Before Sunday's Colonial Athletic Association championship game
between Richmond and North Carolina Wilmington, Ganon Baker, who
played guard for Wilmington from 1993 to '95, faced a dilemma:
While he was doing color for the Seahawks' radio broadcast, his
younger brother Jonathan would be starting at guard for
Richmond. "Jonathan has been working his whole life for this,"
said Ganon. "If I root against Richmond, I'll be rooting to take
his dream away. It can't be a tie, can it?"
It can't, and it wasn't. Not even close. Behind a three-point
barrage led by Ganon's little brother, the Spiders shredded a
Seahawks defense that had held opponents to 58.4 points a game
this year and won 79-64 in an upset at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Spiders, who set a school record for treys in a season, with
226, hit 11 of 16 three-point attempts. Jonathan, who had
dedicated his season to another brother, Reed, who died in a car
crash two summers ago, made all five of his attempts from behind
the arc. "If you allow them to take three-point shots, you're
walking the plank," said Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright,
sounding a note of warning to Richmond's opening-round NCAA
tournament opponent.
Richmond (22-7), which was famous for pulling off first-round
upsets in the NCAA tournament under former coach Dick Tarrant
(beating fifth-seeded Auburn, with Charles Barkley and Chuck
Person, in 1984; fourth-seeded Indiana in '88; and second-seeded
Syracuse in '91), may become celebrated again under first-year
coach John Beilein, 44, who has had 20-win seasons at five
schools in his 20 years as a head coach.
Among Beilein's many accomplishments this year is the
reclamation of 6'7" senior forward Jarod Stevenson, who has
emerged as a potential pro prospect after stagnating last year
under former Richmond coach Bill Dooley. A versatile scorer who
developed his skills as a kid while playing against soldiers on
an Army base near Fayetteville, N.C., where his father was
stationed, Stevenson this season led the Colonial conference in
scoring (18.9 points a game) and was second in three-point
accuracy (47.5%). He also lit up a number of ACC teams in
nonconference play, scoring 28 against Virginia, 26 against Wake
Forest and 24 against North Carolina. Said Tar Heels coach Bill
Guthridge after that game, "I wish we had him at North Carolina."
Dream on, Bill. As Ganon Baker learned, wishful thinking won't
get you far with the Spiders.
Issue date: March 9, 1998
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