Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 1, 1995 TAG: 9504030057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
For instance, when the Final Four was played here 43 years ago, Kansas came from the then-Big Seven led by Clyde Lovellette. He was the ``Ponderous Pachyderm of the Plains.''
- He was very big and very good, as is Lovellette's latest conference descendant, Bryant Reeves. He's the very personification of his ``Big Country'' moniker.
The Oklahoma State center got the name from former teammate Byron Houston. It turns out Houston was accurate in more than shooting. The 7-foot, 292-pound center may no longer be growing, but his legend is.
He literally stopped practice at the Final Four on Friday - for the Cowboys and others - when he shattered a glass backboard.
``It was a move I do every day in practice,'' Reeves sheepishly explained. ``I went up, dunked it, grabbed the rim, I guess ... and the rest is history.''
Indeed, he is an impact player.
His over-the-head, two-handed reverse gave him a glass shower. So, what's the big deal, he wondered. Reeves previously had smashed three other boards.
That wasn't at the Final Four, however, where everything is as big as ``Country.''
Larry Bird was known as ``the hick from French Lick'' when he took unbeaten Indiana State into a Magical 1979 NCAA championship game. Reeves rekindles some of those memories, but he's more loquacious and laid-back.
Big Country takes a question like you'd expect someone from his neighborhood to work tobacco. He chews on it, then often spits out a very short, very direct, very colorful answer. You might say he leaves an impression.
And when he leads the Cowboys into their first Final Four date since 1951 today - against top-ranked UCLA in a 5:42 tip-off at the Kingdome - he'll appropriately be playing a few blocks from this city's Pioneer Square.
He's already the biggest deal in his hometown. Then, that isn't saying much. Gans, Okla., near the Arkansas border, has a population of 218, but may fluctuate somewhat on certain weekends.
``It depends on whether it's hunting season or not,'' Reeves said.
If Gans isn't nowhere, it's one intersection from there. Reeves' hometown has a post office, a city hall, a school, a new volunteer fire department and the Gans General Store.
A stoplight?
``No, just a stop sign,'' Reeves said. ``And they only put that in so you could get the whole view of Gans before you left.''
Kind of like Mayberry, right?
``No,'' he said. ``Mayberry had two cops.''
When Reeves arrived at OSU, he was as big a stiff as the Seattle Space Needle. He also had played for nine coaches in high school.
Now, he has 2,342 points and 1,143 rebounds in his career. No wonder coach Eddie Sutton is calling Reeves ``a miracle child'' because of his improvement.
Yes, Eddie, recruiting big men is like a box of chocolates. You never know what's in one of those centers, right?
Sutton compares Reeves to Daniel Boone, saying the player ``was born 100 years too late.'' However, his timing was perfect to bring Sutton back from coaching exile.
Reeves definitely wasn't born yesterday. In a sport often called ``The City Game,'' Big Country certainly knows the geography.
He's the primary reason the fourth-seeded Cowboys are the sleeper in Seattle. He was the Big Eight player of the year, the MVP of the league tournament and voted the outstanding player in the East Regional.
He's not just big, with what in Lovellette's day they called a flattop haircut. His 10-foot jumper rarely touches iron. He doesn't jump well, but his position defense has had Tim Duncan of Wake Forest and Marcus Camby of Massachusetts shaking their heads.
Big Country wears an opponent out in a very different way from Michael Jordan. Considering some of the stories of his dining, he might be the Leaning Tower of Pizza.
Reeves has played all 40 minutes in each of the Cowboys' past three NCAA games. He's missed only 16 minutes in the past 10 games for State (27-9).
One of the few things that's the same about Big Country now is his haircut. When the glass shattered Friday, Reeves said some of it stuck in his hair.
How?
Yes, Big Country turned into even a bigger story under glass.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB