SCOOBY CAN DO : A 5-9 Woman Who Dunks? Roach Has the Right Stuff

Scooby Roach stands at midcourt cradling a basketball, licking her lips and trying to summon the right stuff. She takes a deep breath, lowers her head, sprints toward the basket, leaps and . . .

SLAM!

A 5-foot-9 woman who dunks?

Scooby does.

The Barry University junior with the cartoon name is no joke. Dunks in practice have made Roach a campus celebrity, and she promises to dunk soon in a game--something no woman in professional basketball has done, not even such stars as 6-foot-7 Kara Wolters or 6-5 Lisa Leslie.

The most recent dunk in a college game was by North Carolina’s Charlotte Smith in 1994.

“I definitely have to do it this season,” Roach said. “It’s great to know you can do something a lot of girls can’t do.”

At Barry, a Division II Catholic school near Miami, Fla., with an enrollment of 7,300, the athletic department staff discusses her dunks in tones of awe. Schoolchildren attending basketball clinics seek her autograph. The men’s team sits in the stands at games chanting “Scoo-by, Scoo-by.”

“I’m going to be her agent,” said Andre Taylor, a senior guard for the Barry men. “She’ll make a lot of money.”

Dunks aside, 20-year-old Terrell “Scooby” Roach is a young woman on the rise, the first of 13 siblings to attend college.

She began playing street basketball in the Bahamas at 6, competing mostly against boys. But she didn’t try organized sports until moving from Nassau as a high school senior to live with an aunt in Miami.

Scooby earned her nickname that season, chosen at random by a teammate. She also dunked for the first time, although the achievement was somewhat tainted because she jumped off a table to reach the rim.

“My high school coach was fascinated with dunking and knew I had good leaping ability, and she suggested the table,” Roach said. “It was the first time I even attempted to do something so crazy, and it felt so good, I told her I wanted to keep trying.”

Roach also tried track and field and finished second in the state meet in the high jump with a leap of 5-6. She has since improved to 6-1 1/2.

After graduation, Roach enrolled at Broward Community College, and within a few months she was dunking without a table. Her outside shooting also improved, and last season she averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Barry coach Jan Allen spent two years recruiting Roach and was relieved when she accepted a scholarship, rather than choosing a larger program.

“Scooby is a physical phenomenon,” Allen said. “She’s a Division I player and has pro potential.”

When Roach arrived at Barry last fall, stories about her dunking started to circulate around campus. There were plenty of people who found it difficult to believe that the short, shy young woman could perform such a feat.

“I expected some 7-foot-tall girl,” said Eunice Hernandez, a team trainer. “We said, ‘Which one dunks? The quiet one?’ We figured it would be someone loud and rambunctious.”

Roach is anything but rambunctious. She speaks softly and reluctantly about her specialty. Even the tattoo she designed herself is inconspicuous--on her right shoulder blade, the cartoon character Scooby Doo spins a basketball.

Her modest manner notwithstanding, Roach will quickly lead the way to the gym for a dunking demonstration if challenged. The reaction when she stuffs it?

“Mouths drop,” she said. “You shut them up.”

Allen said: “You’re not used to seeing a girl do it. And she’s such a little one.”

In practice, Roach dunks with one hand or both hands. But can she make a reverse slam?

“Yeah,” she said, breaking into a grin. “With a tennis ball.”

Teammates erupt in cheers when Roach dunks, and halfway through the season, they still have trouble believing how high she can fly. She lobbies in vain for alley-oop passes.

“I tell them all the time, ‘Throw it up. I’ll get it.’ I haven’t gained their trust yet.”

Roach’s jumping ability is deceptive. At 130 pounds, she’s the strongest player on the team but has the thinnest legs. Assistant coach Gregg Lasher hopes to improve her vertical leap by half a foot this summer when he introduces her to weight training.

A few extra inches would help, because there’s still a major obstacle to clear: dunking in a game.

Roach narrowly misfired last week at Tampa. After making a steal near midcourt, she tried for a one-handed dunk, but the ball slipped out of her hand and hit the back of the rim.

Roach quickly shrugged off any disappointment. After all, not many women can say they’ve missed a dunk.