ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 18, 1996 TAG: 9611190015
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
VMI IS MORE ATHLETIC than in recent years, but coach Bart Bellairs' team also is less experienced.
This preseason, coach Bart Bellairs has seen such a different VMI basketball team on the court, he has considered revising his marketing plan.
``We're going to change our Reebok sponsorship to Pampers,'' he said.
Bellairs lost five seniors from last season's 18-10 team. Some were heralded (Bobby Prince, Lawrence Gullette), some were not (Larry Osborne, Howard Byrd). All, however, had age and experience on their side. With two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup, this year's VMI team does not, but it does have other assets.
One is Brent Conley, the sophomore forward who led the Southern Conference in rebounding in 1995-96 (8.4 per game) and was named the league's freshman of the year. Another is Martinsville High School graduate Maurice Spencer, a senior captain who had career-high scoring games back-to-back in last season's Southern Conference tournament.
Then, there are the three players who started the season with the Keydets but weren't on the roster by season's end: sophomore guard Jason Bell and junior guards Warren Johnson and Darryl Faulkner. Bell was gone for only a few months, having left the team Feb.14 in the midst of a promising season to deal with some family matters. Johnson is back after one year's absence from school because of academic difficulties, and Faulkner is back after two years away.
Faulkner is eligible to play. Bell and Johnson are trying to earn the necessary credits this semester that would allow them to become eligible Dec.18.
``I believe in that,'' Bellairs said. ``Once a kid starts here, if he wants to finish here I want him back.''
Faulkner will split time with sophomore Andre Quarles at point guard, while junior 3-point specialist Bryan Taueg will back up Spencer. The Keydets are guard heavy.
The frontcourt is another matter. Junior forward Mike Spinelli, who averaged less than 10 minutes per game in his first two seasons, will be VMI's big man when the season opens. Spinelli was going to get help from 6-foot-10 freshman center Chris DiNunzio, but DiNunzio broke a bone in his left foot Friday during an exhibition game and is out for the next four to six weeks.
That exhibition, a 75-61 victory over a team from Hungary, may have revealed another option, however. Although he weighs only 205 pounds, 6-9 freshman Eric Mann threw it around enough to score 13 points, grab a team-high eight rebounds and make four steals.
Because the Keydets shoot so many - and such long - 3-pointers, Bellairs hopes there will be plenty of long rebounds for his small forwards to grab. That's where freshman Aaron Demory and sophomore Matt Matheny (Cave Spring High School) come into play. Demory is a 6-3 freshman with a 7-1 wingspan and 37-inch vertical leap who has earned a starting spot thanks to his preseason workouts. Matheny will see plenty of time, too, after spending the off-season in the weight room and adding 15 pounds to his frame.
Bellairs also has said this is the most athletic team he's worked with since he was an assistant at Maryland and Len Bias was on the team.
``If it was a rim-jumping contest, we might win first place,'' Bellairs said. ``But there's so much more to the game.''
So much that Bellairs has had to be more of a teacher than a coach for the past month. How the lessons are learned will be revealed early in the season. VMI visits Wake Forest for its second game and plays host to North Carolina on Dec.15.
``I'm going to have to be patient with this team,'' Bellairs said. ``I won't be patient in conditioning, I'll be patient with them jelling together.''
VMI SCHEDULE
November
22, Albright, 7 p.m.; 24, at Wake Forest, 1:30 p.m.
December
5, Navy, 7 p.m.; 7, Washington and Lee, 3 p.m.; 10, at Radford, 7 p.m.; 15, North Carolina, 4:30 p.m.; 18, Eastern Mennonite, 7 p.m.; 21, at Winthrop, 2 p.m.; 30, at Florida International, 7:30 p.m.
January
4, at North Carolina-Charlotte, 7:35 p.m.; 6, at Appalachian State, 7 p.m.; 8, at Richmond, 7:30 p.m.; 11, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 7:30 p.m.; 13, Georgia Southern, 7 p.m.; 16, at Wofford, 7 p.m.; 18, at The Citadel, 7 p.m.; 20, at East Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m.; 25, at Furman, 7:30 p.m.; 27, Marshall, 7 p.m.
February
1, at Davidson, 7:30 p.m.; 3, Appalachian State, 7 p.m.; 8, The Citadel, 1 p.m.; 10, at Western Carolina, 7 p.m.; 15, at Marshall, 7:30 p.m.; 17, Davidson, 7 p.m.; 23, East Tennessee State, 2:30 p.m.; Feb.27-March 2, Southern Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Conleyby CNB