Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502070018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
Curtis Staples will never be as distraught or as disenchanted as he was after the first game of his college basketball career.
Staples had played 11 minutes in Virginia's 83-80 victory over Old Dominion and, long after the game, could be seen courtside in animated conversation with his parents.
``I was thinking, with all the places I could have gone, maybe I had made the wrong decision,'' said Staples, who was scoreless against the Monarchs. ``Everything was going through my mind.
``I felt, `This is not for me. Virginia is not for Curtis.' I felt like leaving that night. I felt like crawling in a hole and never coming out. I had never felt that bad before.''
Staples returned to his dorm room and was contemplating a course of action when he was paid a surprise visit by UVa senior Junior Burrough, who had preceded Staples by four years at Oak Hill Academy in Grayson County.
``He recognized how upset I was,'' Staples said. ``He came over, picked me up, took me with him and talked with me for a while. He didn't have to do that, but he understood what I was going through [as] a highly regarded prospect.''
When coach Jeff Jones arrived at his office the next morning, Staples was waiting for him.
``I'm the type of person, I'm going to confront someone,'' Staples said. ``I went into the game thinking I was going to play [and] that I was going to be out there for a good amount of time. I felt I had to talk to him.''
Staples said Jones told him he wasn't ``ready'' for more extensive duty, but it wasn't a big surprise that the Cavaliers had four seniors on the floor in a game that was not decided until the closing minutes.
Staples has played more than 20 minutes per game since then, but it remains difficult for him to deal with the fluctuations that find him playing 29 minutes in one game and eight minutes the next.
``This year has been probably my worst as far as basketball goes,'' said Staples, who helped Patrick Henry High School to the Group AAA state championship in 1992, when he was a sophomore. ``I've been adjusting to some things that I've never had to adjust to before.''
Staples has been a featured player at every level, most recently when was the leading scorer last year for Oak Hill, which finished No. 1 in the country. A 6-foot-3 guard, he was named to All-America teams chosen by McDonald's and Parade magazine.
``Jeff McInnis had a similar career for us,'' Oak Hill coach Steve Smith said, ``and he didn't play close to 20 minutes a game as a freshman at North Carolina. Curtis will be fine at Virginia. He'll have a great career there.''
Staples, generally considered the top 3-point shooter entering college this year, has not been a disappointment in that area. He leads the Cavaliers in 3-pointers made (40) and 3-point percentage (43.4) and is fourth on the team in scoring with 8.9 points per game.
``He's got a quick release, he's got deep range [and] he's accurate,'' Jones said. ``His teammates definitely look for him now in situations where they didn't necessarily look for anybody for a `three.' ''
Staples has three times as many 3-pointers as he does two-point field goals, and on several of the latter he had a foot on the line. However, neither Jones nor Staples is interested in a one-dimensional player.
``He cannot be and I won't allow him to be - and he doesn't want to be - only a shooter,'' Jones said. ``I don't want to be like the baseball manager who sits around and waits until somebody hits a three-run homer.''
Jones said early in the season that Staples' minutes would increase as soon as his defense improved. More recently, Jones has been looking for a more aggressive style on offense.
``He catches it and shoots it or he catches it and makes a safe pass,'' Jones said. ``What he has been hesitant to do is make a penetrating pass or drive a ball into the teeth of the defense. Curtis' three-point threat is huge for us, but he's got to get better at the other things.''
After Staples missed a layup on a fast break against North Carolina, Jones required him to do 50 full-speed layups in practice. Staples responded with four layup baskets in the Cavaliers' 128-98 victory over George Mason, but even some of those looked awkward.
``It started out as a joke,'' said Staples of the layup drill. ``If I ever got close to the goal in high school, I dunked the ball. I never laid a ball in. I really haven't settled in completely yet.''
Staples looks sometimes as if he's playing not to make mistakes - and he hasn't made many. He has not committed a turnover in the past four games and seven of the past nine, and for the season has committed a turnover only once every 36.7 minutes.
``I haven't played the way I can play,'' he said. ``Not even once. I was always an outside player in high school, but I was also a player who fascinated the crowd with lobs and dunks and finished plays off strong. I haven't done that yet.
``I've shown glimpses of how I can play, but haven't played a complete game yet in my eyes. I've done fairly well, but I don't want people to think all I can do is shoot threes. There's a lot of things I haven't brought out of the closet.''
Staples doesn't sulk, but the misery is etched on his face when he sits on the bench for long stretches.
``Coach Jones said, `When things aren't going your way, you've got to do things like cheer on your teammates,' '' Staples related. ``He asked, `Are you capable of doing that?' I said, `Yeah.' I'm not a person who's all caught up in myself. I want everybody to do well. But it's like I told him, `Coach, you didn't recruit me to be a cheerleader.'
``I talked to Ricky Price. He's in the same situation [at Duke]. Coming out of high school, we were held in the same regards. His confidence has been hurt. I told him, `Man, this is a trial.' When something like this happens, you try to blame somebody else. I tell myself, `Coach isn't doing this or coach told me that,' but it all falls back on yourself. I blame myself for getting down the way I have.''
Maybe nobody's to blame. When Staples signed with Virginia in the fall of 1993, Cory Alexander was UVa's point guard, with Harold Deane his backup. However, Alexander suffered a season-ending injury in the first game and Deane had a chance to blossom.
With Alexander back this year, the Cavaliers weren't about to bench Deane. As a result, Staples has gotten much of his playing time at the expense of small forwards Jamal Robinson and Jason Williford.
``I told Harold Deane once, `Every time the horn goes off, I'm looking over my shoulder,' '' Staples said. ``He said, `There's nothing over there for you, man. Don't even look over there unless somebody's trying to get your attention.'
``That's something I never worried about before - if the horn went off, whether I was coming out. That's something I've learned. I don't look over there anymore. If they want me now, they're going to have to pull me off the court. That's how bad I want to be out there.''
by CNB