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Liberty's rise part of
Falwell's grander plan
By The Associated Press
LYNCHBURG, VA � The students
with red and blue painted faces and bare abdomens keep one eye
on the back entrance to the Vines Convocation Center, the arena
where Liberty University plays basketball.
When the campus icon finally appears, dressed in a black suit
and a red T-shirt that shows his support for the home team, the
chant begins: "Jer-ee! Jer-ee! Jer-ee!"
The Jerry Springer Show?
No, it's Liberty University men's basketball, the Rev. Jerry
Falwell's Moral Majority in shorts, on its way to the NCAA
tournament for the first time in a decade.
"I can't get them to be quiet," Falwell said of the Flames' most
boisterous supporters, whose exuberant rooting has won the
school's home arena the nickname "The Furnace."
Nor does he want them to quiet down. As Falwell once told a
coach imploring him to get Liberty fans to behave, "It's taken
me years to get them to act like this!"
And for Falwell, who founded what began as Lynchburg Baptist
College 34 years ago, the rabid support and steady improvement
of the team under coach Randy Dunton are just the start of what
he hopes will be a march to the top of college sports.
He figures that Liberty's sports success will make it the
logical choice for top Christian athletes in the way Brigham
Young attracts Mormons and Notre Dame attracts Catholics.
In Dunton, who took over a team that was 5-25 two years ago and
has led it to 14-15 and 18-14 records, Falwell feels he has a
coach who is a perfect fit.
"It isn't easy to find a coach who has all the qualities to play
mid-major to higher and compete well who also is a committed
Christian," Falwell said.
At Liberty, players and coaches alike know that some opponents
wonder whether faith interferes with competitiveness, and they
relish the chance to show them it doesn't.
"You don't need to be soft as an athlete just because you're a
solid Christian kid," Dunton tells his players. "You need to be
tough."
Before coming back to Liberty, where he was the interim coach in
1997-98, Dunton was coaching at Binghamton in New York State.
When he decided to leave, forward Gabe Martin came with him
despite some anxiety about the Christian emphasis.
At Liberty, classes begin with prayer, practices begin and end
with prayer. There are no coed dormitories and the campus has a
drug- and alcohol-free policy, a package of rules that Dunton
said helps weed out those not inclined to follow the program.
Martin has never regretted the move.
"I had never been in a true Christian environment where you had
to watch your language, the way you talk, the way you walk, the
way you carry yourself," Martin said.
Being at Liberty "has really taught me a lot of things about the
Lord and that's really moved my game and my spirituality
forward."
Liberty has about 8,500 students this year, but will admit 4,000
freshmen next year and is building 19 new dormitories in
preparation for continued growth. Within a dozen years, Falwell
expects Liberty to reach its goal of about 25,000 students.
Athletics, he expects, will continue to rise with the
enrollment, so much so that moving up to Division I-A from
Division I-AA in football is only a matter of time.
"One day in a wheelchair, I plan to be at the 50 yard-line in
South Bend when we whip Notre Dame," Falwell said. "I may be in
a coffin, but that's where we're headed."
Success like that already enjoyed by the women's basketball
team, which played for its eighth consecutive Big South
Conference title on Saturday, furthers the cause.
Shooting guard Larry Blair, the Big South's top freshman this
season, had never heard of Liberty until the school came
calling, but his campus visit sold him.
"The type of environment when I came to the game, and the way
the coaches interacted with the players, I asked, `Is this how
it really is, or are you all just putting on a show?"' he said.
"And they said, `This is how it is."'
Now, Blair is part of the show. He scored 29 when the Flames
beat High Point 89-44 before 8,515 fans for the Big South
championship. Martin added 19 points and 11 rebounds.
During the game, Falwell said he received phone calls from as
far away as Anchorage, Alaska, Jacksonville, Fla., and San
Francisco, all from supporters who said entire congregations
were watching and celebrating the rout on TV.
"The evangelical families," Falwell said, "are all pulling for
us.
As for the Flames' first-round game in the
NCAA Tournament, they'll need that support and more. Liberty (18-14), a No.
16 seed in the East Rutherford regional, will face top-seed Saint Joseph's
(27-1) at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo on Thursday.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 11:03:02 AM
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