Gridiron or hardwood? Dorsey mulls options

By Jeremy Stafford -- jstafford@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- J.J. Dorsey loves playing basketball.

It was obvious in the graceful way he flew to the hoop, banked in fade-away jumpers, and then hustled back to play defense during drills at an open gym session at Daniel Morgan Middle School on Saturday.

And it's apparent that, despite having signed a letter-of-intent to play college football -- first at West Virginia University in February of 2008 and then at Shepherd University in January -- Dorsey still yearns to play competitive basketball.

But which sport does he prefer?

"It's a hard decision," said Dorsey, a former standout quarterback and point guard at Handley. "I like them both -- a lot of people ask me that, but I like them both the same."

Soon, though, Dorsey may have to make a decision between the two.

The open gym session was more than a simple series of pickup games between recent high school graduates: It was an evaluation by Lord Fairfax Community College basketball coach Chris Graham to see what kind of local talent was interested in playing for his first-year program.

For Dorsey, who is waiting to hear from his coaches at Shepherd as to whether or not he's academically eligible to play football this fall, the session was about keeping his options open.

"My plans just depend on if I'm gonna play football at Shepherd," Dorsey said. "If I can play football, I'm gonna go there. If not, I'm just gonna stay and play basketball."

Though Dorsey is still enrolled in classes at Shepherd -- he completed his spring semester and is back in Winchester for the summer -- his GPA in the spring dipped below Shepherd's minimum requirement to play football. Dorsey said he practiced with the Rams in the spring but was academically ineligible to play in the spring football game.

As of now, Dorsey said he plans on returning to Shepherd in the fall.

"I talked to [Shepherd football coach Monte Cater] the other day," Dorsey said. "He was just telling me to come back anyway just in case. They're supposed to contact me and let me know all the stuff before registration's in."

And Graham, who was Dorsey's eighth grade basketball coach at Daniel Morgan, was sure to point out that the session was by no means a tryout, and that Dorsey has not enrolled in classes at Lord Fairfax.

But understanding Dorsey's predicament, Zack Graham, the coach's son and the assistant coach for the Cannons, told Dorsey about the open gym session a few days ago.

"He's been a close friend of the family for a lot of years, so we've tried to help him as much as we can," Chris Graham said. "It gives him the chance -- if it doesn't work out there at Shepherd, which I honestly hope it does -- but if it doesn't, then this might be a good secondary plan for him to fall back on."

At Handley, Dorsey accumulated 9,754 all-purpose yards as a dual-threat quarterback. In his senior season, he threw for 1,697 yards and rushed for another 1,175 yards.

His athleticism piqued the interest of WVU and he signed with the Mountaineers expecting to play defensive back. Dorsey left WVU, though, when he was ruled academically ineligible to play football by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He signed to play at Shepherd in January.

As a first-year program, the Lord Fairfax basketball team isn't yet sanctioned by the NCAA, and so this season will not count toward any athlete's eligibility.

In Dorsey's case, should he not return to Shepherd, playing basketball at Lord Fairfax will not only give him the chance to play, but it will also give him the opportunity to focus on his academics.

"Not losing any eligibility, I mean, this is a good start for a lot of kids," Graham said. "I have some contacts with some college coaches, and [athletes] won't lose any eligibility if they can just keep their grades up."

And, just maybe, it could give Dorsey one final opportunity to be scouted to play basketball.

"I would like to play basketball in college," Dorsey said. "It just depends on how things go with the grades situation and how I'm going to handle things at Shepherd."