Jump shot
Cavs' Smith makes most of Division I chance after leap from junior college
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 10, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE Delaware, Drexel, La Salle. Villanova, Temple, St. Joseph's. Towson, Loyola (Md.), George Washington. Maryland, American, George Mason. Georgetown.

All of those schools are within an easy drive of Devin Smith's hometown of New Castle, Del. All play Division I basketball. None offered him a scholarship during his senior year at William Penn High. Never mind that Smith, who averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds in 2000-01, was Delaware's player of the year and an academic qualifier.

"It just shows you, there's exactly no science in this business," Tommy Herrion said.

Herrion, now head coach at the College of Charleston, was a University of Virginia assistant last season when U.Va., in the wake of swingman Maurice Young's decision to transfer, began recruiting Smith at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.

"I'd never heard of him till he was at Coffeyville," Herrion said.

Smith, 19, shed his anonymity in his one season of junior-college ball. In 2001-02, he was named a first-team JC All-American and attracted scholarship offers from numerous major-college programs. A season later, the 6-5, 230-pound sophomore starts at small forward for U.Va. (0-1, 9-3), which meets ACC rival North Carolina (1-0, 9-4) tomorrow at sold-out University Hall.

His brother Steve, a 6-5 junior, averages 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds for Iona, which upset UNC on Dec. 27. Another Smith brother, Charles, is a former standout at Rider.

Devin Smith is averaging 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots, and he's shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. Not bad for a guy who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late August, missed much of preseason practice and gained about 15 pounds during his rehab, weight he's taken off as his work rate has increased.

"He's doing great considering he's missed so much time," Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said.

So why was Smith overlooked coming out of high school? His unselfishness is partly to blame. After playing on the perimeter his first three years, Smith moved into the low post as a William Penn senior.

"It just happened I was the tallest player on the team," Smith recalled.

He also was the team's best player, and "to win a state championship, I threw him into the post," William Penn coach Jim Perialas said yesterday. "I asked Devin, and we talked about it, and he said, 'Sure.' That's what we had to do to win the state championship."

And that's exactly what happened. Smith, the tournament MVP, led William Penn to its second state title in three seasons. "He was unstoppable," Perialas said.

Nonetheless, except for Maryland-Baltimore County and Manhattan, Division I recruiters - who apparently didn't realize Smith had perimeter skills, too - wanted no part of a 6-5 post player. So, hoping to expand his college options, off he went to Coffeyville, where his brother Steve was already enrolled.

"I wasn't really disappointed," Devin Smith recalled. "I'm kind of a laidback person when it comes to things like that. I just took it in stride and did what I had to do."

Having met NCAA eligibility standards as a 12th-grader, Smith was especially attractive to Division I schools as his stock began to rise at Coffeyville. Most JC transfers have only two years of eligibility when they enroll at a Division I school; Smith would have three. He narrowed his list of suitors to Kansas, Iowa and Virginia.

"There was a lot of pressure on me to go to Kansas from people in town," Smith said, but he chose U.Va.

"I just felt I fit in best with the players here," he said Tuesday at U-Hall, where he was nursing a sore left knee that kept him out of practice that afternoon. "That's what basically made me come here: the players, more than anything."

Smith, who lives with freshman forward Derrick Byars in a dorm for first-year students, isn't the most athletic Cavalier. But he has a high basketball IQ and has made a remarkably smooth transition from JC ball. In less than two years, Smith has gone from a Division I afterthought to a player who could earn all-ACC honors before he leaves U.Va.

"It was one of those strange things that worked out, I guess," Perialas said.

 

Defensive Cornerstone
R. Barber Has Brother, Teammates on His Side
By Leonard Shapiro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 10, 2003; Page D01

Ronde and Tiki Barber had all the permutations figured out last week. The talented twins knew it was a long shot, but they both just had this feeling that somehow, some way, Tiki's New York Giants would find a way to win their first two games in the postseason, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Ronde's team, would then win this weekend and play host to the Giants in the NFC title game.

The Roanoke natives have played against each other before, but never in a game of such magnitude. "We'd have burned the phone lines up all week talking about it with each other," Ronde said. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

The dream died a little bit on Saturday night when the Atlanta Falcons upset Green Bay, meaning the brothers could only meet in the conference semifinals. It completely imploded for the University of Virginia graduates late Sunday afternoon in San Francisco. The Giants, in control for three quarters, botched a 24-point lead, a result of their own conservative play, a defensive meltdown, a dropped touchdown pass and a catastrophically blown officiating call at the end of the game.

Tiki, the Giants' brilliant running back, experienced the pain up close and personal. Ronde, the Bucs' peerless cornerback, watched on TV in his Tampa home, and said this week, "It took a while for my system to calm down. It was like torture. My wife didn't talk to me for an hour afterward because I was so infuriated. It's always hard to watch Tiki lose. I know he feels the same way when we lose."

Now it is Tiki's turn to root for the Bucs. He will likely be at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday when Tampa Bay, the NFC South champion, hosts the 49ers, winners of the NFC West.

"I called him [after the Giants lost] and told him he had a great year," Ronde said. "It's all you can worry about now. It's all over and done with. San Francisco was the one team we didn't think we'd play, to tell you the truth."

Both Tiki and Ronde had another very bad day on Dec. 20. That's when the Pro Bowl teams were announced. In a vote of players, coaches and fans, neither made the team, even if both had remarkable seasons. Tiki's combined rushing and receiving yardage (1,984) led the NFL, and his 203-yard performance after losing three fumbles in the season finale against the Eagles lifted the Giants to their fourth straight win and a postseason berth.

Living in New York and playing for the Giants, Tiki Barber has always attracted more media attention than Ronde. And even on his defensive unit, Ronde may be overshadowed by trash-talking defensive tackle Warren Sapp, and strong, silent outside linebacker Derrick Brooks, the NFL's defensive player of the year. But in his own locker room and all around the league, Ronde has emerged as arguably the best cover corner since Deion Sanders in his prime.

"Him not making the Pro Bowl was ridiculous," Bucs General Manager Rich McKay said. "It's the flash factor. He didn't have as many interceptions [only two] as he did last year or plays that get you on SportsCenter. But he played as well as anyone in the league. The first eight games, he was extremely productive. And then teams simply stopped throwing to his side because they knew what would happen if they did. I'm sure when the Pro Bowl came out, he and his brother consoled each other. And to both their credit, neither one of them missed a beat."

Said defensive backs coach Mike Tomlin: "Ronde played at a Pro Bowl level all season long, but I didn't have a vote. If missing the team is something that fuels him, so be it. I just know that every time Ronde hits the football field, he seeks perfection. I wouldn't trade him for any other cornerback in the league."

Ronde also played three games despite surgery to fix a broken wrist. He said playing after the operation "was never a pain issue. Usually, when I hit people, I like to grab them, but this became a one-hand deal, and then I'd throw my body into them. I guess I did all right."

His coaches know exactly what he did this year. Veteran defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said, "He just goes out and plays so hard on every down. He's a [5-foot-10, 184-pound] cornerback who plays like he's a 250-pound linebacker. And he's so smart, never out of position, just a real bright, tough guy.

"Ronde and Derrick Brooks are the real keys to our defense because our middle linebacker runs down the middle of the field in pass coverage. That leaves those two in a position where they have to come up and make the tackle if someone takes off out of the pocket. They've played that defense exactly the way it's supposed to be played, and they don't miss."

Added Coach Jon Gruden: "If he's not the premier corner in the league, then someone else has a guy who must be unbelievably extraordinary. Since I've been here, he's been blue chip, an iceman in coverage. We blitz him a lot, and he hits like a linebacker. He's a leader, and he's even an impact player in our kicking game. A consummate pro."

Ronde used the words "quintessential pro" to describe his own football hero. As native Virginians, the Barber boys both grew up pulling for the Washington Redskins, and Ronde was especially enamored with the play of now-retired cornerback Darrell Green.

"He was such a phenomenal athlete," he said. "I never patterned my game after him, but I loved how he approached the game. I can't imagine playing 20 years. This is my sixth, and I didn't play my first year. Even in his forties, he was playing at such a high level. It was unbelievable to see."

Ronde also knows he must perform at the same Everest-like level himself on Sunday, particularly with dangerous game-breaking wide receiver Terrell Owens and the 49ers' passing attack directed by quarterback Jeff Garcia. He'll have plenty of help from his 10 other teammates, a defensive unit that became the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to lead the league in total defense (252 yards a game), fewest points allowed (12.3 a game) and interceptions (31).

They will face a San Francisco team that obviously can score points in bunches. The 49ers converted an astounding 52.3 percent on third downs to lead the league this year, and the nimble Garcia was sacked only 22 times.

"It's always our defense versus some powerful offense coming in here," Ronde said. "But the West Coast offense, we've seen it so much and we're used to it so much that . . . we've got a feel for it. The only variable here is we've never played them before. We've never seen the quarterback. On film, we know what they're about."

The 49ers, of course, also could say the same for the Bucs' fearsome defense.

"I'm excited to see what happens," Ronde said. "We've been here before where teams are putting up record numbers and we just sit back and do our thing and play Buc ball. Fortunately, we have an offense we feel can put up some points. However it turns out, you just want to advance. That's the important thing."

This time, Tiki will be watching to see if his identical twin can get to a Super Bowl, as Tiki did when the Giants lost to the Baltimore Ravens in 2000.

"I was there for him," Ronde said. "And he's always there for me, too."