THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190585
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 74 lines
I'll believe Tracy McGrady can jump from Mount Zion Christian Academy to the NBA the day he dribbles down court through traffic, fires the basketball off the backboard from 15 feet out, soars above the mere mortals gawking up from below, plucks the rebound from midair and stuffs the ball through the basket, sweet as a Carolina iced tea.
What's that? McGrady performed precisely that magic in the second quarter of Mount Zion's Globetrotter-like appearance at Atlantic Shores Christian School on Tuesday night?
Assisted himself on an incredible slam dunk that sent a capacity-plus crowd of about 1,000 people into a heaving, fawning conniption that lasted two or three minutes?
Oh.
Then I believe, sports fans. I believe.
Everybody says McGrady, a lithe, 6-foot-8, 17-year-old, and probably a kid named Lamar Odom in Troy, N.Y., are all set to be the next phenoms to skip college for the automatic riches of the NBA.
Maybe this isn't a good thing, in general, for a young man's personal development. Maybe turning a game into a grueling business so soon in life jeopardizes the enjoyment factor of the sport, retards maturity and establishes a false reality which bodes trouble later on.
Or maybe not.
McGrady is going to find out soon. Sure, he is still playing it coy, suggesting after Tuesday's 80-46 romp over the spunky Seahawks that he is ``leaning'' toward going pro. But people involved in the Mount Zion program know McGrady is a goner.
NBA scouts have projected McGrady as a first-round draft pick somewhere among the top 20 prospects. But Mount Zion officials say their latest information places him in even more exclusive company.
``Oh, he's going,'' says the Rev. Donald Fozard, the founder of Mount Zion Christian Academy, who traveled with the Mighty Warriors from their home in Durham, N.C. ``His stock is up to between (No.) 2 and 9 now. He's gotta go.''
McGrady downplays the motivation of the multi-million contract that awaits him. ``I just want to play against the best players out there,'' says McGrady with a modest smile. ``The money is going to be there.''
The fame, the spotlight, the swooning attention already are, pouring over the native Floridian in one sudden, massive wave. McGrady just smiles and waves back.
After a deceptively easy effort Tuesday, when he had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists as Mount Zion's point guard, McGrady posed for pictures, signed autographs and chatted with kids and adults for about 30 minutes.
It was refreshing, in that coach Joel Hopkins, a major disciplinarian, has given his 24-2 team that is ranked eighth in the country by USA Today a long leash.
Rather than shield McGrady and his stable of Division I prospects from the media glow in a paranoid fever, Hopkins actually points out the reporters to McGrady and motions him to halt the autographs for a few moments to be interviewed.
``The media and basketball work hand in hand,'' Hopkins says. ``They're good for each other.''
The experience with exposure is why Hopkins says he's confident McGrady can emotionally handle a leap over the college ranks. The Mighty Warriors are already like a college team, he says. They play all but a few of their games on the road and are met with packed houses and celebrity treatment everywhere they go.
Plus, says Hopkins, the strong Christian base that Mount Zion works to build in its students keeps egos in line.
McGrady seems to be proof of that. After he passed to himself for his memorable dunk, the first time he's tried it in a game, by the way, McGrady trotted down court stonefaced, eyes on Hopkins. Hopkins smiled and shook his head, and McGrady broke into a smile of his own and a little wiggle, less a celebration of himself than just an amazingly talented kid having fun.
It would be a shame if, in whatever pro city McGrady is punching the clock this time next year, a sense of fun has not followed him.