Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
JEFFRIES JUST DOING HIS JOB
You can almost hear the Virginia basketball fans, thousands of them, crying out in mid-December: "You know, that Ted Jeffries wasn't half-bad."All Jeffries has done in his four-year career is start at center for teams that made the NCAA Tournament three times - probably - and won the NIT. With two more victories, UVa would win 20 games for the fourth straight year.
Here's a guy who was a back-up for his high-school team and Friday, when Virginia meets Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament, he will make the 123rd start of his college career.
Only Ralph Sampson and Bryant Stith, two players whose retired numbers hang in the rafters of University Hall, have more.
"No way I would have believed it," said Jeffries, who came to Virginia in 1989 after a year of seasoning at Fork Union Military Academy. "It's very ironic the way my career turned out."
Jeffries started only a few games in two years at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., where he was the back-up to Jerrod Mustaf. Mustaf was a high-school All-American and a first-round National Basketball Association draft choice, but there's little question who was more valuable in college.
"Knowing then what we know how, we'd have taken Ted," UVa coach Jeff Jones said.
Of course, there's a catch. Mustaf played only two years at Maryland before applying for the NBA draft, but the Terps did not make the NCAA Tournament in either season and Mustaf did not make All-ACC.
Jeffries hasn't made All-ACC either, but he ranks among the top five at Virginia in career rebounds and blocked shots. His current rebounding average, 8.5, is the highest posted by a UVa center since three-time national player of the year Sampson in 1983.
And those are the qualities that can be measured.
"Ted Jeffries, to me, is the best post defender in the league and has been for two years," Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom said. "He's as physically and mentally tough as anybody in the league."
It was Odom, then a Virginia assistant, who directed the Cavaliers' 11th-hour push for Jeffries in the spring of 1988. UVa had lost out on center prospects Alonzo Mourning, Christian Laettner and Crawford Palmer - all of whom visited Charlottesville - in November.
When Virginia later signed junior-college All-American Brent Dabbs, Jeffries had the option of spending a season at Fork Union. He had the academic qualifications to go to UVa out of high school, but Jeffries was young for his class (16 when he began his final year at DeMatha).
Also, Jeffries had some baby fat he needed to lose, although his weight has never been an issue at Virginia and wasn't a problem at Fork Union after coach Fletcher Arritt signed him up for the cross-country team.
"I had no problem with that," said Jeffries, who is 6 feet 9. "The only bad thing was the [cross-country] uniform. I had to wear a half cut-off shirt and silk jogging shorts. It was really embarrassing to run past the football team."
It must have been a sight to behold, "but," Jones said, "when he got to us, he could run all day."
Jeffries now weighs just under 250 pounds in a league that has at least six players heavier than he is. His body fat has dropped from 21 percent to 15.
"He's never been afraid to work," DeMatha coach Morgan Wootten said. "I remember when I had him in World History as a freshman. I told him, if he got a `B,' I'd let him start in summer league. His mother said, `Son, that's called a contract,' but he made the grade."
Jeffries always believed he could have started alongside Mustaf - "The few times we did play together, it worked real well," he said - but he isn't about to second-guess Wootten, who has won more than 1,000 games in his illustrious career.
Jeffries credits Wootten for giving him a foundation defensively and cites Arritt for his development on offense. "Don't tell me that," said Arritt, realizing that Jeffries is not generally considered an offensive threat.
Sportswriters may have joked when Jeffries said before the season that he hoped to average a double-double - double figures in points and rebounds - but he has met his goal as a scorer (10.6). He has had double-doubles in six games, including career highs of 23 points and 19 rebounds in a 99-84 loss at Florida State.
"I think I definitely surprised a lot of people who were skeptical about my ability to score," Jeffries said. "I'm content with my numbers. I would have to say I'm enjoying, by far, my best season."
Jeffries has seldom strayed from the low post that Mustaf seemed to avoid, but Virginia was never a contender for Mustaf, not that Jeffries would have liked that kind of arrangement.
"Almost every article written about me since I've been here has mentioned Jerrod," Jeffries said. "Living in that shadow, I needed to break away and be Ted Jeffries, not Jerrod Mustaf's protege or caddy or whatever."
Said Jones: "There's not any question Jerrod Mustaf had more talent, but when you talk about an overachiever, you're talking about Ted Jeffries. He brings a lot to the table."
Anyone who might want to minimize Jeffries' contribution might want to consider where the Cavaliers will be next year without him.
"I've learned a lot," Jeffries said, "but I knew a lot when I got here. [For] whoever they bring in here, it's going to be tough. You have to learn the tricks of the game, the dirty pool, so to speak.
"Being in there four years and playing; there's a lot to be said for that." I think I definitely surprised a lot of people who were skeptical about my ability to score. Ted Jeffries UVa senior