THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602210189
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMI FRANKENBERRY, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: WINDSOR LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
MEMBERS OF THE Windsor boys basketball team insist this year will be different when they step onto the court Saturday in the Tri-Rivers District tournament at New Kent High. Different, the Dukes say, because their team is back together.
Guard Jerome Ricks, one of seven Windsor seniors, returned this year after suffering a career-threatening knee injury during a football game two years ago. Ricks, who doesn't hesitate when asked the date - Nov. 19 - tore ligaments in his knee while trying to make a tackle.
``I thought my career was over,'' said Ricks, who had surgery for three hours that put him in a cast for six weeks. ``The doctor I went to said I may not play sports again. He said I had a slim chance of coming back.''
But slowly, Ricks did work his way back. He went to a physical therapist in Franklin three times a week, running on a treadmill and doing jumping exercises to strengthen his knee.
``I couldn't go nowhere,'' said Ricks. ``I'd sit at home and watch TV; that's about it. Sometimes, I'd come up and watch the guys practice, but I couldn't stand it.''
Ricks, who has drawn recruiting interest from East Carolina for basketball but is more interested in playing baseball in college, said several things motivated him to return.
``My mom loves to see me play sports,'' said Ricks. ``That's the main thing, but I just love to play sports. I had to be back out there.''
While Ricks, who scored nearly 17 points per game and was a first team All-Tri-Rivers selection as a sophomore, was rehabilitating his knee, the Dukes struggled without him. They went 9-13 overall and 4-4 in the district.
``We really missed him,'' said senior Wayne Briggs, who was asked to take over at point guard for Ricks last season. ``With Jerome being out, a lot of people were expecting me to play as good as he did.''
Ricks, who averages 20.4 points and hands out 8.3 assists this season, has helped rejuvenate the Dukes. Windsor is 12-5 overall and 6-1 in the district, and played Charles City Wednesday night for the Tri-Rivers regular season title.
``When Jerome came back, he brought a stability that we missed last year,'' Windsor coach Steve Edwards said. ``We didn't have anybody to relieve Wayne and give us that one-two punch at guard.''
Said Briggs: ``Him being out there makes a big difference. It takes a lot of the load off me. With him playing, it makes the rest of us step our game up.''
The rest of the Dukes have stepped up with Ricks back in the lineup.
Isaac Ricks (13.9 points per game), Liggins (13.8) and Briggs (11.1) are scoring in double figures. Liggins also adds 12.6 rebounds per game. Most of Windsor's seniors - Jerome Ricks, Briggs, Isaac Ricks (Jerome's cousin), Reggie Nichols, Cory Liggins, Vernon Butler and Jonathan Bowman - have played together since ninth grade, and Edwards said without Jerome, he could tell something was missing.
``You can just look at them now and watch how close they've become,'' Edwards said. ``They've formed a nice unit of players. They know each other and understand each other. Having (Jerome) with them to finish it out is the greatest.''
But the Dukes say they're not finished. A Windsor boys basketball team hasn't reached the regional tournament since 1987. Jerome Ricks says he's ready to change that.
``When I couldn't play, it was like somebody took something away from me,'' said Ricks, who watched his former football teammates reach the Group A state semifinals this season. ``A lot of my friends have been to state. I've never experienced that. That would be a real nice way to cap my career.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Jerome Ricks, a guard with the Windsor High Dukes, brings the ball
around the New Kent defense in a Feb. 19 district game.
by CNB