THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100516
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 121 lines
Every March the form letters arrive.
``Dear (fill in the blank), Hope your season is going well. We look forward to seeing you play soon.
``Sincerely,
``(Fill in blank of college coach).''
For Ann Murden of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and Kendra Robins of Norfolk Academy, two of the best basketball players in Hampton Roads, by March the season's been over. For months.
The two stars play in the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools, the only South Hampton Roads league which plays basketball in the fall.
``You get a lot of form letters,'' says Robins, a 5-foot-6 guard who's averaging nearly 17 points a game for Norfolk Academy. ``And I'm like, `Yeah, my season went well. We won the championship.' ''
Murden and Robins might always be in the right place when they're on the court. It's just that they're on it at the wrong time - in the fall, when college recruiters are allowed only a small window of opportunity to catch their act.
Despite that, both are being wooed by Division I schools. Murden, a 5-foot-10 guard who knocks down about 18 points a game for the Saints, has attracted attention from East Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Robins, who scores a 4.0 in the classroom, is being eyed by Navy, the Air Force Academy and the Ivy League schools.
Why, you ask, do Murden and Robins fill it up during October and then disappear from recruiters' radar screens during the ``traditional'' basketball season?
Norfolk Collegiate athletic director Larry Swearingen, who directs the TCIS girls basketball program this season, cites a variety of reasons for not playing in the winter.
The private schools share a gym with lower, middle and upper school teams, pushing three or four girls teams through practices and games every week. He points out that there simply is not enough time to have classes and handle sharing the boys and girls basketball seasons.
Former Collegiate girls basketball coach Larry Bowman, who also coaches in the public system at Salem, rails against the system.
``I think it is a real injustice to the players,'' he says. ``They are not able to get recruited and be observed by coaches. I think it's totally unfair.''
To Murden and Robins, it makes landing that scholarship all the harder.
``I've had coaches at basketball camps tell me it's really a disadvantage to play in the fall,'' Robins says. ``The evaluation period only starts at our tournament (at the end of October).''
And recruiters don't get the opportunity to see Murden and Robins in action at the state private school tournaments in March. Neither school competes.
But Murden and Robins have shown plenty in summer national AAU tourneys against highly regarded public school hotshots.
AAU coach and hoop guru Boo Williams has seen them play some of the top athletes in the country. His assessment?
``They can hold their own,'' he says. ``They both have a very good chance (to play Division I). They can do a good job and hold their own.''
Murden is perhaps the blue-chip of the TCIS. Forced to step up this season with the graduation of most of last year's 23-2 team, Murden has become a complete player.
While she prefers East Carolina and playing for coach Anne Donovan, the former ODU great, she is keeping her options open. And concentrating on playing better.
``I want to improve defensively a lot,'' Murden says. ``To really improve everywhere in my game. I'm playing everywhere. It's hard, really, because I'm not used to being the person to score. I feel like this year I have to score a lot and to be a leader on the team.''
The chance to finally lead the offense has brought out the best in Murden. She is tenacious on defense, using her size and strength to overpower and intimidate opponents. Offensively, she can strike quickly. College coaches see her easily adapting to a guard spot.
``She's a great athlete,'' says Kim Aston, who's in her first season coaching at N-SA. ``To be honest, I think she's the best girl athlete to play basketball here. I think she has the potential to be very good.''
Aston isn't speaking lightly. A former N-SA star herself, Aston went on to Old Dominion and crafted a solid Division I career.
She's not alone in her praise of Murden. Norfolk Academy coach Neil Duffy coached her at the junior varsity level.
``I think Ann Murden is great,'' Duffy says. ``She is a real talent, a hard worker and a competitor. She's a great kid. I think very highly of her.''
He can say the same of Robins, his own player. She plays in the orchestra, writes for the school paper and plays three sports.
Robins is looking not only for a college where she can play, but also for a place where she can study pre-med or science.
``One of my goals in choosing a college was to be at a level where I could play basketball,'' Robins says. ``I feel I could play at the Ivy League level or at the service academies.''
She also doesn't know if she wants to make the kind of commitment required at a top-25 school.
``That's the other part,'' Robins says. ``It's still a commitment, obviously because these schools are Division I, but it's not like a Virginia or Tennessee.''
After years of playing top-caliber opponents in AAU, then having to settle for playing TCIS opponents during the regular season, Robins is ready for diversity.
``At times it is frustrating,'' she says. ``It seems like we have only three or four close games and don't get to play the public schools. I think it would improve the league as a whole to play them. You always have to wonder how you would do against them.''
For now, Robins and Murden each has to satisfy herself with what she has and concentrate on winning the TCIS tournament.
``We have to content ourselves with doing as well as we can in the fall,'' Duffy says.
And then wait for those form letters to start showing up in March. ILLUSTRATION: ``Believe me, I don't ever need to go into overtime
again,'' said Hampton coach Joe Taylor. by CNB