Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 28, 1990 TAG: 9006280247
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Coles, whom many NBA observers thought would be chosen in the first round of the league's annual draft, waited more than three hours before hearing Sacramento call his name halfway through the second round. The Kings made him the 40th player chosen overall.
Then, about a half-hour later, Coles heard his name again. This time, he had been traded by Sacramento to Miami for 10-year veteran guard Rory Sparrow.
"It's all right," said Coles, of Lewisburg, W.Va., from his apartment in Blacksburg. "It's a lot better than Sacramento, a lot closer [to home]. I've got an opportunity to play. Sherman Douglas is there, but it's his second year, he's still learning and I'll be learning. I think we can compete. I think I'll make the club, and I think I can do good things there."
Miami assistant coach Tony Fiorentino agrees.
"He didn't have a spectacular senior year, but we do remember [Coles] in the Olympic Trials," said Fiorentino of Coles who played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic team in Seoul, South Korea. "We're impressed with the fact that he can push the ball up the floor, and we like his defensive prowess."
Fiorentino said Sacramento, searching for a veteran guard, called the Heat before the Kings drafted Coles to inquire about the availability of Sparrow. Fiorentino said the Heat is committed to a youth movement and an up-tempo offense, and when Miami saw Coles still was available, it agreed to the swap providing the Kings chose Coles. Sacramento selected the former Hokie, who averaged 25.3 points per game last year and led the Metro in scoring for three straight years, with a pick it had obtained from Indiana in a 1989 trade.
The 6-foot-1 Coles, who had been rated as high as the fourth point guard available in the draft, was the seventh point guard picked and the 17th guard chosen. He finished his career as the all-time leading scorer for Tech and the Metro Conference with 2,484 points, but he was not even the first state player chosen. A.J. English of Division II Virginia Union was the 37th player taken, by the Washington Bullets.
Boston was thought to have had serious interest in Coles, but the Celtics opted for Jacksonville point guard Dee Brown with the 19th pick. Celtics President Red Auerbach told the Associated Press that if Brown had not been available Boston would have picked Coles.
Coles said he was disappointed at slipping into the second round, but he didn't seem despondent.
"It makes me want to work harder," he said. "It's just like anything else. I'm from West Virginia, the last couple of years I've played for the Virginia Tech Hokies, and it seems like we've had a lot of bad luck, and I always seemed to get out of that. [The draft] is just another case of bad luck.
"I've got a lot to prove, but it's always been that way. I've always had a lot of hard work in front of me, so it's not like I'm going on a different line."
Fiorentino said the Heat likely will bring six guards into training camp later this year - Coles, Douglas, Scott Haffner, Kevin Edwards, Jon Sundvold and first-round draft choice Willie Burton. Fiorentino said the Heat likely will keep five guards.
Coles said he planned to step up his summer workout schedule to be in shape for training camp. Coles' spirits were helped by a pep talk late Wednesday from his agent, Bob Woolf.
"He said, `You'll be in the NBA for a number of years,' " Coles said. "He believes in me. He thinks I'm a player. I have to have faith in him."
by CNB