ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Thomas Haskins drove home from VMI for Christmas break Wednesday. When the junior running back arrived in Richmond, he didn't go straight to his house in eastern Henrico County. First, he went by the gym.
``I just wanted to make sure they were going to be open,'' he said.
Haskins spent most of his time working out before this past football season, and the effort was rewarded Wednesday when he was named to the Associated Press 1995 Division I-AA All-America team. (Complete team in Scoreboard. B2)
Haskins is the first Keydet since wide receiver Mark Stock in 1988 and the second player in school history to be named to the I-AA All-America first team.
``This was one of my individual goals,'' Haskins said. ``The off-season brought me the success I had.''
Haskins had plenty.
He finished eighth in NCAA Division I-AA in rushing, with 140.73 yards per game, and broke his school single-season record of 1,509 yards set last year with 1,548. Haskins also was sixth in the nation in all-purpose running, with 194 yards per game, and eighth in scoring, with 9.64 points per outing.
Haskins became VMI's all-time leading rusher in the Keydets' final game, the Oyster Bowl against Georgia Southern. The 1995 Southern Conference coaches' offensive player of the year broke Floyd Allen's 14-year-old VMI mark of 3,569 career rushing yards and has 3,651 yards on 612 carries.
Haskins had two laments when told of the honor: First, he wished his offensive line could get some of the credit; and second, he wished he knew Allen. ``I'd love to meet the guy,'' Haskins said. ``We might have something in common.''
Haskins didn't know he had won the award until he walked in the front door of his house. His mother, Jane Haskins, had received a phone call earlier in the afternoon, informing her of her son's achievement. ``Is that a big deal?'' she asked.
It sure is to Haskins and his team. ``Right now, it's pretty overwhelming,'' he said.
There were two other players with Virginia ties on the AP's first team. William Pannell, an Altavista native who played at Marshall, made it as an offensive tackle; and James Madison's John Coursey, a junior from Arlington, was the first-team kicker.
Other Virginians were second-team defensive end Hugh Hunter from Hampton; Darren Sharper, a second-team defensive back from William and Mary; Chris Parker, a Lynchburg native and third-team running back from Marshall; and Hampton's Michael Jenkins, a third-team wide receiver.
Haskins was a first-team All-State selection by The Roanoke Times and placed third in the balloting for the Dudley Award, which honors the top college football player in Virginia.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. VMI running back Thomas Haskins isby CNBonly the second player in school history to make first-team
All-America in football, following in the footsteps of wide receiver
Mark Stock (1988). GRAPHIC: No Doubting Thomas (See microfilm for
rest.)