Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006280034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I didn't hit .300 in baseball as a senior [in high school]," Reavis said, "and, at the beginning of my junior year, I wasn't a starter in football. I got no district honors to speak of.
"After I arrived at Emory, I found the football talent to be a lot better than I expected. I decided that I should set my sights on getting some playing time by my junior year. It blew my mind when I was able to do all those things."
By the time he graduated May 12, Reavis was a Kodak All-American in football, a GTE Academic All-American in baseball and a Rhodes Scholar candidate. He also received the Doc Jopson Award as the Male-Scholar Athlete of the Year in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
"I was totally shocked," said Reavis, who had a 3.74 grade-point average. "I had an OK baseball season, not great, and in football I thought I had a better season as a junior than as a senior."
Mostly, he had a remarkable career. He set school records for punt returns in a season and interceptions in a game, and finished his career with seven touchdowns on returns and blocked punts. In baseball, he stole 74 bases in 78 career attempts and had four errors in four years.
Reavis was listed at 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, "but that's stretching it," he said. "I'm more like 5-8, 170."
Reavis comes from Fancy Gap, which has produced the likes of North Carolina track star Rebecca Russell and East Tennessee State baseball pitcher Mike Montgomery, who recently signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Reavis' younger brother, Mike, plans to try out for the ETSU baseball team next year as a freshman.
Although he was recommended for a postgraduate scholarship, Doug Reavis was eager to begin his teaching and coaching career. He will teach history and social studies next year at St. Paul's Intermediate and coach junior varsity football and track.
Boyd Williams, who was Washington and Lee's first coach after the school gave up scholarship football in 1954, has resigned for health reasons after 36 years as a member of the Generals' staff.
Williams, 68, has served as defensive-line coach under five W&L coaches since 1955. He played at Syracuse University and later for the Philadelphia Eagles before short stints on the coaching staffs at VMI and Richmond.
Williams was an insurance agent when W&L de-emphasized football in 1954, but he agreed to serve on an interim basis and coached the team to a 2-1-1 record against a junior-varsity schedule.
"He's recruited some of the best players I've had," W&L coach Gary Fallon said. "The players and families love him. Boyd Williams is W&L blue and white. He's the most loyal and dedicated person I know."
Williams, who missed the 1989 season while on a leave of absence, will be replaced by Frank Miriello, who previously worked at VMI and W&L.
North Carolina's non-conference football schedule for 1990 consists of Miami of Ohio, South Carolina, Connecticut and Kentucky, with only South Carolina on the road. With seven home games, Carolina should have little difficulty improving on back-to-back 1-10 records.
Don DeVoe, former head coach at Virginia Tech and three other Division I basketball programs, has surfaced as an applicant for the vacancy at Florida International, a Division I program in Miami. Previous Florida International coach Rich Walker resigned to become an assistant at Iowa.
Former William and Mary head coach Barry Parkhill, one of five ex-Virginia basketball players to have his number retired, has joined the staff at Navy. Parkhill spent the past year as head coach at Division II St. Michael's, which went 9-18.
The day new Virginia basketball coach Jeff Jones has been waiting for will arrive Friday, when he turns 30.
by CNB