The Kid Reporter comes through

The Stephen and Davidson Google Alerts have been particularly active the last week or so, with all the predictable March talk of the next Stephen, the next Davidson, blah blah blah, and I’ve resisted the urge to post every or pretty much any lazy reference out there. So here comes this one, from Julia Desmond, Kid Reporter, very much worth the read.

“Curry’s skills were not just technical skills,” said Wildcats Coach Bob McKillop. “His skills were emotional skills that usually are reserved for people with significantly greater experience. He was able to play in a game, make a mistake, then go on to the next play. And that’s very rare in a game of basketball for young players, for high school players, and many college players.”

McKillop also had a rare accomplishment: a 100 percent graduation rate among his team. In 17 seasons under McKillop, every student-athlete graduated with a prestigious Davidson College degree. To him it is a simple assumption.

“Isn’t that point?” he said. “The players that come to Davidson College come to Davidson College to be educated.”

Curry originally did come to get his four years of education. He also made a name for himself in the world of college basketball. The NBA started noticing him, but was he ready to leave college?

“I loved college life and didn’t want to leave,” Curry told the Scholastic Kids Press Corps. “That’s why the decision took me so long.”

Curry is now a Golden State Warrior in the NBA. Has he had any regrets about his decision? “No,” Curry says, and that’s that.

But what about McKillop?

“I was torn by my personal desire to see Stephen graduate with the rest of his teammates and classmates and yet I knew that the opportunity with the NBA in that particular year would provide a once in a lifetime opportunity.” McKillop says. “So, I wanted what was best for Stephen.”

McKillop last spring: “There’s a personal sadness for me. We’re about finishing. We’re about completing.”

On Stephen’s decision last spring

Matt: “I really thought he would stay. The fact that he left and he was drafted seventh ... the decision he made is going to be good for him.”

Thinking out loud

On a thread over on Cats.com:

Man, I wish he played for an East Coast team.

Me too. One that plays at the Belk Arener.

What he said.

So I said: I don’t know. For the most part I think Stephen at this point is where he wants to be and where he should be.

Which led to ...

Wants? Yes. Should? Not in my book.

How does one conclude with certainty he SHOULD be playing for a woeful team with a selfish point guard, without a prayer of making the playoffs, instead of adding to his incredible legacy and experiencing a senior year that he will never have a chance to re-live.

He should be a senior at Davidson.

Certainly I wouldn’t have minded, either, had Stephen stayed for his senior season and graduated with his class. But this conversation at this point always makes me uncomfortable. Part of me thinks it’s selfish almost by definition. We wanted him to stay because we wanted to watch him play. Not only play. Play for us.

Stephen was, and is, a Davidson person, and we understand that. But Stephen is, and was, a basketball person, too, and not all of us understand that. Last spring he took a long time to make a hard decision. I think the process took so long because it was in essence those two different Stephens having with each other a difficult conversation that had no easy answer. For basketball Stephen to make a wise business decision it had to come at the expense of Davidson Stephen. I watched that unfold more empathetic than anxious. In the end, though, he did make the right business decision.

What does he think now? Who knows? I haven’t talked to him in months. I wouldn’t ask him about it even if I did. I would imagine he’s some kind of version of what a lot of the rest of us are if we’re lucky: Sometimes he’s real happy with where he is, sometimes he’s alone and gets to thinking, and sometimes he just gets up and goes to work.

The other thing is that still talking about this also makes it seem like we aren’t paying attention to the interesting exercise this season has been and will continue to be. One of the things we learned right away about Stephen when he was at Davidson was that he had an unusual ability to “forget” previous missed shots so that the next shot might be made. That maybe is a gift greater than some of his considerable physical skills, more elusive, and something that obviously is easier said than done: Be here now.

Making the argument

Steven Resnick at Bleacher Report:

The more I think about Stephen Curry, the more I believe he should have stayed in college for another year at Davidson.

No. Wrong. First, he wouldn’t have been drafted as high as seventh because of what he would’ve been asked to do at Davidson this year, and because of the quality and depth of the coming draft class, too. Second, the rest of the guys on the team this year, the older guys but especially the younger guys, wouldn’t have developed the way they’re having to develop right now. Third, what we would’ve seen this year not only wouldn’t have been Davidson basketball -- it wouldn’t have been basketball, period, not really. It would’ve been a show, packaged and sold as such by the American sports entertainment industrial complex, a show that would’ve been titillating for many but ultimately burdensome and unfulfilling for the participants and also the closer, more thoughtful spectators.

Stephen’s answers ‘come with sighs’

In Denver:

He’s struggled with defense. His consistency ebbs and flows on offense. Golden State has had a dysfunctional start with finger-pointing between players, feuding between ex-forward Stephen Jackson and coach Don Nelson before the player was traded; and a budding star in guard Monta Ellis who before the season even began said he could not co-exist with Curry in the same backcourt.

And through all of that, the baby-faced kid from Davidson is supposed to learn and grow and become a true professional.

“I’m not happy with how things are going so far, right now anyway, the consistency of my game,” Curry said.

On Twitter: Watching all this college basketball today made me miss them days...wanna see my wildcats get a win tmw down in charleston. In Oakland: Rockets.

The real world

Ann Killion at SI.com:

Stephen Curry is about as fresh-faced as a NBA rookie can be.

The 21-year old is soft-spoken and thoughtful. His lone tattoo, discreetly inked on the inside of his left wrist, is the motto of Davidson, the small college he guided to the Elite Eight in 2008. “T.C.C.”: Trust, Commitment, Care.

Curry might want to look into laser tattoo removal because he’s a Warrior now. And “Trust, Commitment, Care” is most certainly not in the Warriors’ vocabulary.

Kawakami at the Merc. Chron update.

Says DeCourcy

He did his time.

‘Announced into the air’

Claire:

For loving it. For giving me immeasurable joy and moments that have transformed my life. For bringing us together in a way that can never be broken no matter how many years pass. For being normal through it all, my classmate. For jumping up and down, for cackling with laughter, for singing with us. For pointing up. For letting us claim you, and for claiming us. For impacting my life so deeply that I burst into tears when I got that fucking text message --

He is leaving.

On Stephen’s decision

On CharlotteMagazine.com:

He could have stayed. He could have spent his senior year with his classmates and teammates and friends. He could have graduated next May with his degree in sociology. He could have come close to breaking Pete Maravich’s career scoring record. He could have -- would have -- finished his four seasons at Davidson as one of the very best players in the history of college basketball.

Stephen Curry chose to go.

That is not a comment one way or another on his decision to skip his senior season at Davidson and go straight to the NBA. It is only to suggest why it was a decision that clearly was so hard for him to make.

‘Making a mistake’

A letter to the editor from Gena Halpin of Huntersville in this morning’s Observer:

As a parent of a Davidson College grad, I was appalled and angered by Stephen Curry’s decision to leave in search of riches with the NBA.

Where were his parents in this decision?

Is the lure of riches and “a dream” so great that he could not take a year to finish his education? A Davidson education is a privilege; a Davidson diploma is the key to unlock many doors.

Finish your education, Stephen, then go out in the real world and play.

Which prompted the following in the comments section:

Why is Stephen Curry getting grief for jumping to the NBA a year early?!? If he signs a contract with an NBA team, he will, in all probability, get a multi-million dollar signing bonus and multi-million dollar contract … set for life … if he is smart about it. He can always go back to Davidson or anywhere else to get his diploma during the off-season or after his NBA career is over. Yes, he could come back for his senior year, have a career ending injury, and be like the rest of us working schmucks!!!!!

Way to go Stephen!!!!

(My take? The excessive use of exclamation points always makes me wary.)

Sonya Curry

Tonight on the phone: “The night before, I said, ‘I think he’s staying,’ and Dell said, ‘I think he’s going.’”

Hard to argue

Andy Katz:

Curry was the face of Davidson for three years, had a magical Elite Eight run as a sophomore, led the country in scoring as a junior and was in a win-win situation with his decision. He's a lottery pick now and would be if he decided to return for his senior season.

On the radio

Stephen to Dan Patrick: “The highest I heard was No. 6. The lowest was 20.”

Around the SoCon

Uch in Chattanooga:

Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino flipped his satellite radio from music to ESPN in time to hear Stephen Curry announce his decision.

The last song Iamarino heard was “The end of the world as we know it,” by R.E.M.

“I really don’t know if that’s some sort of omen,” he said on his way to the SoCon tennis championships.

The conference will continue without its icon.

Curry, a junior All-America guard for Davidson, announced Thursday that he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NBA draft. Early projections have him being selected in the first round, possibly as a lottery pick.

“My goal since I can remember has always been to play in the NBA, and that is now a viable opportunity for me,” Curry said. “After weighing my options, I came to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to take hold of that opportunity now.”

Curry has been the most visible, valuable and important player in the conference the last two years and possibly since Jerry West last played in 1960. He became one of the most popular players in the nation while leading the Wildcats to the 2008 Elite Eight and within one bucket of upsetting eventual national champion Kansas.

Archambault

Will on Stephen’s decision: “Remember three years ago, when they lost 7 seniors? Everybody thought the team wasn’t gonna be good. But we came out and we surprised people. So look forward to a surprise next year.”

Ending as beginning

William in my inbox:

I wonder if I may be one of many who are now ready to move on more or less happily to a new season which will be interesting if only because we know very little of what to expect of it. That seems exciting in its own way.

Their faces

Ready

Scott:

Curry said Thursday at his news conference he was told he would be picked anywhere from No.7 to No. 20 in June’s NBA draft. Those guaranteed millions would make this a no-brainer for many.

But he wavered for weeks about this decision because he was so wedded to the Davidson college experience, his teammates and the idea that he should get his college degree before leaving.

Finally, the NBA won out. Davidson fans were left to bemoan their fate, having just lost the best Wildcats player any of them will see for the rest of their lifetimes one year early. I believe Davidson’s basketball program and its fans will struggle more in the 2009-10 season than Curry will.

Hard

Will Bryan:

A senior year at Davidson full of double teams and overbearing responsibility and frustrated mini huddles on the court isn’t what he wants.

What they’re saying

Gary Parrish:

I believe Stephen Curry will be a very good (and possibly great) NBA player, a lottery pick who won’t bust because, don’t let that baby face fool you, he's got decent size for a ball-handler, great vision and a high basketball IQ. Also, he can shoot. Perhaps you’ve heard. So while people will spend the next month debating whether the Davidson star will be effective at the next level, let the record show that I’m a believer in Curry, and if I could extort money from Rick Pitino, I’d take every penny and bet it on Curry being a solid pro for 10 to 12 years.

That’s what I believe.

Better yet, that’s what I know.

But I’m less sure Davidson can keep its spot in the national conversation.

Chris Littman:

With the announcement that Curry will forgo his senior season, hire an agent and depart for the NBA, one of the more compelling characters in the last decade of college basketball makes his exit.

Andy Katz:

The Wildcats can finish setting their nonconference schedule. Davidson was penciled in to play at Kansas had Curry returned. McKillop said the Wildcats were slated to go to the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden in December, too. But both were contingent on Curry’s return. Now they're gone.

Chris Chase:

Either way, Curry was a breath of fresh air in a college basketball world that is increasingly dominated by blue chip recruits and big-time programs. Curry’s jumpshot was as pure as Jimmy Chitwood’s. It is a thing of beauty. Here’s hoping his NBA career is the same.