University of Virginia Library

Al Drummond: Stuck With The Other Team's Best Gun

Cavalier
Profile

By STEVE GASKE

A little used player on last
year's highly-ranked team, Al
Drummond has come into his
own this year. The 6-2 guard
from Waverly, New York is
averaging 10 points a game on
the season while shooting
about 60%. With his offensive
ability, it's interesting that
Drummond's major
contribution to the team has
probably been his defense.

In earlier games this season,
Drummond held Tony Byers,
the high scoring Wake Forest
guard, to 14 points, by
overplaying Byers and forcing
him to throw up most of his
shots from somewhere near the
press table.

Even against Princeton, the
only game that his defensive
talents went for naught this
year, Drummond played the
toughest "D". After ripping
the cords for a 12 of 15
performance, Tiger Ted
Manakas said "Drummond
played effective defense on me,
but my shots were dropping."

A good passer, Drummond
candidly admits that he is
under some pressure playing in
the same backcourt with Barry
Parkhill. "I try to get the ball
to Barry first, then set up the
rest of the team," Drummond
admitted.

A complete player who is
already being watched by the
pros, Drummond is criticized
by his coach, Bill Gibson for
not shooting enough. "He
considers me a pretty good
shooter. I've been passing off
too much and he wants me to
get out of this right away,"
Drummond said. "If you see
that Drummond attempts 40
shots after some game, you'll
know why."

During his high school years
Drummond didn't suffer from
a reluctance to go for the
hoop. After averaging 19
points his sophomore season,
he hit for 26 and 25 point
averages his last two years.

With stats like those,
Drummond was widely
recruited around the country
by such powers as Southern
Cal, Notre Dame, and several
Big Ten schools.

CD/Jim Brunneti

"Drum The Dream"

He says his decision to
attend Virginia was based in
part on his relationship with
Mr. Gibson, who he met at
Camp Gettysburg where Mr.
Gibson was a counselor.

"Coach Gibson told me the
truth about the program and
didn't try to tell me a lot of
things that weren't true,"
Drummond said about his
decision to come to
Charlottesville.

"The ACC is one hell of a
conference. I like playing
against the best and, if it's not
the best, it's at least in the top
three with anybody."

When asked if he had
encountered any problems
being the first black in the
basketball program here,
Drummond dismissed the idea
as something that just hadn't
had any effect on him. "I came
from a predominately white
high school and it isn't much
different," he said.

About his prospects for
next year, he is optimistic, but
as he says, "Without Barry
(Parkhill), there will be a lot of
pressure on our shoulders.
People will expect us to fall
apart and its up to us to change
their attitudes."

A serious student, majoring
in physical therapy,
Drummond wants to continue
working for a doctoral degree.
He considered trying to play
baseball when he first came
here, but "figured that when
basketball season is over, I
should hit the books."

After graduation,
Drummond says he'd like to
play in the pros or coach if he
gets a chance, but would still
like to be a physical therapist.

For right now, however,
he's got the season to worry
about and while a lot of his
value to the team isn't
measured statistically, he's a
good enough player to deserve
some all-star recognition this
year.