DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711290500

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE:    - RICH RADFORD

                                            LENGTH:   83 lines

ODU REPORT

Monarchs throw

solid one-two punch

with recent signees

NORFOLK - Old Dominion University's men's basketball team landed its primary recruits - 6-foot-9 forward Dimari Thompkins and 6-2 point guard Pierre Greene - in the early-signing period in what head coach Jeff Capel is calling a pleasant surprise.

``It's very rare when you get your targeted recruits,'' Capel said. ``But we did. Usually you have to settle for your second- or third-choices. I'm tickled to death.''

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from discussing recruits until the letter-of-intent papers are in hand. Once in hand, Capel explained how his staff signed Greene, who was also being recruited by DePaul and Illinois.

``It slipped out that his mom wanted him out of Chicago,'' Capel said. ``We figured that DePaul and Illinois weren't moving, so we went after him hard.''

As for Thompkins, Capel said he's a ``very athletic, active big man with perimeter skills.''

Barring any unexpected departures, ODU had only two available scholarships for this season's recruiting class. But next year the Monarchs lose six players, making recruitment of the junior class very important, another reason Capel is pleased that he landed both recruits during November.

``We were telling Thompkins and Greene that we needed them to sign early because we want to concentrate all our efforts from here out on the juniors,'' Capel said. ``We won't go after six. We'll go after three or four and save the other scholarships for the following year in an effort to balance the classes.''

Bassette healthy, just

in time for Texas Tech

ODU center Reggie Bassette, who broke the carpal bone in his right wrist during an early November exhibition game, started against Virginia Military Institute on Tuesday night and played 33 minutes, then deemed himself as healthy as can be expected heading into tonight's game with Texas Tech at Scope.

He had played just 15 minutes in the previous game a week ago against Hampton University.

Playing in a soft protective wrap, Bassette has shown little limitation in what he can do, broken wrist or not.

``If I think about the wrist, that's when I get myself in trouble,'' Bassette said. ``So I'm trying not to think about it. I was winded against Hampton. But I wasn't winded (against VMI). We have to be 10 strong against Texas Tech.''

And 10 strong is as much as ODU can offer. They have only 10 eligible scholarship basketball players this season. The other scholarships are being used by transfers who must sit out the season under NCAA rules.

Texas Tech bringing one

of nation's top guards

He's one of 10 preseason nominees for the Naismith Award and one of 25 finalists for the Wooden Award.

He's Cory Carr, Texas Tech's high-flying senior guard who led the Big 12 Conference in scoring last season, and he'll be at Scope tonight. Carr is averaging 25 points for the Red Raiders, who are 0-2 this season.

Carr made himself available for the NBA draft, but opted to return to Texas Tech for his senior season after being passed over in the NBA's two-round draft last June.

Capel says he can't imagine Carr being passed over again.

``He's a lottery pick this season,'' Capel said. ``I don't know if you can stop him. In fact, it might be one of those instances where he gets his points and you try to stop his teammates.''

Capel said that the Monarchs' schedule takes a significant step up in class for the next three weeks. The Monarchs play at UNC-Charlotte and St. Joseph's next week, host George Washington on Dec. 13 and Mississippi State on Dec. 18, then visit Washington and New Orleans before entering Colonial Athletic Association play.

``These are five or six of the best teams in the country,'' Capel said. ``We have to take it up another level.'' ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Playing in a soft protective wrap, ODU center Reggie Bassette, left,

has shown little limitation in what he can do, broken wrist or not.

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