THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010720
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Quentae McLean's debut for Indian River's football team may be coming a year behind schedule, but fortunately for the Braves, the schedule begins Friday.
McLean only wishes it was tonight.
``What position will I play? Inside linebacker, tight end, some fullback, some split end . . .'' said the 6-foot-2, 215-pound McLean, who will lead the Braves against Norview on Friday. ``I'll play wherever coach (Bob) Parker wants me. I just want to play. I just want to get out there.''
A year away from football, not to mention away from Indian River, can breed this kind of attitude. McLean was academically ineligible last season and watched with equal parts frustration and pride as the Braves marched on without him to the Division 6 state semifinals.
He then transferred to Booker T. Washington, where he watched from the bench as Indian River bounced the Bookers out of the Eastern Region basketball tournament.
But McLean has found his way back to Indian River, and back to the Braves' football team. He said it's where he wanted to be all along.
``It really hurt last year, having to watch the guys and not being able to get out here,'' he said. ``It hurt so much, I didn't even want to come out to the field. But I'm back now, the guys have accepted me and we're ready to go for a state championship.''
McLean has spent preseason practice backing up his bold talk with even bolder performances. Blessed with the size and hitting ability of a linebacker, the speed of a tailback and the hunger of a man who hasn't done this sort of thing in awhile, McLean has dominated.
``We're talking about a grown man out there, physically and mentally,'' Parker said. ``He's been like a man among boys.''
``Oh, yeah, I was impressed,'' said Bethel coach Dennis Kozlowski, whose Bruins took on Indian River in a recent scrimmage. ``He did a nice job of blocking for the tailback and running the ball some.
``But where he was really successful was on defense. He's got the size and the range to work inside-out, and he did that very well.''
These were the reviews McLean was supposed to have drawn last season. As a freshman, he earned a reputation as a playmaker on defense.
The following year he switched to tight end and caught 10 passes, three for touchdowns. Then-Indian River coach Lee Fowler called him ``the ideal football player.''
McLean's junior year was supposed to be his coming-out party. Instead, he wound up ineligible and couldn't come out at all.
With talented players like quarterback/safety Tony Morrison and wide receiver/cornerback Shawn Foreman around, it didn't seem as though the Braves missed McLean's presence much.
But Parker sometimes wonders what might have been.
``You put him with those guys, man!'' Parker said.
Midway through the school year, McLean and his mother moved to live with McLean's grandmother in Norfolk, a move McLean said he didn't want to make.
He enrolled at Booker T. Washington, and suddenly, he was no longer a Brave, either.
``That was tough, because Indian River has always been in my blood,'' he said. ``I consider myself a diehard Braves fan.''
Making matters even tougher, McLean joined Booker T. Washington's basketball team and soon found himself playing against his old school in the Eastern Region tournament.
``It felt funny, because I love Freddie Spellman to death,'' McLean said of Indian River's basketball coach. ``I can remember one of the (Indian River) guys making a shot and me saying, `Good shot.' And I was on the Booker T. bench.''
McLean didn't get too excited when Indian River won the game, however.
``One thing you have to know about me is, I like to win,'' he said.
McLean said he made a lot of friends at Booker T. Washington, and being there gave him a chance to concentrate on his studies. But he also said he always wanted to come back to Indian River.
And once the school year was over, he convinced his mother to return to Chesapeake. They now live with an aunt in a townhouse across the street from the school.
Now all he has to do is perform. And after all he's gone through the past year, McLean said that's the easy part.
``I just want (the season) to get started,'' he said. ``This is my last year, so tell Norcom they might as well look forward to us, 'cause we're going to be there.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Indian River's versatile Quentae McLean is back after a brief stay
at Booker T. Washington.
by CNB