Johnny Napp Faces Tough Decision- College Basketball or Country & Western
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
By Cari Bell
The Virginia Gazette
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, John Naparlo wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to
do preseason runs with his teammates.
This week, he has two tests and is working on a semester-long project in a business
class.
Being a student athlete is time-consuming enough, but tack on country music
artist to the list and life gets crazy.
Naparlo, also known by his stage name "Johnny Napp," flew out to Nashville
on Tuesday after his first test of the week to meet with a public relations
company whose client list includes Tim McGraw and Brooks & Dunn.
So, how does he juggle it all?
"I have a non-stop battery in me just to make it work. I just stay busy
and don't have time to get tired," he said.
A Williamsburg native, Naparlo got into country music when he was 10 years old.
A Garth Brooks concert inspired his interest, and it has continued to grow since
then.
His other love is basketball, which he's played since age 4.
After graduating from Walsingham Academy, Naparlo went to prep school in New
Hampshire and earned an athletic scholarship to James Madison University to
play basketball. For three years, he has played reserve guard for JMU's basketball
team.
Now in his senior year, Naparlo is trying to balance classes, basketball and
a country music career.
In two weeks, he will have to make a painful choice. Basketball season kicks
off Saturday and he's under pressure to choose an interest.
The NCAA has certain restrictions concerning outside benefits, and if Naparlo
wants to play for JMU he will have to halt his music career for the entire season."I'll have to take down my website, stop any type of promotion, cancel
my shows, and take my songs off of iTunes," Naparlo said
JMU basketball coach Dean Keener has been extremely supportive, Naparlo emphasized.
It simply comes down to a technicality by the NCAA.
His dilemma is that basketball has played a large role in his past but music
may be his future. "It's really tough," he said. "I know after this year I won't
play ball, and music is something I want to pursue."
His debut album, "Cowboy Up and Party Down," was released last month
after his first two live shows of the summer.
For his first show, Naparlo was set to open for Big Al Downing on July 1. Downing
was suffering from leukemia and couldn't make the show. He died four days later.
So Naparlo took the spotlight. In front of 300 people, he went live for the
first time as a sole performer."I was nervous before getting on stage, but once I got there I was surprisingly,
almost scarily, comfortable," he said of his debut on stage.
Later that summer, Naparlo opened for David Allan Coe in front of a larger crowd
of 800 people. Both crowds were very responsive to the music.
"The best part about playing live is watching people in the audience respond
to the music," Naparlo said. "My music crosses over barriers, it's
not strictly country. It's got a little rock and a little hip-hop, so it's cool
to see different people respond to different songs."
Come the weekend, what will he choose? "I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to weigh my options, because the way it looks
right now I will have to choose."