Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press and staff reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Staley led the women's balloting over Daedra Charles of Tennessee, Sonja Henning of Stanford, Carolyn Jones of Auburn and Andrea Stinson of North Carolina State.
Johnson, a senior forward who averaged more than 23 points per game in leading unbeaten UNLV back to the men's Final Four, edged teammate Stacey Augmon and All-Americans Shaquille O'Neal of Louisiana State, Kenny Anderson of Georgia Tech and Billy Owens of Syracuse.
Staley, a 5-foot-5 junior guard from Philadelphia, also was among four players from NCAA Final Four women's teams to be selected to the Kodak Division I All-America Team announced Thursday.
She joined Kerry Bascom of Connecticut, Charles and Henning. Also on the team were Dana Chatman, Louisiana State; Delmonica DeHorney, Arkansas; Joy Holmes, Purdue; Carolyn Jones, Auburn; Genia Miller, Cal State Fullerton; and Stinson.
Virginia's Debbie Ryan won the women's Naismith Coach of the Year Award for guiding the Cavaliers to a 27-2 regular-season record and a trip to the women's Final Four.
Ohio State's Randy Ayers, who led the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Conference co-championship and the NCAA Sweet 16, was selected the Naismith Men's Coach of the Year.
\ Duke's quest for the national championship reached Indianapolis on Thursday, but not quite the way coach Mike Krzyzewski had in mind.
Krzyzewski wanted his team, which plays unbeaten Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday, to be housed close to the heart of the action in downtown Indianapolis. Most of the hotels for the media and school boosters are across the street from the Hoosier Dome, site of this year's Final Four.
However, the Blue Devils are in a hotel near Indianapolis International Airport, about a 20-minute bus ride from the center of town and away from the hoopla. Krzyzewski wanted his players to soak up the excitement of the school's fourth straight Final Four and fifth in the last six years. But he was generally satisfied when he got off the bus around 5:30 p.m.
"Sometimes when you're far away from the center of things, the kids never get an appreciation for that," Krzyzewski said in front of about a dozen television cameras and among several dozen well-wishers and hotel employees. "This is a nice welcome. It was a terrific welcome."
The Blue Devils and their crew were greeted by a hotel staff wearing Duke T-shirts. The registration desk was decorated in blue and white streamers and posters cheering Duke on to take its first national championship.
Unbeaten UNLV's shot at college basketball immortality got off to a shaky start.
The Runnin' Rebels, four days and two victories from joining the ranks of the game's greatest, arrived a day before any of their Final Four rivals, and they may have needed the extra time just to settle down. Their plane landed Wednesday night after being tossed around by high winds.
by CNB