Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003232820
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Medium
Rumeal Robinson? Kendall Gill? Willie Burton? Steve Scheffler? Terry Mills?
How about the best player on the conference's best team? If you haven't heard of Steve Smith, well, he hasn't been on national television.
But Smith led Michigan State, surprisingly, to the Big Ten title. The Spartans are the top seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional, and the 6-foot-6 guard is averaging more than 26 points in his last seven games.
Smith's anonymity outside the Big Ten is remarkable, but fading. On Thursday, as the Spartans (28-5) practiced for tonight's 10:30 Southeast semifinal against Georgia Tech (26-6), Smith was named to The Sporting News' first-team All-America squad.
Maybe Smith is somewhat unknown because he's the best offensive player - and rebounder - on a team known for its tough man-to-man defense. He's about as white-collar as the Spartans get.
"Unless you watch Steve a lot," said Spartans defensive whiz Ken Redfield, "you might not appreciate what he does. He makes it look so easy."
Smith is a slender but wiry 195 pounds. He makes his strength more deceptive by wearing basketball trunks two or three sizes too big. He sometimes trades trunks with 6-10, 260-pound pivotman Mike Peplowski.
And because he's led State to its first Big Ten title since a guy named Earvin Johnson was in the backcourt, Smith is being compared to the Magic man who led the Spartans to the 1979 NCAA crown.
"There's no comparison between this team and that one or Magic and Steve," said State coach Jud Heathcote, who, when asked about his career, says, "It's two eras; Magic and Tragic."
Heathcote knows his '79 team was unique, a club with a 6-8 point guard "that did things ahead of its time, like lob plays, and having Magic take the ball off the board, pass three guys and run a numbers game."
Heathcote said to compare Smith to Johnson "isn't fair to Steve. Magic is the best guard to ever play the game. Period. There was only one Magic Johnson, but everybody [high school stars] that comes out of the state is compared to him. And everyone is short of the comparison.
"Steve Smith is a multidimensional, versatile player, a very, very good-to-great basketball player, who is on the threshold of being a star. Still, whatever happens, he will never be a Magic."
That's OK with Smith. He remembers when he was at Detroit's Pershing High and the recruiters weren't too interested in a player who grew from 5-8 as a freshman, a guy who didn't seem to have a position.
Of course, he almost wasn't recruitable, like a bunch of his playground buddies. The day before the Michigan district playoffs in 1985, Smith quit Pershing's team.
He got a D on a test. Coach Johnny Goston's rule was simple. You get below a C, you run until the coach said to stop. Smith ran - home, where his mother told him he wasn't transferring to another high school just to play hoops.
"That may have been the day that put me here," Smith said. "Growing up, I played basketball with 10 or 12 guys who were so much better than me. It wasn't close. But some of them never made it to high school."
Smith remembers guys named Sweetie and Set Shot "because he had `Set Shot' written on the back of his shoes.' Those guys could play."
So can Smith. Indiana coach Bobby Knight told Phoenix Suns scout Dick Van Arsdale in January that Smith was the best pro prospect in the Big Ten. Heathcote said scouts say Smith needs work on his ballhandling and defense.
"Steve might be a first-round pick this year," the State coach said. "He'd likely be a lottery pick next year."
The Spartans have won 12 straight, the longest current streak in Division I. They closed with 10 consecutive wins inside the Big Ten. Not since the great Knight-coached Indiana teams of 1975-76 has a Big Ten club done that.
"We've won with preparation, with emotion, with defense, and a little luck," Heathcote said.
See, Smith can't even get notoriety from his own coach.
When the talk turned to Georgia Tech, Heathcote called Yellow Jackets star Dennis Scott "the best basketball player I've seen this year."
Smith seems to understand.
"I don't talk a lot," Smith said. "I'm pretty emotional on the floor, but most of the time, I'm just trying to fit in. We've played as well as we have this season because we all know where we fit."
"Every club has unsung heroes," Heathcote said in Thursday's news conference at the Superdome. "I brought my two best players here today.
"Steve Smith is our best offensive player; Ken Redfield is our best defensive player. I've found that you don't often have good teams with five superstars.
"You have a good team when you have role players who fit in. That's what we have."
So, argue if you want about the Big Ten's best player. Maybe Steve Smith is the nation's best role player. Whatever, he has that Spartan quality.
by CNB