ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997 TAG: 9703030098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
UVA'S HAROLD DEANE has overcome troubles on and off the basketball court.
In his farewell interview two years ago, former Virginia guard Cory Alexander assured the media that the program was in good hands with Harold Deane and predicted his backcourt partner would have his jersey retired one day.
While they probably won't be hanging Deane's jersey from the rafters today, they won't be hanging him in effigy either. There has been nothing but positive reaction this season to Deane's conduct as a basketball player and as a citizen.
There was no guarantee Deane, a senior, would be with the Cavaliers this season when it was announced June 4 that he had taken an indefinite leave of absence from team activities. At one time, even Deane questioned whether he would be returning.
``There was one day,'' said Deane, who at the time faced charges for trespassing and resisting arrest. ``It was maybe the first time Coach [Jeff] Jones had talked to me about the whole situation and I really didn't have a grip on exactly where he was coming from.
``He gave me some options: I could get myself together and tough it out and do everything he wanted. Or, if I felt I wanted to leave, he would help me leave - if I wanted to go pro or whatever. In the end, I just didn't feel I could leave a situation unfinished.
``It just wouldn't have been right.''
`I know I have more to offer'
Deane would be the first to say the Cavaliers' business isn't finished yet. Most analysts feel Virginia (17-11) must beat Maryland (20-8) at 1:30 p.m. today to feel good about its chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It will be Deane's 119th game, including 113 starts, in a college career that never has been interrupted by injury. He did not play at Duke on Jan.18 after the NCAA suspended him for one game.
``I never thought about me never missing a game,'' said Deane, who was suspended because he was not enrolled for the required number of credit hours on the first day of second-semester classes. ``I just wanted to be there that night. It was my last time being able to play down there and I wasn't able to play.''
Nobody could have blamed Deane if he had surrendered to a painful shin condition and missed other games. He can't trace the injury to a specific incident; all he knows is, his lower left leg has been sore since before Christmas.
``I know I didn't get kicked or anything, or else I would have realized it,'' Deane said. ``It just flared up. It's not broken - that's what I've been told - so I've just got to keep on pushing. The season's almost over anyway.
``It's always on my mind. I think about it every day when I go home, every time I'm by myself [and] when I'm with my friends. Words can't describe how I feel. I know I have more to offer. People tell me I should sit down, but the season's on the line. Every game is so big.''
All Deane has to do is give the word and Jones will rest him. Instead, Deane has played 40 minutes three times in the past month and is averaging 37 minutes in ACC play. That puts the 6-foot-1 point guard among the conference leaders.
Jamal Robinson played the point for the Cavaliers on their European tour this past summer, and Jones spoke openly of cutting Deane's minutes. Robinson also was named captain. Yet, it was Deane who gave his teammates a pep talk outside the Richmond Coliseum doors at halftime of Tuesday night's 58-57 victory over Virginia Tech.
``I said at the end of last season that I was going to be more vocal,'' Deane said. ``Then, I was listening to a talk show and somebody said, `Harold Deane has this many turnovers and this many assists. How's he going to tell somebody what to do when he's not doing it himself?'
``I remember that to this day. I made mistakes last year and I learned from them. If I felt a certain way, I had to let people know. If people felt a certain way about me, they had to let me know. I have no problem with someone telling me what I'm doing wrong. I can listen.''
There was a perception last season that Deane would not listen and that he was out of control. He had fewer assists (99) than turnovers (104). He shot 34.4 percent from the field, the low among ACC players with 100 or more attempts. He frequently was in foul trouble.
``At the time, I couldn't see it,'' Deane said. ``But, as I went back and watched games from last year, Coach [Jones] gave me a lot of chances and put up with a lot of things that normal coaches wouldn't. I can see he was right at the edge and something had to be done.''
`I just want to win'
The leave of absence preceded Deane's conviction Aug.5 on charges stemming from his arrest at an April 13 party. Although there was reason to wonder if continued legal proceedings would serve as a distraction, the verdict was overturned Jan.13.
``I used to go out and have fun and I never worried about things because I felt that I could never be caught for something like that,'' said Deane, who played at Matoaca High School in Ettrick and spent a postgraduate year at Fork Union Military Academy. ``Now I'm always watching my back, watching who I'm around and what's going on.''
The legal victory, which came two days after a 75-63 victory over North Carolina, had Deane on a high. UVa subsequently went on a four-game winning streak and was 15-6 after beating Florida State on Feb.1, but the rest of February was a struggle.
The Cavaliers lost four consecutive games, and Deane, limping more noticeably with each contest, was limited in the penetration that has been one of the trademarks of his game. He has shot 15-of-49 (30.6 percent) while scoring in double figures once in the past eight games.
Last season, Deane might have reacted to the slump by taking more - and tougher - shots. This season, he has taken fewer than 10 shots per game, down from 13.1 in 1995-96. At the same time, he has 118 assists and 85 turnovers.
``Points are just not important to me,'' said Deane, who continues to guard each opponent's best small perimeter player. ``I'm not concerned with that this year because I have to run the team. If I feel I need to score, I will. But, I think people know what I'm about, and I just want to win.''
And, Deane has little tolerance for teammates who don't feel the same way. One of the turning points in Virginia's season came Jan.2, when Deane lashed out at Courtney Alexander, who was pouting over his playing time following an injury.
``It builds, it keeps building and it just reaches a point where you have to say something,'' Deane said. ``He's [Alexander] a different player. I can play with a lot of guys, [and] I'm not saying I can't play with Courtney. He's a talent, but he still needs to play the whole game.
``I love him to death. I think he's going to be a great player. It was tough, because you have to make sure everybody on the team has the same values and, at one point, we didn't think his values ran along the same lines as everyone else's.''
There is a suspicion that many of Alexander's basketball-related decisions are made with an eye toward a professional career.
``Whether it's affecting [Alexander] or not, we can't be sure,'' Deane said. ``Of course, it's on every player's mind who has a chance to go early. It definitely was on my mind, but I don't think it affected my game. I think, because I wanted to make things happen, that I pressed too much.''
Deane knows the injury has kept him from reaching his potential this season, but, as he enters his final regular-season game, he ranks seventh all-time at Virginia in points (1,710), fourth in assists (450), fourth in steals (174) and eighth in blocks (61).
``He's not the most athletic point guard, but he's athletic,'' Jones said Friday. ``He's not a magician with the basketball, yet he's a very good ball-handler. He's not the best shooter, but he's a good shooter.
``The thing that sets him apart is his toughness and tenacity. It's the ability, when everybody in the building knows we're going to inbound the ball to him, to come and get the ball and make free throws. His game is not the flashiest, but he should be proud of who he is.''
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN STAFF. Harold Deane is among UVa'sby CNBall-time leaders in points, assists, steals and blocks. color.