THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604030119
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Things you see and hear at the 44th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament:
Bernard Hopkins, Virginia Commonwealth's player of the year in the CAA: ``My favorite pro team is the Lakers. My favorite pro player is Magic Johnson. And if I were a comic book hero, I would be - Batman.''
Darren McLinton of James Madison: ``My greatest moment in sports was scoring 50 points in a game when I was in the fifth grade. My craziest ambition is to bungee jump.''
Mark Pope of Kentucky: He was the PAC-10 Freshman of the Year in 1992. The PAC-10? Yep, he was playing for Washington. He transferred to Kentucky and sat out the 1993-94 season.
Erick Strickland of Nebraska: He is just as outstanding in baseball and track as in basketball. He cleared 6-6 in the high jump as a high school freshman and set a school record as a baseball hitter with a .483 average. An outfielder, he played professionally for the Elmyra Pioneers in the New York-Penn League.
Micheal Meeks of Canisius: He is a native of Kingston, Jamaica, and was a two-year member of the Canadian National team, where he received a silver medal at the World University Games in 1993.
Dametri Hill of Florida: He weighs in at about 275 pounds now but was a 350-pounder when he first enrolled at Florida. He is majoring in criminology and law.
Malik Rose of Drexel: When he graduated from high school in Philadelphia, he was presented the William J. Ferguson Award as the top scholar-athlete in the Philadelphia Public League. He graduated 30th in a class of 432.
Todd Lindeman of Indiana: He lived in Channing, Michigan, and his parents moved from Michigan to Indianapolis so they could watch him play for the Hoosiers.
Kevin Granger of Texas Southern: The top scorer in the nation this year, on sizing up his scoring potential: ``That's fine as long as I'm not playing selfish ball, not forcing it or not taking 30 shots a game and making eight. . by CNB