THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 28, 1995 TAG: 9507280564
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DENVER LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Almost four months had passed since UCLA-Arkansas. It was time: to play above the rim, whine at the refs, hear rubber chirp on wood, argue the block/charge call, take a TV timeout, watch a red-faced coach stalk a sideline.
In this nearly expired Olympic Festival, basketball has arrived. Which means the hoops-addicted here, lost in a haze of air rifle, badminton and kayak racing, have a few days to wallow in a summertime treat.
Those loyal to the ACC - not that there are many in Colorado, but you never know - are especially fortunate. Of the 40 Festival players with Division I experience, five are from the ACC. The only other conference with that many representatives is the Atlantic 10.
That suits Virginia's Curtis Staples, Georgia Tech's Matt Harpring, Florida State's LaMar Greer, Clemson's Greg Buckner and North Carolina State's Ishua Benjamin just fine.
Heated rivals from December to March, they are teammates here on the South team, selected by USA Basketball's Collegiate Committee and coached by Tennessee State's Frankie Allen, late of Virginia Tech.
Four progeny of the Southeastern Conference join them, though an asterisk should be attached. B.J. McKie is a high school player from Columbia, S.C., who has signed to attend South Carolina this fall.
So that actually gives the SEC five reps, the others being Kentucky's Antoine Walker, South Carolina's Melvin Watson, Mississippi's Ansu Sesay and Vanderbilt's Drew Maddux.
So the steady beat of conversation and ridicule in the players' dorm at the University of Denver as to which conference is best should remain lively.
``I want to come out and have a good showing, let everybody know I'm serious about playing and that my school turns out great players,'' Staples said. ``But it's for bragging rights, also. All the time we're going back and forth about conferences, SEC, ACC. This is a chance to go out and prove who plays basketball the best.''
Said Buckner: ``We take it as a team concept, but it's still about ACC pride.''
Buckner, a guard and the ACC's rookie of the year, was his conference's most impressive player in the South's opening 76-66 victory over the North, scoring nine points, blocking two shots and taking four steals. The leader, though, was the SEC's Walker, a 6-foot-8 forward who had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five steals.
Walker had 19 again Thursday in a 93-83 loss to the West. Greer scored 11 points to lead the ACC players.
But with Olympic dreams nonexistent, unless they become NBA stars, the ACC contingent is intent on enjoying the Olympic-like experience off the court. That involves forging friendships where indifference, if not animosity, bloomed from the ACC wars.
``It's a good thing to get to know them,'' Buckner said. ``It makes it more competitive during the season. You want to beat your friends so you can talk about it when you get around each other again.''
``I really like this,'' Benjamin said. ``We all get a chance to know each other, rather than just playing against each other during the conference, where you form kind of a little grudge against each other.''
Buckner, Harpring, Benjamin and Staples were named to the ACC all-rookie team, so they figure to be friendly rivals for a while yet. In the meantime, there are reputations to protect and polish, and a shared Festival gold medal to win.
``If I don't do good, it's bad for me and Tech and the ACC,'' Harpring said. ``But if I do good, it's good for us all.''
Come the new season, though, all-for-one attitudes no doubt will fade, Greer said.
``I'm finding out they're not bad guys,'' Greer said. ``But when that buzzer goes off and we step on the floor next season, I'm gonna hate 'em again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
U.Va.'s Curtis Staples is one of five ACC players on the South
team.
Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
South guard Drew Maddux of Vanderbilt, left, tries to block North
forward Tavares Johnson's pass.
by CNB