
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994                   TAG: 9404090028
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD.                                LENGTH: Medium

STAPLES STARS AMONG STARS

THE OAK HILL ACADEMY basketball player from Roanoke has a big night at the Capital Classic.

A layup. A 3-pointer. A stick-back. A dunk.

The game scarcely was 10 minutes old and Curtis Staples had scored almost every way possible in the Capital Classic all-star basketball game at Cole Field House.

Staples, from Roanoke, Va., by way of Oak Hill Academy, had a game-high 24 points for the United States All-Stars, who overcame an eight-point first-half deficit in winning 91-71.

"It was typical Curtis Staples," said talent scout Howard Garfinkel, who helps select the players for the game. "He scored 24 points and you didn't know he was breathing. The effort is there, but he makes it look easy."

Trajan Langdon was selected most valuable player for the United States, despite missing the last seven minutes of the game after taking a blow to the head. Langdon had 21 points, including a 3-pointer and a four-point play on back-to-back possessions.

Langdon, Staples and a third guard, Chris Herren, sparked the United States' comeback from a 37-33 halftime deficit. Herren and Staples played together Sunday in the McDonald's All-America Game, where teammate Felipe Lopez did much of the shooting.

"That's the truth," said Staples, who scored 10 points Sunday. "I got to touch the ball a little bit more. I didn't shoot the ball as well as I wanted, but I played all right."

Staples finished 10-for-14 from the field, including three dunks, one a spectacular alley-oop in the first half. He was 2-of-5 on 3-point attempts, his specialty.

Staples was one of three University of Virginia signees in the game. Norman Nolan had eight points and five rebounds for the Capital All-Stars, and 7-foot-3 Chase Metheney failed to score for the U.S. team in 11 minutes.

"He's [Metheney] going to look that way," Garfinkel said. "We put him in a tough spot. He's not going to look like Bill Walton, but, in two years, watch out."

by CNB