Fredericksburg Times
3/27
Starks isn't the type to back down
<!-- Sports:HS Boys Basketball -->All-Area Basketball Team
Date published: 3/26/2006
By ADAM HIMMELSBACH
It's easy for freshmen to be intimidated when they try out for varsity basketball teams. They're usually the shortest and skinniest players in the gym, and there are usually plenty of upperclassmen ready to show them why they belong on the JV team.
But when current Orange junior Bradley Starks arrived for team tryouts as a freshman two years ago, he was just one of the guys. Sure, he was as tall and strong as some of the older players. But more importantly, he knew most of them.
"I felt pretty comfortable," Starks said, "because I'd played varsity football with most of them already."
And after you've tackled or been tackled by an upperclassman at football practice, there isn't much to be intimidated about when it comes to layups and jump shots.
This past basketball season, Starks, The Free Lance-Star's boys basketball player of the year, looked as comfortable as ever as he led the Hornets to the Group AA state quarterfinals, where they lost to Greensville County.
"By the end of the year," first-year Hornets coach Tim Taylor said, "a lot of people thought he might be the best Group AA player in Virginia."
Starks started playing basketball when he was 7 years old. Around that time, he met current Orange senior and first team All-Area performer T.J. Minor, and an athletic bond was formed.
Starks and Minor played football and basketball and video games together. They learned from each other and worked well together.
"We built up a chemistry," Minor said. "We always know where the other is going to be."
Added Starks: "When he passes the ball, I don't even have to look, because I know where it's going."
For the past three years, both have been members of Orange's varsity football and basketball teams. This past football season, Starks was the starting quarterback and Minor was his No. 1 receiver.
"I think football has helped me a lot; just being that much more conditioned," Starks said. "You have to be very physical playing football, and that rubbed off playing down low in basketball this year."
Taylor was an assistant coach for the University of Virginia women's basketball team last school year. He was hired at Orange this year, and the players quickly learned that their new coach was all business.
"He demanded a lot," Starks said. "It was his way or no way."
Starks recalled a 4-on-5 transition drill where players had to sprint to a baseline if their communication was off. By the end of the season, their communication was strong.
Starks' play improved with each game. Taylor says the junior had a tendency to stand around on defense at the start of the year, but later became one of the team's top defenders.
Starks seemed to hold his greatest moments for Orange's biggest games. He scored 35 points in a key victory over Culpeper. In a game against Western Albemarle, he hit a game-winning 3-pointer with less than a minute left despite nursing a bruised back.
For much of the playoffs, Starks put the Hornets on that once-bruised back. He topped the 19-point mark in each of Orange's three regional playoff games as well as the state quarterfinal.
"Bradley's just so unassuming," Taylor said. "I don't think pressure really gets to him. The bigger the game, the bigger he played."
Starks was a menace to defend, because he could make jump shots as well as drive the lane for dunks.
"Coach told me to come out and be more aggressive and get to the basket," Starks said. "That made it much harder to guard me."
Starks has been inundated with recruiting letters from top Division I football programs. Some of the schools with interest include Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
The basketball recruitment hasn't been as intense. Starks says he's received letters from several colleges, including Virginia Commonwealth and American.
But Starks says he would like to play both football and basketball in college. This summer he plans to continue a rigid weight training program, and he would like to play AAU basketball as well.
"I think he's going to be a monster next year," Taylor said. "It's going to be a different role for him, because everybody is going to be shooting for him."
That's fine by Starks. Remember, it takes a lot to intimidate him.
To reach ADAM HIMMELSBACH:
540/374-5442
