the story so that maybe I would understand better. I did better on the final exam, and my grade got better.''
Williams also sees Reid and the other mentors as positive male role models.
``It's important, especially because we are black males, to have somebody that is a black figure in our lives,'' he said. ``A lot of us didn't live with our fathers when we were growing up. I talk to him if I have a problem, and it really helps when you see someone who is successful and enjoys sports like yourself. It kind of makes you want to be like that person.''
Reid believes the foundation of the mentor program is to show these student athletes that there is a life after basketball.
``He's a business major, so I try to convey concerns about what being an individual business person entails,'' Reid said. ``The discipline has to develop now to become a business person later on.
``Most of these kids aren't going to play pro ball. Tim understands that,'' Reid added. ``The kind of relationships, discipline, and things I can convey to him about what he needs to do for later on is an integral part of the program. He's not here, in my opinion, to become a pro athlete. If he can gain knowledge on becoming a good citizen, I have done a good job of support.''
Perhaps Reid summed up the mentor program the best:
``Athletes are not special - they are different. They often have different problems than other students. Often they don't have the flexibility or the time to seek out individuals to help with problem solving.
``Tim knows and takes full advantage of the fact that I'm available. I know some of the problems he will encounter.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Mentor Garry Stubbins, who is also a school principal, corners an
ECSU player for an off-court chat during practice.
Coach Barry Hamler, left, confers with mentor Garry Stubbins, who
helped start the playor-mentor program.
Point guard Adrian Bell, left, is paired with mentor Garry Stubbins
a Hertford County school principal.
Tim Williams, right, a freshman who is far from home, said mentor
Billy Joe Reid, is person to whom he can turn to with a problem.
ECSU basketball coach Barry Hamler, in his first year at the school,
had a similar mentoring program for his players when he coached at a
Norfolk, Va., high school.
by CNB