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With one weekend left in the regular season, the playoff chase is on for area teams.Graham, Narrows and Garden are already in the playoffs in Virginia, while Pineville is a sure shot in West Virginia.Christiansburg won its two non-district games, while Giles went 1-1-1 in their three.The winner of Friday’s Tazewell-Abingdon game is the Southwest District’s wildcard entry. That game begins at 7:30 p.m.Iaeger, eighth in Class AA, must sit and wait according to athletic director Buddy Collins. For Iaeger to qualify, either South Harrison or Wheeling Central must lose this weekend.Wheeling Central plays aIf determination has anything to do with it, Keith Oakes will be in the National Basketball Association this time next year.You remember Keith Oakes. He starred at Graham High School and went on to Bluefield State where the stringbean became one of the best players in the WVIAC.The last game for number 12 was in late February when the Big Blues were unceremoniously dumped from the conference tournament by West Virginia Wesleyan.Most college seniors would be more than willing to say goodbye to basketball and get on with the business of life. After all, Oakes has been shooting hoops on some organized level since he was 12 years old.But that's the thing. For Keith Oakes basketball is his life.This is something I want to do.” he says about his dream of playing in the NBA “I think I’m just as good as some of the guys who make the teams.”Oakes did more than just talk a good game. He went out and did something about it.This summer he went to a Washington Bullets tryout camp in Atlanta with some 60 other pro hopefuls He made the cut at 35. Then he made the cut at 10. He was told to report to Washington to play in a Urban Coalition League that featured such players as Bob Dan-dridge, Ralph Sampson, Gus Williams and Lloyd Free.“I held my own with those guys. I surprisedmysell with my detense. They knew about my offense so they were checking out what I could do on the other end of the floor. I think I passed the test,” Oakes said.Bullets assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff told Oakes he liked what he saw. He told him he would get back to him.Four weeks ago Oakes got the bad news. We think you have potential but we can’t use you this year. Bickerstaff told him. Bickerstaff said he wanted Oakes to play on the Continental Basketball league team *he Bullets sponsor. He wished Oakes luck and said he would be in touch.“I’m disappointed but it’s not all over for me. I’m going to keep playing pickup games and I'm going to keep lifting weights three days a week. I want to stay in shape because I’ll jump at a chance to play in the Continental league. A lot of dudes go right from there to the pros.Next summer I’m going to try the scene in California. A bunch of pros play in leagues and there are scouts all over the place. More people will see me play there than in Washington.”The 6-5,165-pound Oakes w as tested at point guard, shooting guard and small forward. Needless to say, his lack of size hurt him at the forward post.They killed me physically whenever I got near the goal,” he grinned. “I think my best shot is going to be at one of the guard spots.” Oakes was probably the 60th man of the 60 men who came to Atlanta.Nobody had heard too much about Bluefield State so I had to work my way up from the bottom. They gave the guys from the bigger schools the first chance. I had to prove to everybody I could play.”The word from Bickerstaff means no pro ball this year.I’ve still got to take a few more courses to graduate. I was thinking I might want to help out a little w ith the basketball team this winter but I think it would hurt me too much not to be able to play. I’ll probably get a part-time job and concentrate on playing ball as much as 1 can.”To date, Oakes has not received a penny from the Bullets or any other professional team.I had food and lodging discounts while I was in Atlanta but I didn’t get any money. You don’t get paid until you actually make the team.The Bluefield State Alumni Association gave Oakes the $150 he needed to finance his tryout. When he went to Washington Oakes saved money by staying with relatives.In case you haven’t guessed, Keith Oakes is keenly optimistic on his chances.
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Wed, Nov 04, 1981
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Helena E.
NA, NA 19 Oct 2023
Other Publications Near Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield Evening Leader
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Bluefield Sunset News
Bluefield Sunday Telegraph
The New Daily Telegraph
