On his way

Telep on Jordan: “He’s just a guy who finds the winner’s circle. He’s not an attention hound and he has a great feel for the game. I love the fact that he can shoot from mid-range and play multiple wing positions. He’s a guy, ultimately, who will end his career underrated because he was always a really good player on really good teams but wasn’t a guy who needed the spotlight.”

Up to Exit 30

Jordan: “He said I can come in and make a great impact my freshman year. Definitely.”

Confident, and nervous

Langston:

Seven years ago, I met Stephen Curry for the first time. He was 14 and skinny, about 5-foot-8. He told me that one day he was going to play in the NBA.

I wasn’t sure, at the time, he’d be a good high school player.

Last week, I visited him at Time Warner Cable Arena where Curry, about to make good on his NBA dream, was working out with a diabolical trainer, who made him run sprint after sprint, dribble backward and forward, then run three quarters of the court and make 10 NBA-range 3-point shots in a row. Of course, if you miss, you start over.

“This is what it takes,” said Curry, a lottery pick by the Golden State Warriors this summer. “You’ve got to go to training camp at the top of your game and not use it to get in shape.”

Curry, now 6-3 and towering over me, is starting to look like a guy who’s spending extra time in the weight room. He talks confidently about averaging 20 points per game as a rookie. Curry, who recently signed a Nike shoe and apparel deal, speaks confidently of a goal to be NBA Rookie of the Year. But he’s also nervous about leaving home.

Heck of a question

Langston on Twitter: Charlotte prep star commits to Davidson. Is Jordan Downing the next Steph Curry?

The Observer confirms

Langston:

Hopewell High basketball player Jordan Downing, a 6-5 senior, has committed to Davidson, Titans coach Eric Davis said.

Downing chose the Wildcats over Air Force, Appalachian State, Northwestern, St. Bonaventure, Winthrop and Wright State. Downing was one of four Hopewell starters to average 13 points per game last season when the Titans finished 29-1 and reached the N.C. 4A state semifinals.

“He didn’t take any visits anywhere,” Davis said. “He decided Davidson was where he wanted to go. He’d been up there on some unofficial visits and he told me (Saturday) that basically for the past year, that’s where he wanted to go to school.”