ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 basketball TAG: 9702270061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
A MORE CONTROLLED PACE suits Maurice Spencer and Keydets coaches just fine.
Maurice Spencer stepped onto a bus Wednesday afternoon on the VMI campus and when he stepped off about three hours later, he was standing at the site of one of his greatest college basketball achievements. Spencer will be careful to stop and enjoy every moment.
The Keydets basketball team had a sendoff celebration involving the Corps of Cadets and a drum and bugle contingent in front of Moody Hall. They were trying to send the VMI basketball team to the Southern Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., with a bang. When the Keydets tip off against Furman tonight on the Greensboro Coliseum floor, there still may be some remnants of the explosion Spencer set off there last season.
After averaging 7.7 points per game in the 1995-96 regular season, Spencer had back-to-back career games in the tournament, scoring 21 against Furman and 22 the next night against Western Carolina. He was named to the all-tournament team for his efforts.
``Before that, I always seemed to be going real, real fast, trying to rush things and really wanting to make things happen,'' said Spencer, a senior computer science major from Martinsville. ``When I got to the tournament, I began that way, but as the game got on, I calmed down a lot and a lot of things were given to me.''
In turn, Spencer gave coach Bart Bellairs hope for this season. ``If your seniors make the all-tournament team, it's neat,'' Bellairs said, ``but the thing about it is, if you've got a junior who makes it, it's like visions of things to come.''
Bellairs this fall had a new vision for Spencer. When VMI point guard Darryl Faulkner is catching his breath on the bench, Bellairs moves Spencer to the point, a position he never played before. Bellairs had an ulterior motive. He was putting the ball in the hands of a veteran while also slowing Spencer down from the hyper-speed Spencer prefers.
Bellairs enlisted assistant coach Kenny Brooks, who specializes in teaching the Keydets players individual moves, to help Spencer.
``He wanted me to play as fast as I could but he wanted me to play under control,'' said Spencer. ``That was the key to my tournament.''
Bellairs and Brooks wanting to slow anything down may sound strange, but the new method has helped Spencer and the Keydets. He averages 14.7 points per game and has scored in double figures his past 10 games. Opponents have trouble stopping him, especially when he launches baseline jumpers.
``His explosiveness gets him in and out of trouble sometimes,'' said Bellairs. ``He creates great opportunities and it also gets him going so daggone hard he has trouble stopping. But I'd rather have an explosive player rather than a player that's not.''
Spencer isn't always in a rush. His favorite thing to do is sleep. He loves to sit at VMI's baseball field and watch roommate Franco Martin play third base.
He and teammate Mike Spinelli have planned a spring backpacking trip, where they'll spend a couple of days tromping through the woods with no particular place to go.
That of course, won't come until they're done playing basketball, which Spencer is in no rush to stop.
``I'm really proud of our seniors here because they tend to really cherish their senior year,'' said Bellairs. ``Their future is bright and they see the light at the end of the tunnel and they really hang on and try to make every day count.''
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY STAFF. Maurice Spencer returns tonight to theby CNBGreensboro Coliseum, the site of one of his greatest collegiate
basketball achievements. color.