THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 25, 1996 TAG: 9601250534
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
It was very painful for Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard to watch Elizabeth City's Theron Curry drain 3-pointer after timely 3-pointer last week as the Spartans held off the Vikings 88-83.
Painful because Curry, who finished with 27 points, would have been playing for Norfolk State this year if the school hadn't applied for Division I status.
Curry, a 6-foot-6 small forward who averaged seven points a game at Tennessee Tech last season, intended to transfer to Norfolk State.
But the Spartans must abide by Division I rules for two years prior to their scheduled move up from Division II and players transferring from one Division I school to another must sit out a season.
Players dropping from Division I to Division II don't need to sit out when transferring.
Curry had already sat out a season at Tennessee Tech after two years of junior college ball. As a fifth-year senior, he didn't have another available year to sit.
Into the picture came Elizabeth City State.
Curry called Tennessee Tech coach Frank Harrell near the end of the summer to explain his plight.
Curry, according to Harrell, left Tennessee Tech on good terms. But Harrell said Curry's more favored style of play didn't blend with Tennessee Tech's.
Harrell has tried to build the program around 7-1 center Lorenzo Coleman. Curry wanted a bigger part of the offensive picture.
Harrell knew someone who could use Curry immediately: first-year Vikings coach Barry Hamler.
``He was the first guy I thought of,'' Harrell said, noting that Hamler played for him at Clinch Valley in the early 1980s.
Curry is among CIAA leaders in scoring (17.7 points per game) and 3-point accuracy (.434 percent) and his 46 3-pointers lead the CIAA.
BEST IN THE CIAA: North Carolina Central head coach Greg Jackson concedes that Virginia Union's Ben Wallace and Norfolk State's Derrick Bryant will receive a number of votes in the CIAA's player of year balloting, but feels Eagles guard LeVelle Moton is the more deserving candidate.
Moton is leading the CIAA in scoring (22.8 ppg), is fourth in 3-point field goal percentage and ninth in overall field goal percentage (48.3 percent in both categories) and is ninth in assists (3.8 per game).
Asked what former CIAA player Moton most reminds him of, Jackson said, ``Me.''
Jackson, who played at St. Paul's, led all NCAA divisions in scoring in 1979-80 when he averaged 30.3 points per game.
``He shoots as well as I did,'' Jackson said of Moton, a 6-3 guard from Raleigh, N.C. ``If he's in the right place at the right time, he can play (in the NBA).''
The Eagles (12-1 overall, 8-0 in the CIAA) broke into the national rankings this week at No. 19.
SCHEDULING CHANGES: Norfolk State's game with Virginia Union on Feb. 5 will be televised on Home Team Sports.
Because the game has a scheduled 7:07 p.m. start for television, the Norfolk State Spartanettes game with Virginia Union has been moved to Feb. 6. Women's games normally begin at 5:30, but tend to run long and push back the start of the men's games. TV executives and university officials weren't about to risk a late start.
Also, Norfolk State's home men's game against Columbia Union, originally slated for Jan. 15, has been rescheduled for Feb. 15 at Columbia Union. by CNB