The perfectionist
Despite success, Blackstock strives to get better
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 23, 2004

There’s normally not much stirring, not even a mouse, in Virginia’s McCue Center the Sunday mornings following a regular-season football game.

Nothing that is until Cavaliers’ linebacker Darryl Blackstock shows up to get his weekly critique from none other than UVa coach Al Groh. Blackstock makes a beeline for Groh’s office and breaks the silence of the building when he asks the head coach the same weekly question: “So, how was it?”

There’s no guessing game between these two men. Groh knows exactly what Blackstock wants and gives one of his prized linebackers the expected feedback in exactly the fashion Blackstock wants the critique.

“Straight up,” the linebacker said. “I want to know what was good [about his performance], what was great and what needs to be fixed.”

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior seeks greatness and is willing to pay the price to reach stardom on the gridiron. A second-team All-ACC selection, fans may not truly understand just how good Blackstock really is because his statistics are not overwhelming.

Most football coaches know exactly how good he is and that’s why they choose to run away from him.

Still, Blackstock pursues perfection like no other player Groh has coached at Virginia. Groh’s weekly office critiques will occasionally include a personal coaching clinic.

“Sometimes we’ll be standing in [Groh’s] office ... I will play like I’m an offensive tackle and he plays outside,” Blackstock said. “We just get down to the basics. We look at every little thing from how many steps it takes to drop to a certain spot to how many steps it takes to get to another spot. That relationship, that kind of bonding is cool.”

One senses that Groh, who has affection for linebackers, enjoys the relationship just as much as Blackstock.

No wonder then, that when the linebacker talked about a number switch during practice for the upcoming MPC Computers Bowl date with Fresno State, that Groh invited him for a chat to settle the issue.

“We were speaking out on the field about what we think the upcoming [2005] season can bring and the achievements that Darryl can have, and the type of player that he ought to be,” Groh recalled the initial conversation. “Darryl said, ‘I will tell you something that will really make me play great, is if I can get a different number.’”

Groh asked him to drop by after practice, which is what the linebacker did that night during a break from study hall.

Blackstock has worn No. 56 ever since he started as a true freshman and immediately recorded 10 quarterback sacks that season. The youngster from Newport News (Heritage High School) said that he never really had a choice, that Groh already had the No. 56 with Blackstock’s name already on it.

Anyone who has followed Groh’s career already knows that he coached Lawrence Taylor, who redefined the outside linebacker position while with the world champion New York Giants.

But Blackstock has grown tired of the number and the comparisons, the references, after three years.

“I was like, ‘No disrespect, but do I still have to wear 56?’” Blackstock said. “He just looked at me like what’s wrong with 56? I said, ‘Well, I’m not Lawrence Taylor. I respect his game. I believe he’s the best. I have tons of film on him, but I think he earned his own glory. Every time I read the paper, it’s Lawrence Taylor. It felt good to be compared to somebody that great, but at the same time, I’m still Darryl at the end of the day. I wanted my own identity.’”

Groh asked Blackstock what number he wanted instead of 56 and the player said he didn’t know, wondering what might be available to him. Groh gave him some options, including No. 1.

“Coach named a bunch of numbers and I told him the ones I liked, then I told him, ‘You pick,’” Blackstock said.

The two agreed on No. 1.

“I called the equipment room,” Groh said. “I think he probably figured, ‘Oh, yeah coach is just saying this, but I’m not sure this is going to happen.’ But I reached over and picked up the phone and called Mike [Stroud] in the equipment room and told him to put an orange No. 1 in Darryl’s locker. It’s his jersey now.”

“For real?” Blackstock asked his coach.

“I said, ‘For real.’ I just called the guy up,” Groh replied.

Blackstock will be wearing the new number in Monday’s bowl game in Boise, Idaho.

When teasing sportswriters last Saturday about whether or not he planned to return for his senior season or take an early exit to the NFL, Blackstock gave them a hint. He said he would wear No. 1 in the bowl game, but that it wouldn’t be the last time he would wear the number.

The NFL does not allow linebackers to wear No. 1

It was somewhat of a sacrifice, because half of just about everything Blackstock owns has his old number emblazoned on it, including his license plate: Blitz56.

But right now, things like that are trivial to Blackstock’s thinking. All he wants to do is win the bowl game and get some momentum headed into his senior year. Losses to Miami and Virginia Tech, both winnable games in Blackstock’s mind, still eat at him.

Florida State? Well, that one was different. In his opinion, no team in the country could have beaten the Seminoles that night. But Miami and Tech, that’s different.

“We should have beat Miami. We should have beat Tech,” Blackstock said. “I want to come back and win the national championship. This is going to be a different offseason, a whole difference mentality, a national championship mentality. I know we can do it.

“With all of us coming back, me, Ahmad, Kai, Brick, Heath ... well, I don’t know what the hell Heath is going to do ... Biscuit, Wali, man ...” Blackstock said, pausing to daydream a bit about the possibilities.

Wahoo fans will be delighted for Blackstock’s return. His season started slow but finished with a bang as he shook up opposing offenses with his pass-rushing skills.

Blackstock made 43 tackles, 15 in opponents’ backfields. He leads the nation in sacks by a linebacker (with 11) and needs only one more to become the ACC’s all-time leader in sacks by a linebacker. His 27 career sacks are second in UVa history to Chris Slade’s 40.

“My year was really different than the first two seasons,” Blackstock said. “When [senior defensive end] Chris Canty got hurt, I had to learn how to deal with playing without him. As far as rushing the passer, I didn’t have that extra person there with me to tag team.”

Eventually, Blackstock figured it out. He had four multi-sack games, including a career-high three sacks against Georgia Tech, two against Maryland, two more against Miami.

He studies his opponents on film, but has to make an on-field adjustment once games begin. While most teams run away from him, he is accustomed to getting double- or even triple-teamed. He gets kicked. Teams cut block him. They use quick passes to negate his bull rush and they roll away form him to escape his speed.

“I kind of figure out real early, the first two or three series, how they’re going to block me. After that I know what I’ve got to do, but at the same time I learn what I can’t do for that game,” the linebacker said.

All he needs to know about a quarterback is if he’s mobile or not and where he holds the ball in case there is a strip opportunity.

For offensive tackles, it’s different. He looks for how a tackle moves his feet. Is the blocker going to kick back or kick laterally. Blackstock determines how wide he needs to line up, how fast he needs to be.

“It’s little stuff,” he said. “This game ain’t hard to figure out. You just keep going.”

Lawrence Taylor would probably agree.

So, what about that new license plate? Any possibilities?

“I think I might go with something like, “Got2Get1,’” Blackstock said, the same thing he writes on his wrists before each game as a constant reminder of his drive to get a QB sack.

Taylor would smile approvingly.

Brick Wall
Ferguson is a fixture at tackle
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
December 23, 2004

Being a football player and a football fan are two different things.

Need proof? Just ask Virginia offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson.

During the past month, NFL analyst Mel Kiper repeatedly named Ferguson as the top left tackle prospect for the league’s draft in April. Ferguson was even featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

It meant little to Ferguson. He proved that on Saturday when he told reporters that he was “definitely” coming back next year for a senior season.

For Ferguson the decision appeared to be an easy one.

“My focus is just really on winning Boise,” Ferguson said. “That’s all I really focus on. We have another game to win right now. I’m trying to make a nine-win schedule and we are trying to do something special here at the University.”

Virginia, the 16th-ranked team in the country, plays Monday at 2 p.m. in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, against Fresno State. Both teams are 8-3 on the season.

Ferguson has been a mainstay at left tackle since he arrived in Charlottesville as a highly touted lineman from Freeport High School in New York.

In fact, Ferguson has started all 38 games of his UVa career. That’s the most for a left tackle at UVa since former All-American Jim Dombrowski (1982-85) started 45 straight.

Ferguson has not only grown into his position, but also into his body.

When he walked into his first preseason training camp in August of 2002 as an 18-year-old, Ferguson weighed close to 260 pounds, a shabby figure for starting offensive lineman in the ACC.

In his first collegiate start against Colorado State, Ferguson played all 76 snaps on offense.

Virginia coach Al Groh commented frequently during Ferguson’s rookie season about how exciting it would be to watch the lineman grow mentally and, more importantly, physically.

Ferguson knew it would take hard work for him to gain weight at, of all places, the dinner table. He could not skip a meal. He even had to force himself to eat snacks, lots of snacks.

He needed the weight and lots of it, something that would make a college wrestler envious.

Fast-forward three years and 35 pounds later, Ferguson stands at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds.

“I knew that if I wanted to keep the size on that I would have to continue with my proper eating habits,” Ferguson said. “Unlike years prior, I just made sure that I was more disciplined in daily regime and it worked out pretty well.”

Ferguson blossomed on the field as well.

He earned the ACC’s Offensive Lineman of the Week award after Virginia topped Clemson 30-10 on Oct. 7.

Earlier this month, Ferguson was named to the All-ACC first team at offensive tackle.

“It was a surprise to me,” said Ferguson, who boasts a wingspan of close to 90 inches. “Honestly, all that I really focused on was just how I was going to do my assignments in the game and if I could just do that, well, that’s really what matters to me.”

Ferguson said he spent little or no time thinking about making all-conference during the season.

“I think that’s a selfish player who looks for the accolades all the time,” Ferguson said. “I just want to be a team player and do the things necessary for the team to win. I respect it, but I realize that its hard work just to be an offensive lineman and if I start diverting my attention, then maybe my performance won’t be as quality.”

While his play has left him among the best college tackles in the country, Ferguson is not your typical lineman.

He plays a “mean” saxophone. He does karate. He is a youth minister at his church. He enjoys discussing law.

As a freshman, Ferguson said: “Taking on new challenges definitely helps the mind.”

Groh called Ferguson an “interesting guy” earlier this week when asked what makes Ferguson tick?

“If I said he’s a very shaped up kid, I’m sure everybody who has dealt with him probably will get a sense of what I’m trying to explain,” Groh said. “He is very shaped-up. He is very accountable, both to himself and what he is responsible for. And he expects a lot of himself.

“You don’t ever see Brick when he is sloppy, whether he has got his football uniform on or his street clothes. He plays a clean game. He is not a sloppy player.”

Groh also labeled Ferguson as “defined, accountable and achieved academically.”

Ferguson just likes being called a winner.

“I don’t allow other people to set my agendas. I know that I just want to continue doing the things that’s going to cause this team to win,” Ferguson said. “Until we’ve won every game, I won’t be satisfied. I just have a winning mentality and I think that winning this game [against Fresno State] will really help us next year.”

The wait is over for Cavaliers
Virginia returns to the hardwood after an extensive layoff
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 23, 2004

Yes, Virginia you still have a men’s basketball team. It is just a little hard to remember.

Since the No. 25 Cavaliers’ 79-67 win over Furman on Dec. 8, the streamline of current events is almost staggering: Washington D.C.’s baseball team appeared lost only to be saved; reports had UVa defensive coordinator Al Golden bound for Notre Dame only to be proven false; Rick Majerus was named basketball coach at Southern Cal, only to resign days later; James Madison won the NCAA Division I-AA title; three bowl games have been played; Pedro Martinez is now a Met, Vince Carter a Net and Randy Johnson almost a Yankee; T.O. got hurt and Peyton Manning keeps throwing touchdowns; Kobe Bryant is feuding with Shaquille O’Neal. … well, that isn’t exactly new.

That is just the sports world. There could have been several J.Lo. or Britney Spears’ marriages since the Cavaliers last played. One must read other publications for such news.

The point is, of course, that it has been a while. Naturally, Virginia coach Pete Gillen sees both the positives and the negatives of such a layoff entering tonight’s game against Loyola Marymount.

“I think it was good that we had a break. It was perhaps a little too long,” said Gillen, who stated that his challenge is to get his team ready to play again both mentally and physically. “We had a long exam schedule and we can’t control that. The school does it the right way. … We did have a real tough stretch just before. We are concerned about getting the rust off and getting ready to play [tonight] against a good Loyola Marymount team.”

Loyola Marymount enters tonight’s game with a 7-2 record and presents a distinct challenge and style for the Cavaliers. The Lions, who nearly pulled an upset of No. 12 Washington earlier this month, are a small and quick guard-oriented team that forces nearly 19 turnovers a game.

“They are a very good team and well coached. It will be a challenge for us. They like to play uptempo and change defenses,” Gillen said.

Certainly LMU is the kind of team that could indeed test the Cavaliers, who have had some ballhandling issues through their first eight games. Virginia is averaging 15.1 turnovers a contest. It’s an issue that has gained quite a bit of attention from Gillen.

“We have to take care of the ball. Taking care of the ball is always a concern for us. I don’t know how many [turnovers] we average a game. A couple of games we didn’t do a good job. That is a concern,” Gillen said. “Like football, you don’t want to fumble. In basketball you don’t want to have too many turnovers. A couple of games we did a good job. We have to value the ball.”

There is one other significant change since the Cavaliers last played: Their RPI ranking. According to collegerpi.com, Virginia has risen to No. 12 in the all-important RPI calculations. Currently, the Cavaliers are No. 32 in terms of schedule strength and that’s probably reflective of a tougher non-conference slate than in past years. The Cavaliers have two wins over teams ranked in the RPI top 25 - Arizona and Richmond - and two more wins against teams in the top 100. In terms of RPI, the worst team Virginia has played is Furman (No. 184). For comparison, at this same point last season the Cavaliers had played five teams that finished with RPIs higher than 220.

RPI discussion is a little premature right now but at the very least it is interesting. Gillen confesses to know little about the RPI and its calculations but says he feels his team has faced several legitimate tests so far. He also knows bigger challenges are looming.

“We’ve played teams with various styles. Auburn likes to run up and down while Northwestern is real deliberate. Iowa State is uptempo. We’ve seen different types. We’ve seen a myriad of things. Hopefully, that has helped us but the big tests are to come,” Gillen said. “We’re 7-1 right now but we don’t know too much about our team. We will know more in a month when we get into our conference schedule.”

Free throws. Gillen said that he will attempt to find more minutes for sophomore forward Donte Minter, who is averaging just 3.8 minutes a contest after suffering a fractured kneecap in the preseason. “We are trying to get him in. He’s a good low-post scorer. He’s not 100 percent with the knee I don’t think but we want to get him in. He’s a good back-to-the basket scorer. He’s an important part of our team. Our goal is to expand the bench a little,” Gillen said. … The Cavaliers signed three players - Mamadi Diane, Laurynas Mikalauskas and Sam Warren - during the early period. Another commitment, shooting guard Brian Moten, at this point has yet to meet academic requirements and is unlikely to play at UVa. That gives Virginia another scholarship for either this year or next. Right now, the focus is on 6-foot-8 Uche Echefu of Montrose Christian in suburban Washington. Echefu, who was in attendance for Virginia’s victory over Arizona, is considered one of the top unsigned power forwards in this class.

Show Time Is Now For Hungry WR McMullen
December 21, 2004

One play away ... They always say that, don't they?

The kids who are asked to go from being bit players in a star-studded production to full-fledged performers always acknowledge that they understand the nature of the game suggests they are "one play away" from their destiny.

For Billy McMullen, a second-year receiver from Virginia, his time is now. Here. This moment. This season.

The entire fortunes of a team don't rest on his broad shoulders, indeed, but those fortunes would surely be looking brighter if McMullen went out on Monday night and had himself a ballgame in St. Louis, wouldn't they?

Billy McMullen is excited about his chance to contribute
The expectation is that McMullen, who has seen scare game action in his nearly two years here, will play a whole lot in the final two regular season games with Terrell Owens sidelined.

It is time. Show time.

"I know it. It's a good opportunity for me. It's exciting for me," said McMullen, fresh off a lifting session on Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex. "I feel for him. He's works so hard and has been so great. I want him to come back as quickly as he can.

"But if I get called upon to play, I have to perform. This is what they pay me for. T.O. was a good mentor for me, so I'm going to go out there and use what he taught me and add it to my game."

Owens taught McMullen how to use his big body to create advantages against defensive backs and how to get off the ball effectively and in a way that suggests domination.

As much as the physical-skills lessons were important, so were the sessions of mind games. Owens' mantra: Have a greater will to succeed and you will do so.

"His whole thing is to go out on every play, every one, with full effort and with the expectation of making big plays," said McMullen.

Now it's McMullen's turn. When the Eagles play at St. Louis on Monday Night Football Owens will be in his living room watching, presumably from the hyperbaric chamber in his living room -- look, the guy is going to do what it takes to get back this season.

McMullen will be on in prime time.

Prime time. Show time.

"I've had a lot of mental reps, so from that standpoint I'm ready," said McMullen, who looks the part as Owens, Jr. with bulging biceps and a rippled body. "I haven't played in games, but I think those mental reps I've taken in practice against our defensive backs, and from the time I've watched T.O. this season ... I think there's going to be an explosion."

We'll see. It's unfair to heap too many expectations on a kid with zero catches this season and just one, in 2003, in his NFL career. McMullen will work into a rotation that includes Todd Pinkston, Freddie Mitchell and Greg Lewis.

But the Eagles have two games to work with McMullen and then another two weeks before the playoffs. He earned a place on the active roster for a reason.

A fourth-round draft pick in '03, McMullen had strong preseasons in '03 and 2004 (he had 4 catches for 87 yards against the Jets in this year's preseason finale) and now he has a chance to accelerate his learning curve over the next two weeks.

"I've always prepared myself as if I were one play away. That's why I always go so hard on the practice field and that's why I'm always in the film room and in the weight room," said McMullen. "It's true. You're one play away. You have to be ready. I think I'm going to play a lot and I think I'm going to go out there and make big plays. We have a lot of guys here still who can make big plays. As great as T.O. is, he is just one piece of the puzzle.

"I figured he was hurt pretty badly. To see a guy like that limp like he did, I knew he was in a lot of pain. That play looked pretty bad. It's unfortunate, but now it's an opportunity for me. I need reps to go out and show what I can do. I'm going to get them now. It's smooth sailing for me.

"You know what it feels like? It's not nerves. It's excitement. It's like I'm about to get $1 million, man. It's a great opportunity. This is the NFL. This is my shot. I'm ready to get rolling right now."

Vick not ruled out but Schaub getting warmed up
By KEN SUGIURA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/23/04

FLOWERY BRANCH — The official word out of the Falcons complex Wednesday was that it is possible quarterback Michael Vick will play against New Orleans on Sunday.

But team actions speak louder than words. Vick, who injured his left (throwing) shoulder Saturday in a victory over Carolina, did not practice Wednesday and is not expected to practice today. Rookie backup Matt Schaub practiced with the first-team offense Wednesday and is expected to again today.

All told, it appears highly unlikely that Vick will play in a game that, in terms of the playoffs, is meaningless. The Falcons have clinched the NFC South title and are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff and a first-round bye.

"I told [Schaub] just to be himself," wide receiver Peerless Price said. "He knows he can play. He's been running this offense for a while. He can do it."

Vick called the pain in his injured shoulder "very similar" to what he felt two years ago, when he sat out the Falcons' fifth game of the season with a similar injury.

"I'm still taking the same type of precautions and getting treatment and just trying to make sure that if things do turn around, I'll be ready," Vick said.

"We'd like to get [Vick] out there throwing some on Friday and then we'll see where he is," coach Jim Mora said.

Should Vick miss his first start of the season, the Falcons will get an extensive look at Schaub, drafted in the third round from Virginia.

After leading the NFL in passing yards in four exhibition games, Schaub has played only 20 snaps this season, all but one of them in mop-up duty. Sunday would be his first career start.

His main duty thus far has been running the offensive scout team in practice. He has impressed offensive coordinator Greg Knapp with his mental acuity and grasp of the offense, a variation of which Schaub played for two seasons at Virginia.

Said Schaub, "Right now, my job is to be ready at any time if the coaches ask me to play and Mike's not able to go."

On the practice field and in meetings, Knapp often quizzes Schaub, Vick and veteran backup Ty Detmer on game plan details — the formation a play is to be run out of, the development of a play, cues to look for before the snap.

"He's been very sharp with it," Knapp said. "He comes prepared. We have oral exams the night before games and he's always got the right answers."

His command hasn't escaped the opposition's notice.

"I think he runs the offense extremely well," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "I don't know him personally, but he just looks on film like he has a great feel for the game."

Haslett added that before the draft, his team rated Schaub higher than some players who were selected in the first round.

Price said that Schaub's practice session Wednesday "went great. ... Accurate, sitting in there (in the pocket), making throws downfield, putting the ball in spots."

It was the most extensive work Schaub has had with the starting lineup since the preseason, when he won over the team with his performance and confidence. Schaub completed 62.8 percent of his passes, six for touchdowns. Teammates note that Schaub, 23, is unusually poised and mature for a rookie.

Wide receiver Jimmy Farris said Schaub is a quick wit who both gives and takes locker-room barbs. Even Schaub's Nov. 6 arrest on an assault and battery charges — for which he has a February court date — is fair game.

"Everybody was all over him, calling him 'Slugger' and all that stuff," Farris said.

Against a Saints team desperate to stay in the playoff hunt, Schaub may face far worse abuse Sunday. No one seems overly concerned.

"He's just handling it like he handles everything," said Farris, "which is positive, upbeat and just to look at it for what it is."

Exams over, U.Va. gets test
Cavaliers return from 15-day layoff tonight against visiting Lions
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 23, 2004

For the past two weeks, Pete Gillen's players have spent more time with books than with basketballs. But final exams are finally over at the University of Virginia, and the student body, with a few exceptions, has left Charlottesville.

U.Va. basketball players have one last obligation to fulfill before scattering for Christmas.

No. 25-ranked Virginia (7-1) entertains Loyola Marymount (7-2) tonight at sold-out University Hall. The game is the Cavaliers' first since Dec.8, when they beat Furman to conclude a five-games-in-11-days stretch that, according to Gillen, drained his team emotionally, physically and mentally.

His players are now rested, but Gillen has new worries.

"We had a real tough stretch, and now we've had a real long break," he said. "We're concerned about us getting the rust off."

Virginia's guest from the West Coast Conference concerns Gillen, too. Loyola Marymount scared No.12 Washington before losing Dec.12 and is off to its best start since 1995-96.

U.Va., in one of its better nonconference road wins under Gillen, beat the Lions 76-68 in Los Angeles last December.

"They were a good team last year," Gillen said. "They're a much better team coming in this year, in my opinion."

Loyola Marymount, which rallied to win Tuesday night at Colgate, is shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range. Senior guard Charles Brown is the Lions' top marksman. He's made 16 of 32 3-point attempts and averages 12.9 points.

The Lions are the latest in a series of quality out-of-league opponents for Virginia, which has faced Arizona, Richmond, Northwestern, Auburn and Iowa State. Some of those teams are stocked with superior athletes who love to run. Northwestern prefers to walk the ball up the court and exhaust most of the shot clock on each possession.

"We've seen a myriad of things," Gillen said. "We've seen a bunch of different styles, and hopefully it'll help us."

Western Kentucky and Providence are still to come for the Cavs, whose nonconference schedule is one for which they don't have to apologize. That hasn't always been the case during Gillen's seven seasons at U.Va. Playing a tougher schedule might have been the idea of his superiors, but Gillen sees the benefits.

"I think we know our weaknesses more," he said. "We know what we need to work on. I think we know ourselves a lot better now."

After tonight's game, Virginia's players are off until Tuesday. U.Va. opens ACC play Jan.2 against fifth-ranked Wake Forest at University Hall.

 

Randolph a dud at Duke
By CAULTON TUDOR, Staff Writer

Shavlik Randolph would have been better off at N.C. State. At this point in the Duke junior's frustrating college basketball career, no one could possibly argue with that assertion.

Then again, Randolph would have been better off at North Carolina. Or Wake Forest. Or Clemson, Miami or South Dakota State.

Given Randolph's seemingly endless run of bad fortune and fruitless performances in Durham, it's difficult not to picture him as being better off if he were somewhere else.

Show me someone who insists that he wouldn't change anything about his life, and I'll show you someone living in denial. We all have experiences, decisions, episodes that we regret.

Live and learn. That's as fundamental as dust to dust.

When word came down Wednesday that Randolph had been sidelined indefinitely with mononucleosis, the second-guessing about one of Raleigh's most celebrated basketball players ever resumed yet again.

For the nation's sixth-ranked team, he was averaging a modest 6.4 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Those numbers fall far short of the expectations for the former Broughton High star once envisioned as the next Christian Laettner.

When Randolph, the grandson of former N.C. State star Ronnie Shavlik, picked Duke over the Wolfpack, no one groaned longer or louder than those in red. The youngster was painted as a turn-coat who sold his soul to the entrenched Blue Devils rather than to pursue his birthright as an NCSU legacy who might rekindle the success of his bloodline.

In reality, Randolph made the logical move. He signed with the nation's best program and best coach.

Put yourself in the same situation. What would you have done? At the time, State was struggling, and Pack coach Herb Sendek wasn't popular with fans.

North Carolina's program was on the verge of upheaval.

Florida, with head coach Billy Donovan, was a recruiting factor, but no one seriously believed that Randolph would play anywhere except in the ACC.

His choice of Duke was exactly like a top football recruit picking Florida State.

After Duke's win over Oklahoma on Saturday in New York, N&O reporter Luciana Chavez asked Randolph whether he wished he had gone to another school.

"No, absolutely not. ... Like I've always said, I came to college injured and not really knowing what was going on. I'm blessed that Duke had some of the best doctors in the country," Randolph said. "If not for that, I wouldn't even be playing. ... Do you think I don't have fun beating people's butts every night by a lot of points?"

Nevertheless, the Shav we've seen in college isn't the player we saw at Broughton. That player was a graceful wingman with a deadly jump shot, as well as a devastating weak-side rebounder at both ends of the court.

It will forever be argued that Mike Krzyzewski turned a potential Larry Bird into a poor man's Larry Lakins. It'll be said that Krzyzewski brought in Randolph for no better reason than to torture Sendek on one front and Carolina on the other.

The same was said of Dean Smith when he signed Southern Durham High's Curtis Hunter -- often called "the next Michael Jordan" in those days -- to fight for playing time at North Carolina when Duke and State were clamoring for Hunter to carry their programs to a higher level.

It turned out that Hunter was no more the next Jordan than Randolph is the next Laettner. Exceptional talent, in the long run, usually surfaces. Duke hasn't been great for Randolph, but Randolph hasn't been great for Duke.

It's fair, in that regard, to say that both sides made a mistake.