THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702070234
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 74 lines
Churchland basketball coach Mac Carroll surveyed the scene in the Truckers' locker room, predictably downcast after yet another loss, and decided it was time to back off.
So the next day's practice, he announced, would be delayed an hour, until 3:30 p.m.
``Oh, no!'' barked Sadiki Tingling to his stunned teammates. ``You guys are going to be in here at 2:30 to lift weights.''
Carroll smiled, then allowed his face to break into a don't-look-at-me expression.
``You heard the man,'' he said. ``Two-thirty it is.''
Tingling, a 6-7, 205-pound senior forward, enjoys hard work so much he had those words tattooed on his right bicep as a Christmas present.
``I think it best describes me,'' said Tingling, who's given name is a Swahili word meaning grateful.
And for the past two months, he's been branding the concept into his teammates.
``He's a true leader in every sense of the word,'' Carroll said. ``We'll finish practice, and he's going right back into the weight room. He never stops working. He's done everything a coach could possibly ask.''
Dissension, defections and dismissals have led to ultimate disaster for the Truckers, who at press time had lost all 15 of their games to join Hickory as the region's only winless teams. Of the 15 players who began the year with the Truckers, only six remain.
Despite the inner turmoil, Tingling has post all-district numbers. Despite constant double- and triple-teams, he's averaging 22.0 points - second in the area - and 12 rebounds a game.
He's scored at least 21 in eight straight games and has saved his best performances for the strongest teams. He notched a season-high 29 against then-fourth-ranked Nansemond River, 26 against top-ranked Booker T. Washington and shot 11-of-14 from the field and pulled down 15 rebounds against then-third-ranked Lake Taylor.
``I've been the focus of other teams, and at times its been frustrating,'' Tingling said. ``But you just have to play through it.''
Tingling doesn't simply lead by example, though.
``My teammates show me respect, so I talk to them, try to make them more motivated on the court,'' he said. ``And when I see them in the hallway and it looks like they're not doing right, I make them hit their books.''
To date, however, Tingling's all-district numbers and mentorship have yet to add up to a victory. And at times, it eats him up.
``The guys call him `Wildman,' '' Carroll said. ``He gets frustrated, and once in a while it'll show through. But 90 percent of the time, he's positive and encouraging.''
For Tingling, the team's dismal campaign is particularly frustrating because when he arrived at Churchland, the Truckers, led by Marvin Rodgers and D.J. Dunbar, won the Eastern Region title.
But Tingling couldn't contribute to that championship run. He was undercut while attempting a layup during a junior varsity game as a freshman and suffered a broken leg.
``His sophomore year, we expected him to be a JV player again,'' Carroll said. ``But he pushed himself, on the weights, on the playground. He's his own coach.
``By the end of that year, he'd earned several starts on the varsity. And we had a strong team.''
Carroll certainly can't say that this year. But he said he has enjoyed watching Tingling's development, and is working the phones and his connections to drum up interest from college coaches in his star forward.
``Division III coaches want him already, but we want to see if we can get something higher,'' said Carroll, who revealed that Virginia Tech has shown some late interest.
Academics won't be an obstacle. Tingling maintains a B average and has scored over 1,000 on his SAT.
``If some college picks me up, I know they'll be getting the same thing I'm doing in high school,'' Tingling said. ``Academics and basketball. That's what I'm all about.''
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL