Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 5, 1994 TAG: 9407050106
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: D1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This winter, the Radford native will get his chance - seven years after graduating from high school.
Seven years after joining the Army, four years after getting married and becoming a father, and 31/2 years after serving in the Gulf War, Claytor will play for Hartnell College, a junior college in Salinas, Calif.
When he plays his first game next winter, he will be a 25-year-old freshman. Two years from now, he may be playing at a major college on the Division I level.
"My friends all went to college," Claytor said. "Now, it's my turn."
Claytor, who has been stationed in Berlin for the past four years, has done a lot of growing up, physically and mentally, since graduating from Radford High School in 1987. Back then, he was a tall, skinny kid who participated in four sports - football, baseball, track and basketball. He was a decent athlete, but definitely not college material, athletically or academically. He spent too much time playing sports, not enough time on his studies.
His best sport was baseball. His worst, probably, basketball. Even though he made a name for himself during his senior season by hitting a shot at the final buzzer to give Radford a 44-42 victory over Lord Botetourt in a state tournament game, he spent most of his time watching the action from the bench.
Today, he measures 6-foot-5 and weighs 195 pounds, which is about three inches and 50 pounds more than when he left Radford seven years ago. The Army changed him in other ways, too. He's better disciplined and more willing to listen and learn now than when he was, as he put it, "a stubborn little kid."
Claytor is the quintessential late-bloomer, a guy who matured later than his high school peers. The stubborn little kid is all grown up.
"Mario is an example of why we should not give up on one [young person]," said Buddy Martin, Claytor's high school basketball coach, "and why a young person should not give up on themselves."
Claytor will start at shooting guard for Hartnell, which posted a 26-7 record last season and averaged 100.3 points per game. Jim Forkum, who has sent several players to the Division I major-college ranks and one player to the National Basketball Association during his 14 years as Hartnell's coach, thinks Claytor will play ball at a Division I school after he graduates from Hartnell.
"I think he'll be one of the best players in the state [of California] at the junior college level," said Forkum. "He's talented enough to play Division I ball right now. ... Two years from now, he'll be at a Division I school with everything covered, his education paid for."
When Claytor was discharged from the Army last month - after the famed Berlin Brigade in which he served was deactivated - he returned to Radford for a week to visit his grandparents, Archie and Evelyn Claytor, who raised him. While in town, he played ball every day with a group of local men. One of the players was Phil Williams, a former Radford star who played at Virginia Tech from 1983-87.
"He has pretty good skills," Williams said of Claytor. "It's hard to tell from a pick-up game in a high school gym, but I'd say he's got all the tools to be a great player."
He developed and sharpened those tools while in the Army, where he began playing on company teams. He became a basketball star by averaging more than 30 points per game for his post team in Berlin. He scored 58 points in a game for the Berlin post, which played in a league with German semipro teams.
To opponents, he was known as "Herr Claytor," the best player in the league.
In 1993, Claytor won a slam dunk competition in Berlin that was judged by pro basketball player Dikembe Mutumbo and rap star Marky Mark. Eventually, he worked his way to the 17-man All-Army team, which toured the United States, playing pro-am teams, college all-star squads and some Amateur Athletic Union teams. That's when college coaches got their first look at him.
"I liked a lot of things about him," Forkum said. "He runs well, jumps well and his shot has improved a lot since the first time I saw him four years ago."
Claytor wanted to go to a larger school, but his 7-year-old high school transcript hurt his chances. He'll go to Hartnell on the GI Bill.
"Seven years ago, I thought I'd be in the Army for the rest of my life," Claytor said.
For three years, basketball was as much a part of Claytor's military life as marching and guard duty. In late 1990, however, basketball took a back seat to service.
Claytor was sent to Saudi Arabia that October during the buildup preceding the Persian Gulf War. When the ground fighting began in early 1991, Claytor was on the front line in field artillery, although he saw very little action. By the time he got to Kuwait, the war was over.
"They were waiting to surrender by the time we got there," said Claytor, who spent free time in the desert playing basketball with other soldiers on a court laid out in the sand.
While in the war, Claytor missed the birth of his daughter, Victoria. Claytor and his wife, Tracy, have another daughter, Alexis, 5. The family will move to California later this week.
"I've grown up mentally," he said. "Now, I know I have a responsibility not just to myself, but to my family."
Claytor doesn't mind the thought of going to a lesser-known Division I school after he gets an associate degree from Hartnell. He wants to go to a school where he knows he can play immediately, because he will be 28 years old when he is a senior.
"At my age, there's no time to waste," he said.
by CNB