DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050834

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: FROM WIRE REPORTS 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:   72 lines

CURRY COMMITS TO THE CAVALIERS HAMPTON SUPERSTAR PLANS TO PLAY FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL

Hampton High School quarterback Ronald Curry, perhaps the nation's most prized football recruit, committed Thursday to attend the University of Virginia.

Curry announced his decision first to his high school teammates at the close of their practice session Thursday afternoon.

Most recruiting analysts rank the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Curry as the nation's top quarterback prospect in football and among the best point guards in basketball.

Two former Hampton High stars are on the Virginia roster - Ahmad Hawkins and Donnie Green. Two of Curry's current teammates, Darnell Hollier and Bobby Blizzard, announced Thursday that they, too, will attend Virginia next fall.

``It will be nice, all of us getting together again next year,'' Curry said.

As a junior, Curry led the Crabbers to an undefeated season and the state football championship last year. He passed for 2,293 yards and 36 touchdowns, ran for 905 yards and 29 touchdowns, scored five times on punt returns, four times after interceptions and once each on a blocked punt and a kickoff return.

He was named the state player of the year at the season's end, and followed it up by winning the same honor in basketball in March.

Curry averaged 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals per game as the Crabbers won their last 18 games and won the state championship.

He also maintains a 3.5 grade-point average.

Curry in July narrowed his choices to Virginia and North Carolina. He had considered Florida State, but crossed the Seminoles off his list after coaches there told him he would not get substantial playing time for two years.

But that wasn't enough to stop a barrage of sales pitches from other colleges' recruiters.

``The phone had been ringing off the hook since Monday with recruiting calls and I decided to get it over with,'' said Curry, who is expected to sign a football national letter of intent in February, the earliest he can do so.

``My mother called me Wednesday night from North Carolina and told me to go to Virginia because it would be like family with all the friends I have there.

``She said they would make the transition to college easier for me and that she could still see me play because she was just as close to Charlottesville as she was to Chapel Hill.''

Curry's mother, Deborah, lives in Rocky Mount, N.C. Curry lives in Hampton with his guardian Lillian Crawford.

Curry, Hollier and Blizzard attended Thursday night's Auburn-Virginia football game in Charlottesville, shown nationally on ESPN.

Curry said he and Hollier talked on the phone Wednesday night and agreed to choose Virginia. Both then called Hampton High football coach Mike Smith to tell him of the decision.

``I've known for a long time these three would go to Virginia,'' Smith said. ``They're like family, that's why they're going together. I'm real proud they're staying in state.''

Curry wants to play football and basketball at least for his freshman year. He also said he might consider going to the NBA right out of high school, if he is drafted and receives an outstanding offer.

In the 41 high school games he has played, Curry has scored 74 touchdowns and passed for 65 more. Hampton has a 39-2 record and has won two consecutive state titles with him at quarterback.

A starter since his first day as a freshman, he holds numerous state records. In 27 years of the Smith regime, he is the only player younger than a junior to start at quarterback. MEMO: The Associated Press and Newport News Daily Press contributed to

this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Martin Smith-Rodden

Ronald Curry...

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