ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9602010009
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
John Robertson, Radford High's blade of a basketball guard, has been rather difficult to stop this season.
In a little more than a year, he'll be impossible to stop. Nothing short of an armored division will keep Robertson, a junior, out of college. Having never made a high-school grade lower than a B in a challenging curriculum, admission offices from universities across the nation will be rolling out the red carpet.
Robertson's extracurricular activities won't hurt him, either.
The young man can play some hoops. That might be of interest to a college whose team is in need of a guard who can shoot, defend and hit the backboards.
``I'd love that,'' Robertson said.
Radford has found a lot to love about Robertson since he moved from Lynchburg last year. But it took awhile before the feeling was mutual.
``I didn't know if I was going to like Radford before we moved here,'' Robertson said. ``I'd lived around Lynchburg all my life, and all our family lives there.''
The adjustment period stretched through last year.
``Every weekend, I was going back to Lynchburg to go to church,'' he said.
Eventually, the quiet Robertson started to connect with his new home. He said the connection now is complete.
``I love Radford,'' he said. ``And there isn't a better high school around.''
Robertson is one of the reasons Radford has such vastly improved basketball prospects. Through 13 games, Robertson was the second-leading scorer behind Derrick Chapman and was accounting for 14.9 points per game. He was second on the team in steals with 21, and was second in rebounds with 4.5 per game.
In addition, he was the runaway leader in 3-pointers with 29 and was shooting 33.7 percent from beyond the arc.
``He needs to be shooting more from out there,'' Radford coach Rick Cormany said.
Because Robertson makes 84.4 percent of his free throws, Cormany would like to see him standing on the line more. So would Robertson.
``I have to get inside more,'' Robertson said. ``Some night, you're going to have an off night shooting. Getting to the line more, I could keep up the scoring and maybe get my shooting going again.''
Robertson works hard on his game but works even harder in the classroom. After his first six weeks, he earned four A's and two B's in such subjects as algebra, Spanish, world history and biology. Math is his favorite subject.
``John is an academically dedicated student,'' said his Algebra II teacher, Susan Boggess. ``He makes sure his work is completed and strives to understand the details. He appears to have an inner drive to do his very best and accomplish his goal for success.''
Cormany, a guidance counselor at Radford, once asked Robertson how much time he spent on his schoolwork.
``He told me, `Until I get it,''' Cormany said.
Robertson said: ``I'm going to work hard in school because school is important. You need school.''
Once he reaches college, Robertson said, he thinks he will be interested in studying engineering.
Before that, he'll have plenty of chances to engineer some banner basketball seasons at Radford.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: RAY COX/Staff. Radford High School basketball player andby CNBscholar John Robertson: ``I love Radford,'' he says of the city he
moved to recently. ``And there isn't a better high school around.''
color.