Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 41) YellowJackets 3-D Scores on Airwaves SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES Dennis Scott Is Not Finished With Basketball — Not by a Long Shot By Gary Goettling lthough his playing days are behind him, Dennis Scott still has a lot of basketball in front of him. This year the former Yellow Jacket great and NBA star wrapped up his third season as the analyst for WQXI 790 AM’s broadcasts of Atlanta Hawks games. About four years ago, Scott, Cls 91, happened to meet WQXI’s program director, who had seen him on an ESPN program. “He asked if I had ever done radio, and I told him I had never even thought about it,” recalled Scott, who played forward for the Jackets from 1987 until 1990. That chance introduction led to a few guests spots on the station, and “when the NBA opportunity opened up, they said I was the first person who came to mind. I’ve now fallen in love with radio.” Scott, whose signature 3-point baskets helped him set the ACC singleseason scoring record of 970 points in 1989-90 while leading the team to the Final Four, is the Hawks’ first full-time radio analyst. His on-air partner is veteran play-by-play announcer Steve Holman. He also hosts “3-D’s After Dark” on 790 AM from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday when there’s no conflict with the Hawks’ schedule. Discussion on the call-in talk show centers on “sports, lifestyle and entertainment,” according to Scott, who in his first NBA start in 1990 with Orlando picked up the nickname 3-D after hitting a trio of 3-point goals in a three-minute period — while wearing the number 3. The interaction with callers is his favorite part of the program. “Radio is a great platform,” he said. “People call in and voice their opinions, and that makes them part of the show. “I like to have fun, and I like to joke around and do fun stuff,” he continued. “I have a bit of Howard Stern, but without the raunchiness.” He believes his audience understands when he disagrees with a caller. “I’m not trying to alienate anyone. This is entertainment, it’s why people call.” Scott is an old hand at broadcasting. While playing for the Orlando Magic in the ’90s, he hosted a Former Yellow Jacket and pro player Dennis Scott, left, is the game analyst for Atlanta Hawks games broadcast on 790 AM. Providing play-by-play commentary is Steve Holman. local television program, “The Dennis Scott Show,” and a weekend broadcast called “The Highlight Zone.” Scott has made guest appearances on several Nickelodeon shows, including “My Brother and Me,” “Clarissa Explains it All” and “Gullah, Gullah Island.” He has co-hosted the NBA’s “Stay in School Jam” as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, served as a studio analyst for FSN South’s “Southern Sports Report” and worked as a sideline reporter for CBS’ 2003 Final Four coverage from San Antonio. In 2005, Scott was named general manager of Atlanta’s other professional men’s basketball team. The Atlanta Vision belongs to the 19-team American Basketball Association, founded in 1999 as an “affordable, fan-friendly” alternative to the NBA. “We just completed our third year in Atlanta,” Scott said. “We made it to the Final Eight this year in Vermont,” home of the league’s eventual champion Frost Heaves. Not affiliated with the original ABA that merged with the NBA in 1976, the upstart organization adopted the old league’s iconic red, white and blue basketball. Different rules, such as a “3D” rule that awards extra points to shots in certain circumstances, also distinguishes the new association from the NBA. In the off-season, Scott stays busy securing high-profile endorsements for a company that markets whey proteinbased nutritional products. It’s one way he can “give something back to the game,” said Scott, who handles business affairs and a sports management program for the company. “In the NBA you play back-to-back nights or four games in seven nights, so I was always looking for ways to recover.” Recent drug scandals in professional sports underscore the need for all-natural, healthy alternatives to help athletes at all levels regain and improve their well-being, he noted. “I think about all these high school kids who are trying to get an edge. I wanted to create a way that they can leave the steroids alone and stay healthy,” Scott said. Born in Hagerstown, Md., and raised in northern Virginia, where he led his high school team to a combined 91-6 record, Scott said that even after leaving Tech at the end of his junior year to enter the 1990 NBA draft, where he was chosen by Orlando with the fourth overall pick, he knew he’d come back to Georgia one day. It was an interesting and winding journey that took him from Orlando, where he played seven of his 11 NBA seasons, to Dallas and Phoenix for 199798 and subsequently to New York and Minnesota for the 1998-99 season. “I always knew I had a home here in Atlanta,” he said. “I kept my condo in Buckhead, and when I finally settled down and got married two years ago, I moved to Sandy Springs.” Scott’s wife, Rachel, was a standout basketball player at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Fla. The couple have a son, Dennis III, and a daughter, Crystal. Scott also has another son, Ryan, who plays college basketball at Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina. Scott’s accolades and awards could just about decorate his entire house. In 1987 he was named National High School Player of the Year, and the next season at Georgia Tech he was recognized as the ACC Freshman of the Year. As a junior during 1989-90, in addition to his ACC scoring record, he was named National College Player of the Year by Sporting News, National Player of the Year by the Associated Press and ACC Player of the Year. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. During the 1990-91 season, Scott became the first Magic player in franchise history to win NBA Player of the Week and Rookie of the Month honors. He also earned All-Rookie Team honors while setting an NBA record for the most 3pointers made in a season by a rookie with 125. He played a key role in helping the Magic win the Eastern Conference Championship in 1995. Scott held the NBA’s record for the most 3-pointers made in a season with 267 for nine years until Seattle’s Ray Allen eclipsed that mark in 2006. But Dennis Scott isn’t finished. “I really enjoy being a radio host,” he said, “and I’d love for my show to be syndicated nationally at some point.” Since his work as the Hawks’ analyst keeps him on top of what’s happening in the NBA, could a coaching position be in the cards? Scott doesn’t dismiss the possibility under certain conditions. “I don’t think I could be a coach unless I could be the general manager at the same time,” he said. “I’ve been around the game now for over 20 years, and it seems that the teams where the coach and general manager are on the same page are the teams that win. When the coach and general manager don’t see eye-to-eye, they don’t get the players they want, they don’t play in the system they want and normally the coach ends up getting fired.” But no matter what the future holds, Yellow Jacket fans will always think of Scott first as a member of Lethal Weapon 3, along with Kenny Anderson and Brian Oliver. The trio led an awesome Georgia Tech team to the 1990 NCAA Final Four in Denver, although the dream of a national title was dashed by eventual champion University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “It was one of those amazing years,” he said. “We had the number one basketball player in the country in Kenny Anderson, and I had lost something like 25 pounds over the summer so I felt pretty good. “We were playing a game, and we were having a lot of fun,” Scott added. “We gave it our all, and that’s all you can do.” TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008
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