THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290457
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Norfolk State's second season begins this afternoon. And however successful it may be, it won't extend beyond Saturday night.
Because the Spartans are preparing for a jump to the Division I ranks in 1997, they are ineligible for the Division II playoffs this season and next.
Although they've beaten second-ranked Virginia Union, which fell from the top spot in the Division II national poll after a 77-74 overtime loss to Norfolk State, and 13th-ranked North Carolina Central, there is no engraved invitation to the big dance waiting for them.
The Spartans haven't even been eligible for national poll consideration.
So a year's worth of frustration becomes a concentrated mass of three days at the CIAA tournament.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Spartans begin play today at Lawrence Joel Coliseum at 3 p.m. when they meet Virginia State.
``We've had some real problems at points in motivating this team because there hasn't been a national championship to play for,'' Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard said. ``Some nights, we were very flat.''
While two of the Spartans' four losses this season were to Southeastern Conference-member Auburn and Virginia Union, the other two were to CIAA also-rans St. Augustine's and Bowie State.
``It's the story of our year,'' Bernard said. ``Much of our disappointments have been due to a lack of focus. We've recognized that there isn't as much to play for. And that doesn't easily leave a person's mind.
``But I think we have the right frame of mind entering the tournament.''
``It's the biggest week of our season,'' said shooting guard and captain Carnell Penn. ``We've got our eyes on the prize.''
When Norfolk State announced its intentions to join Division I last spring, senior forward Derrick Bryant said, ``It killed me. I hurt so bad I thought about transferring.
``We'd been to the Elite 8 when I was a sophomore, the Final Four last year and the thought was, `Let's take it to the final game.' There was no doubt in my mind that if we got there we'd win it.''
Bryant, more than any Spartan, knows about championships. He won a state Group AA title as a senior at Suffolk's Nansemond River High School. That following summer he won an AAU national 17-and-under title while playing for the Boo Williams Summer League All-Stars.
While Allen Iverson and Joe Smith were the ballyhooed stars of that team, it was Bryant who drew the unenviable assignment of guarding Jerry Stackhouse for much of the title game against Charlotte.
Ironically, that game was played at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
And if Bryant and crew want to win a title that has to this point eluded them, the CIAA tournament is still out there. The last time Norfolk State won that title was in 1990, long before anyone on the roster pulled on a Spartans uniform.
The road to Saturday's final is littered with Norfolk State victims of the regular season. Two of the teams that beat the Spartans this season in CIAA play - Virginia Union and St. Augustine's - are still alive in the opposite bracket.
Without a glance at the bracket, Norfolk State point guard Maurice Whitfield acknowledged that the one aspect of Norfolk State's game that must be clicking is defense. But can the Spartans keep up their trademark defensive intensity over three days?
``Three days won't be nothing,'' Whitfield said. ``Coach (Mike Bernard) demands that we keep it up seven days a week, in practice or in games. Sometimes I'm glad there aren't eight days in a week.''
With the CIAA upon them, Bryant said he was relieved that center Blitz Wooten's game seemed to be returning. Wooten has been plagued by foul troubles and inconsistency this season. But in Saturday's regular-season finale, Wooten scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in an 84-66 victory over N.C. Central.
``That game just goes to show how we can play if we play together,'' Bryant said. ``And if Blitz plays like that, he can take us a long way in the tournament.'' ILLUSTRATION: Chart by Bill Moore
1996 CIAA Men's Tournament
For complete text, see microfilm
by CNB