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By TOM SHARPThe Associated PressKNOXVILLE, Tenn. — North Carolina State guard Chris Corchiani doesn’t look like the college basketball’s prototype playmaker. But he’s definitely the sport’s most prolific.Corchiani has handed out more assists than anybody in history.The 6-foot-l senior surpassed the NCAA assist record of Syracuse’s Sherman Douglas early in the first half of Monday night's 90-82 victory over Tennessee.His second assist, a bullet from the top of the key to a wide-open Kevin Thompson underneath, gave him 961 in his four years with the WolfpackCorchiani finished with 13 assists against Tennessee for a career total of 972, and could become the first player ever to reach 1,000.He set the high school record for assists in the state of Florida, but did not expect it on a national level.“I never envisioned that,” Corchiani said. “It’s been my role for four years, to get people involved in the offense, to set them up, but it's not something that I ever envisioned ”Needing a pair for the record, Corchiani got his first assist 65 seconds into the game and had the record in less than four minutes.“I knew I needed two,’’ he said. “I wanted to try to get it over early so I could concentrate on the rest of the game.“It feels really nice. I think it’s something I’ll enjoy maybe 15 years from now when I’m old and can’t play anymore. When my kids don't believe I was a basketball player I can show them the record.”The next player to pass Douglas on the assist list probably will be Keith “Mister Jennings of East Tennessee State, who had seven Monday night and now has 953 in his career. Jennings also had 19 points Monday nights as No. 19 ETSU beat Virginia Military 88-76 Monday.N.C. State coach Les Robinson, who recruited Jennings to ETSU and coached him for three years before moving to his alma mater this season, is uniquely qualified to compare Jennings and Corchiani.“I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to have coached both of them, Robinson said. “They're quality young men, both on and off the court. They re really class people.“They both made this coach look good a couple of times. I was fortunate to have recruited one and inherited the other. They'd make a lot of coaches look good.”Even though he was in the opponents gym. Corchiani received a nice ovation from the 14,713 fans in Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena.“It would have been nice to have gotten it at Reynolds Coliseum, but now we can concentrate on the home stretch and put the records aside,’’ Corchiani said.Please see CORCJHANI/C7Christopher A Record I Times-NewsChris Corchiani even gives State coach Les Robinson an occassional assist.
Newspaper Details
Burlington Times News
Burlington, North Carolina, US
Tue, Feb 26, 1991
Page 17
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