THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502080196
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 25 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
IT DOESN'T MATTER how many times you see him do it, when Antoine Willie shoots the basketball it seems bound for any place other than the net.
Yet, somehow, this Nansemond River sophomore has used his unorthodox shooting style to become the top scorer in the Bay Rivers District with an average of 28 points per game.
Willie set a Suffolk scoring record with 52 points last Friday against Smithfield.
``When I first saw him, I said `Man, would you look at this crazy shot. They are going to kill him,' '' Warriors head coach Spencer Mayfield said.
``I shoot with two hands,'' Willie said. ``When I shoot, I push the ball with two hands.''
Heaves may be a more accurate description. He is almost always off balance and hardly ever seems to set up before letting the ball loose. And that is the refined version.
``My coaches have always told me that thing doesn't ever look like it will go in, but it goes in,'' Willie said.
``It was worse when I got here, but (Mayfield) made it better. Since I got to Nansemond River, they have changed my shot a little bit. I'm a street ball player. I've learned how to play organized ball. I've learned to step in more, and don't lean back.''
Willie has always had the touch, all Mayfield needed to do was make it more effective.
``His talent isn't something that I taught him, he had that,'' Mayfield said. ``All we had to do was smooth the rough edges and add defense.''
Maybe even more amazing than Willie's scoring ability is the fact that he even made it through his freshman year.
If there was trouble to be found, Willie found it.
He was suspended five times and had two administrative hearings for fighting and cutting classes.
Willie even recalled a day when Mayfield, who tells all of the teachers to let him know if his players are causing any sort of trouble, pulled him out of class into the hall to stop a fight last year.
``He was all blowed up like a toad ready to fight,'' Mayfield said.
``I don't know what it was, I was just always getting into trouble,'' Willie said. ``My mother, she never got mad at me, and I thought she must really love me not to get on my case. She just said I hope they take you back.
``I realized I was hurting my mother and I had to stop.''
Now Willie maintains the required 2.0 grade-point average and is in school every day.
``I think he's really beginning to see that we are here for him as a young man and as an athlete,'' Mayfield said.
After being a star on the junior varsity team in the eighth grade with a 19-point average, Willie spent much of last season on the bench learning plays and learning that there are no stars at Nansemond River.
``You can become a star,'' Mayfield said. ``But stars don't win anything, teams do.''
``It affected me a little,'' Willie said. ``I was used to playing, but I was still there cheering everyone on.''
But it is that team emphasis that has the Warriors ranked No. 1 in the state in Group AA and keeps anyone from being upset that a sophomore is their leader.
``The other kids don't get crazy. Everybody is a part of it,'' Mayfield said. ``He did a remarkable job accepting his role last year, and I'm very proud of how far he has come.
``I'm always amazed at everything he does, and he has two more years of this.''
Mayfield said he hasn't given Willie the green light yet. Not even the 52-point game against Smithfield.
``He's not ready for the green light,'' Mayfield said. ``I want him to know that the team is first. There are five on the floor and when they play together that makes for a better ball club.
``Can you imagine what he would be like if I did? He might never stop scoring.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Antoine Willie streaks down the court in a recent Bay Rivers
District game. Willie has become the district's top scorer with an
average of 28 per game. by CNB