THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040717
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: THE CLASS OF '92
It was probably the best group of recruits ever to come out of
Virginia Beach. Brandon Noble took off for Penn State, Tony DeSue for
Clemson, Lamonte Still for Virginia and Shawn Wilson for Florida. They
left with dreams of the big time, of national championships, maybe
even of Heisman Trophies. But a lot can happen in five years.
Today: Lamonte Still story.
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 141 lines
Jim Prince watched in awe as Lamonte Still ripped through opponents for an area-record 2,036 rushing yards during his senior year at Cox High School. It was, he recalls, like coaching Bruce Smith or William Fuller when they played in Hampton Roads.
He felt privileged to be tutoring a future superstar.
``In 16 years of college coaching and eight years coaching high schools here, I've never seen anything like him,'' said Prince, the Ocean Lakes head coach who was at Cox for Still's three seasons there.
``Lamonte was so good that you just knew he would be an All-American and would play in the NFL.''
Yet Still's career has taken a far different turn than Prince could have envisioned.
Still signed with Virginia, rejecting the likes of Michigan and Penn State, but never played a down for the Cavaliers. He left school after one semester.
He rejected offers to transfer to Clemson and Georgia and instead enrolled at Hampton University, in part because he was told he could play right away for the Pirates - HU was then a Division II school.
But he didn't. He was forced to sit out in 1993 by NCAA rules, and thus missed a second season.
He finally played in 1994, and proved that two years of relative inaction hadn't slowed him. He rushed for 1,174 yards and was named CIAA Rookie of the Year.
Then in his third game last season, while making a cut against Grambling on the turf at Giants Stadium, he blew out a ligament in his right knee and was sidelined for the year. It took reconstructive surgery to put it back together.
This season, Still's fifth in college, he has compiled average stats - 225 yards rushing on 40 carries and 12 receptions for 76 yards in four games - on a Hampton team whose offense is struggling.
``Everyone's numbers are down a bit,'' said Hampton coach Joe Taylor, whose program moved up to Division I-AA last season. ``When we go three and out so many times, you only get so many touches.
``Lamonte's knee is not a problem. Our offensive focus is the problem.
``We all receive thunderbolts in life. We have no choice when that happens. Our choice is how we bounce back and he bounced back well. His knee is stronger than it was. He worked hard.
``I think Lamont's best days are ahead of him.''
Prince says Still's career contains elements of triumph and tragedy. The triumph has been Still's academic success at Hampton. He is on course to graduate next fall with a degree in recreation.
The tragedy, Prince said, is the missed opportunity at U.Va., where he could be splitting time this season with Heisman Trophy candidate Tiki Barber.
``While I was watching Tiki run for (three) touchdowns against Texas last week, I kept wondering what it would have been like if Lamonte had played in that game,'' Prince said.
``My guess is that he would have blown through those holes just like Tiki.
``I talked to (U.Va. assistant) Danny Wilmer about Lamonte. They would use him on their demo team against the first defemse, and when Lamonte got the ball, they couldn't touch him.''
Tom O'Brien, U.Va.'s offensive coordinator, also wonders what might have been.
``I thought he'd be an exceptional back for us,'' O'Brien said. ``He had all the tools, great quickness, speed. He was a slashing runner who could make you miss in the open field.
``I wish we could have had the opportunity to coach Lamonte. . . . He and Tiki would have been a nice one-two punch.''
Still's departure from Virginia wasn't amicable. He garnered admission to U.Va. under a special program for academically challenged students, yet was suspended from school after just one semester. He would have had to sit out a year in order to return to U.Va.
Still volunteers that he missed meetings with professors and his academic adviser that he should have attended, which might have prevented him from being suspended. ``I wasn't doing well in one of my classes, and because of that, me and my academic adviser didn't get along at all,'' he said.
Still was remiss, Prince admits. But he insists the academic adviser was even more remiss.
``When you have a kid as behind academically as Lamonte was, you have to give him some help,'' Prince said. ``I'll always think she dropped the ball. .
If Still is disappointed that he's not playing big-time football, it doesn't show. He seems relaxed and happy at HU.
``What I wanted most from college was to get my degree,'' he said. ``I wanted to meet new people in the college atmosphere. I wanted to enjoy myself.
``I didn't dream of being a big star. I just wanted to play.''
And to fit in. Described by friends as shy and quiet, Still was shellshocked by U.Va.'s size and the impersonal nature of a campus with 20,000 students and classes as large as 300.
He has found his niche at Hampton, a school with 4,473 undergraduates.
``I really like it here,'' he said. ``The teachers work with you more here than they did at U.Va. It's like a friendly neighborhood. Everyone says hi and asks how you're doing, even if they don't know you. It wasn't like that at U.Va.
``Do I have any hard feelings (toward U.Va.)? In a way, but I try not to think about it because it's in the past. I still visit there every so often.''
He's managed to get a taste of the big time at Hampton, which has played at the Georgia Dome, RFK Stadium and Giants Stadium so far this year. The Pirates meet Florida A&M in the Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis on Saturday. A crowd of 60,000 is expected for that game, which will be televised nationally on tape delay.
``I love the big crowds, the pro stadiums,'' he said. ``It's been a lot of fun.''
Still has the option of playing next season under an NCAA hardship rule, and says he probably will.
``I want to play pro ball,'' he said. ``I probably need another season to do that.''
Taylor says Still will get his shot at the pros. ``But he needs to work on his upper body,'' he said. ``He's got to put on more muscle. He needs to live in the weight room.''
Prince agrees.
``If you've got the ability, the pros will find you,'' he said.
``But at U.Va. they have a conditioning coach and a conditioning program that you don't have (at I-AA schools). In his one semester at U.Va., he gained eight pounds, and it was all muscle.
``The thing that will hurt him most now is he doesn't have the experience and the skills in a multiple offense. When he gets to camp, some of that stuff will be foreign to him.
``He's got the talent to play in the NFL. I hope he gets the chance.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA, The Virginian-Pilot
After leaving U.Va. and then suffering a knee injury at Hampton,
Lamonte Still can once again set his sights on the NFL.
Graphic
STILL AT A GLANCE
College: Hampton University
Position: Tailback
Size: 5-foot-11, 180 pounds
Major: Persuing a bachelor's degree in recreation
High school: Cox
Personal: He did not play community league football, instead
honing his skills playing sandlot football in Norfolk Navy housing.
``We always came home with grass stains on our jeans,'' he said.
Saturday's big game: vs. Florida A&M at Indianapolis (8 p.m.,
BET) by CNB