Robert Fish dishes up some VCU talk

The results from last night’s basketball games can be found on the CT breaking news blog: ct.vcustudentmedia.com/blog

Anthony Grant live on VCU SportsTalk

The men’s first-year basketball coach is re-joining Robert Fish tonight for another radio talk session starting tonight at 6 p.m. and running until 7.

This episode of VCU SportsTalk will be broadcast from Glory Days Grill in the West End off of Ridgefield Parkway.

People with questions are invited to stop by to talk face-to-face or by calling in to 421-4007.

Tune in to 100.3 to hear the show.

Robert Fish also conducted some interviews with two basketball players – junior women’s team player Quanitra Hollingsworth and graduate student Calvin Roland about the game and their personal lives.

VCU Sports Talkwith Robert Fish
Broadcast live 6-7 p.m. Thursdays on WARV 100.3 FM from Glory Days Grill,10466 Ridgefield Pkwy., Richmond

Call-in number:(804) 421-4007

This week’s guest: Anthony Grant, coach of the VCU men’s basketball team

Calvin Roland receives Charles Barkley scholarship

Calvin Roland received the Charles Barkley scholarship August 28 – endowed by 11 time all star and hall-of-famer Charles Barkley – awarded annually to a basketball player who has “overcome obstacles while excelling both academically and athletically.”

Roland graduated with a B.A. in Sports Management and is pursuing his master’s degree in Sports Leadership working in the VCU SportsCenter.

In the essay Roland wrote for the scholarship, he told of the difficulties in his life as he grew up; Roland even spent two years without a home before he came to VCU.

“I couldn’t wait to get to VCU, because I knew I would have a place to stay, I knew I’d have money, I knew I’d have food,” he said. “My parents worked so hard, but had some financial downfalls which resulted in us being homeless for a while…we are starting to bounce back from that now. I think getting the scholarship is one of the big reasons why I went through all of that.”

Roland met Charles Barkley at the banquet, where they exchanged values and Barkley revealed to him the reasons he does what he does.

Sitting out a whole year due to injury is tough on a natural basketball player. “As every game went by, a hunger grew inside me…I wanted to play.”

Coach Anthony Grant said, “Calvin is a lesson for everybody, not just an athlete, but just people in general. Here’s a young man, that as a senior had a devastating injury that could’ve ended his career from a basketball standpoint; he took it a different way than most people would normally look at it – he took it as an opportunity to earn his degree, he took it as an opportunity to be prepared if basketball was going to still be an option in his future…also, he took it as an opportunity to earn a master’s degree.”

Grant concluded, saying “It’s just a way of life for him, overcoming adversities.”

Quanitra Hollingsworth discussed her career

Quanitra Hollingsworth, who entered high school at the age of eleven, seems way ahead of herself. She just turned 18 in her 2nd year of playing and third year of college.

Despite being so ahead of people, she noted missing out on life was not an issue for her. She said age has never been a factor – she recalled some old advice that age is just a number. “Come out here and see yourself as a woman amongst girls,” she said. “I feel like my talent, my desire, is going to take me a longer way than just the fact that ‘oh she’s young and so much has happened before in her life.'”

She tried out for the 18 and under national team, which she said showed her a lot of her weak points and gave her a chance to improve upon them.

Hollingsworth has already attained CAA Rookie of the Year, third-team all-CAA, freshman all-American honors and CAA all-defensive team. With a substantial record coming into her 2nd career year, her goals, she said, are to make first team and get back on the defensive and all-American team. She said this year she is more focused on the team.

Quanitra changed over the summer to a double major in statistics and operations research and computer science – similar to her old major – computer engineering – but with more work in mathematics.