Like Bull Durham pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, West Rowan’s Donte Minter announced his presence with authority.

Decades ago, stunned music critics returned from an early Bruce Springsteen concert claiming to have seen the future of rock and roll. The hundreds upon hundreds who crammed into every nook and cranny of a packed Salisbury High gym on a cold Wednesday night could relate. In West’s come-from-behind 78-67 win over the Hornets, they saw the future of Rowan County hoops.

East Rowan could be competitive; Salisbury and South Rowan could be good; North Rowan will be great. But Minter is in a world of his own. And where he leads in 2000-01, the Falcons will follow. It could be all the way to the top.

Minter, the Falcons’ 6-foot-8 junior center, was “The Boss” and then some in a 44-point, 14-rebound effort that had to be seen to be believed. And even those who did see it, left wondering if perhaps it might be a good time to check the prescription on their eyeglasses.

Minter’s outing broke the school scoring record of 43, established last season by current N.C. State freshman Scooter Sherrill against Piedmont. And with no disrespect to Scooter or Piedmont, this was much more impressive. Salisbury’s quite a bit better than the Panthers. This was a highly competitive game from wire to wire.

West, missing four football players, including starters Terris Sifford and Horatio Everhart, needed every bit of magic Minter could muster to survive. He delivered. He scored eight in the first quarter and just five in a foul-plagued second. But he had a dozen in the third and 19 — yes, 19 — in the fourth when West finally took charge. Entering the game his career-high was 24. He had 31 in the second half.

Minter’s night equaled the third biggest scoring effort in recorded county history. North Rowan shooter Brian Page’s 50 (in 1989) against North Stanly remains the county record — for now.

Beyond Page, you have to turn back the clock to the ‘50s. Clifford Kerr of Mount Ulla High enjoyed a 46-point night in 1955 and Landis High legend and Rowan County Athlete of the Century Billy Ray Barnes once fired a 44 at East Spencer, before heading to Wake Forest and the NFL.

Minter’s oh-my-goodness opening-night outburst came on 16-for-24 from the floor shooting. He made 12 of 17 free throws.

What? No 3-pointers?

Just give the big fellow time.

For those of you thinking that they’ve already seen the hulking youngster who scored an impressive but hardly mind-boggling 15.2 ppg last season while serving as a very tall Robin to Scooter’s Batman —sorry. If you weren’t there last night, no, you haven’t seen Minter. You have no idea.

The kid who once looked a little methodical and a little heavy has been transformed physically. He’s no meeker, but he’s much sleeker. He’s no taller, but now he’s a baller.

Preseason magazines have Minter pegged among the nation’s top 100 prep juniors. Trust me, he’s underrated.

In the past, West coach Mike Gurley loved to compare Minter’s old-school duck-unders and drop-steps to Celtic legend Kevin McHale. But now Minter will just drop it on your head. Kevin McHale has evolved into Kevin Garnett. Mr. Fundamentals has become Mr. Fun.

Oh, don’t worry. Minter’s still as sound and solid as ever. He makes his free throws. He never rushes a shot. He plays smart and under control and doesn’t foul when it’s imperative that he stay on the floor.

It’s just that now, he’s so much more athletic.He showed spin moves, was much quicker in the air, much swifter down the floor. He scored on sweet jumpers as often as soft layups.

The prod for Minter likely came last March in the Western Regional finals in Hickory when Central Cabarrus’ little guard Jeremiah Buck sailed past Minter for the last-second, game-winning layup that ended the Falcons’ season and Sherrill’s career one game short of Chapel Hill.

“Yeah, I pushed myself hard all summer,” said Minter, who literally worked his rear end off. “Inever thought anything like this would happen tonight, but it was exciting. Not just scoring all those points — I had no idea what I had— but for the team to come back and win like it did.”

‘What Minter has done is just unbelievable,” said Gurley. “His mile times are down so much it’s incredible. So are his 100 and 200 times. And he’s starting to see the results of being in super shape and that’s pushing him even more.”

Gurley bristled as he talked about how some had mistakenly labeled Minter as “lazy” last season. He says the people who called Minter lazy are certifiably crazy.

“Donte’s not lazy, he’s cerebral. He’s got a cerebral smoothness,” Gurley said. “Yeah, that’s it. He’s just smooth.”

Gurley says he’s been wanting to call Sherrill for the past few days. And now he has just the right excuse — so he can tell him his school scoring mark is history.

“There will be some good banter between Scooter and Donte,” chuckled Gurley. “Scooter will want to come back and put on that West uniform one more time and go for 45, but I’ll tell him he’s already had his four years. Donte beat him in just two years and one game.”

“What will I tell Scooter?” asked Minter with a sly grin. “I’ll say, ‘Scooter buddy, I got your record.’ ”

And what’s the best thing at all about this kid with the big body, the big hands and the big heart? Easy. Last night won’t swell his head-size one millimeter.

Asked how it felt to finally be the man for the Falcons, he shrugged. “I don’t feel any different now than I did yesterday. “I’m still the same old Donte.”

But, boy, old Donte sure looks different and plays different. If you missed him last night, don’t miss him next time he’s in your neighborhood. When he’s on TV in a few years, you’ll want to be able to say you saw him back in the day.

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Mike London is the assistant sports editor of the Post.