THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270403
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
For almost every Joe Smith and Alonzo Mourning who bursts into the NBA with ties to South Hampton Roads, a man with a striped shirt and whistle follows.
That's a fairly awesome fact, considering the way this area turns out top-notch basketball talent.
Along the line, Hank Armstrong, Nolan Fine, Tony Brothers and Leroy Richardson refereed as the Smiths, Mournings and J.R. Reids honed their games locally.
One thing, then, is no different these days - they still share the same stages. The stages just come no larger.
``A coincidence?'' asks Dick Bowie, commissioner of the Southeastern Virginia Basketball Officials Association, repeating a question. ``Not totally. We're pretty serious about it around here.''
Around the state, too. Virginia's the cradle of presidents and all, but it also is home to eight NBA refs - the South Hampton Roads quartet, the Peninsula's Jess Kersey, Richmond's Hugh Evans, and George Toliver and Donnie Baden from the Shenandoah Valley.
The local guys didn't necessarily drink from the same well. But when it came to rising from junior varsity ball ever upward, they all prepped under a most discriminating eye.
Officiating is a religion with Bowie, who preaches from ``the book'' of Darell Garretson, the NBA's chief of officials. The only thing Bowie takes credit for, though, is providing good people an opportunity. They flourish on their own.
Bowie is acquainted with Garretson, but nobody talks the gruff Garretson into hiring an official, Bowie says. It's not easy to earn Garretson's favor, but when you do, Bowie says you've earned something rare.
Armstrong and Fine were the first. They joined the league in 1988 when the NBA went to three-man officiating teams. Armstrong was a coach and teacher at Cox High School and a veteran Division I official with no real designs on the NBA. Friends say he thought hard before making the move.
Fine, a Maury graduate, had the NBA in mind for years, however, as did Brothers. A Norfolk native, Brothers went in two years ago after four years in the CBA.
Meanwhile, Richardson, formerly a sailor stationed at Dam Neck, is an NBA rookie after a rocket ride up the ladder.
``I watched him for three minutes and knew he had more God-given talent than anybody I'd ever seen,'' Bowie says. ``Leroy's an incredible success story.''
Raised in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section, Richardson worked two seasons of JV ball for Bowie starting in 1991. By 1993, Richardson had impressed enough people - including Garretson - at summer camps that the Big East and Southeastern Conference signed him up.
In all, Bowie says, Richardson did maybe 25 high school varsity games before he hit the NBA.
``That'll never happen again,'' Bowie says.
He won't name him, but Bowie says another local guy is on the NBA track too, probably a year or two away. Once he arrives, Bowie says it's the hardest work he'll ever do. ``Demanding'' doesn't begin to describe Garretson. ``(NBA refs) literally have to answer for every call they make,'' Bowie says.
Fans heckle. Coaches scream like maniacs. And players delight in finding and exploiting vulnerability in refs, particularly rookies.
So Richardson is being tested in a big way, says Bowie. Just like the three Bowie Boys who came before. Just like those who are sure to follow.
``Leroy will do well, trust me,'' Bowie says. ``Hey, it's a very tough league. At any level, you have to establish credibility. Once you do that, you can do great things.'' by CNB