Class Acts

The college basketball landscape swirls with change. Players come and go at a dizzying rate. Some never arrive. Even coaches, considered an oasis of stability in college basketball, are adding to the background of flux: Of 306 Division I men’s programs, 63 (20.6%) have new head coaches this fall.

In the not-so-distant past, fans would be anticipating the exploits of such players as Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Kevin Garnett, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Danny Fortson, Antoine Walker, Tim Thomas, Ron Mercer, Adonal Foyle, Chauncey Billups and Kobe Bryant. But all left for the NBA.

But fret not. The cupboard is far from bare. In fact, if recent times have proven anything, it is that the sport is remarkably adept at replenishing itself and its players incredibly proficient at seizing opportunities provided by the annual lemming-like exodus to the pros. Following are the players who, by virtue of returning, have moved to the head of their class.

THE SENIOR:

Raef LaFrentz (Kansas)

This year’s version of Tim Duncan and Keith Van Horn--the most recent poster boys for staying in school--LaFrentz never seriously contemplated leaving the lair in Lawrence for the NBA wilds. “It was more of a mentality where they had to talk me into leaving,” LaFrentz said. “Why change a good thing?”

Why, indeed. LaFrentz is the consensus preseason player of the year, owns what might be the college game’s most unstoppable shot (that sweet, lefthanded, 10-foot baseline fadeaway), plays for an outstanding coach (Roy Williams) and returns to a team that once again will contend for a national championship.

Aye, there’s the rub. Three times LaFrentz and company have entered the NCAA Tournament with high hopes and three times exited in frustrating fashion. LaFrentz, whose postseason averages are lower than his regular-season averages in virtually every significant statistic, says redemption and exoneration were not factors that motivated his return. On the other hand, he has not forgotten those experiences, either.

“It’s something that sticks in the back of my mind but I don’t dwell on it,” LaFrentz said. “We got upset and that’s the bottom line. You remember it and hopefully the next time we’re in that position it comes out a little differently.”

With the departure of four-year point guard Jacque Vaughn, Kansas will need the leadership LaFrentz showed in an eight-game stretch last season when center Scot Pollard was sidelined with a foot injury.

“One game Jacque told me, ‘Coach, it was easy down the stretch, Raef said give me the ball.’ And that was good for me to know,” Williams said. “He didn’t tell me in the huddle because it was more important to tell Jacque: Just give me the basketball. I hope he still has that same kind of competitiveness and confidence this year.”

A four-year starter, LaFrentz each season has increased his scoring average (11.4, 13.4, 18.5 per game), rebounding average (7.5, 8.2, 9.3 per game) and shooting percentage (.534, .543, .584), as well as his steals, blocks and free-throw percentage. Now, he casts a long metaphorical shadow over the rest of the Big 12.

“The key to Kansas is this son-of-a-(gun) here who makes every shot,” Texas A&M; Coach Tony Barone said. “Number one, he is an intimidating force on defense and he runs the court physically every time. He’s the kind of guy that erases mistakes . . . If they don’t get something going, they can always go to him and he’s a beast. I love him.”

Said Nebraska Coach Danny Nee: “He does everything. Each year it’s been like going up a ladder. I saw development, self-confidence, baby fat coming off, muscle coming on. Now he takes over the game. He’s a pro.”

Well, not yet, anyway.

THE JUNIOR:

Antawn Jamison (North Carolina)

No one goes to the glass quite like Jamison. Not only does he pound the boards so relentlessly many consider him the finest offensive rebounder in the nation, but his style is equally impressive. No one jumps faster--over and over--than Jamison.

His remarkable quickness off the floor, not to mention his elevation, might be an adaptation to the hoop his father put in the backyard when Jamison was 12. Jamison, who did not play anywhere else at the time, worked on the rim for several years before realizing it was too high. When he was 17, they finally discovered it was at a height of 12 feet.

His captivating bouncing might also be a product of his diligence--no one at Carolina works harder than Jamison. Besides doing wonders for Jamison’s game, that type of leadership by example has been a godsend for Bill Guthridge as the long-time assistant prepares to usher in Chapel Hill’s first season without Dean Smith in 36 years.

“Antawn just works so hard,” Guthridge said. “He runs sprints from drill to drill, he doesn’t walk, and that type of leadership is contagious for younger players and that’s great for any coach. Young players see that and say, ‘Hey, that’s Antawn Jamison, maybe I’d better do that.”’

That effort has made Jamison the first North Carolina player to be named first-team all-ACC in his first two seasons. If he returns for his senior year--he says he will, despite being on track to graduate this summer--Jamison could become the first four-time first-team all-ACC selection.

“I guess it would be something that I would have really accomplished, but I’m the type of guy where it goes in one ear and out another,” Jamison said. “I have four other guys that help me accomplish what I accomplish. But if it happened it would be a privilege.”

Jamison averaged 19.1 points and 9.4 rebounds last season, both of which were second in the league to Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. He prefers not to talk about individual accomplishments. He has been frustrated with the way each of his first two seasons ended, even last spring’s march to the Final Four. Since the day he signed his Tar Heel letter of intent, Jamison has been eyeing a national championship.

“Once you’re one game away 1/8from the title game) it really hurts,” Jamison said. “We have a whole lot of high expectations on our team this year.”

Jamison, whose ferocious game belies an essential patience with life, had no designs on quick stardom as a high school senior. He expected to sit behind, and learn from, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace but the duo left for the NBA. Jamison suddenly was thrust into a position of prominence and has thrived.

This summer Jamison strove mightily to improve in several areas, most notably his strength, his ballhandling and his suspect outside shot (Jamison says the 12-foot rim was a detriment here). Guthridge said Jamison succeeded on all three counts. Whether that leads to Jamison distinguishing himself even more on the court, Guthridge said his star will not change off it.

“He’s always been a great person,” Guthridge said. “He comes from a wonderful family. When he’s home, he has to make his bed and wash the dishes and carry out the garbage. We’re not dealing with a prima donna here.”

Just someone who has learned to stretch himself.

THE SOPHOMORE:

Mike Bibby (Arizona)

Perhaps former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said it best, the night last spring his Wildcats were dethroned as national champions by Arizona’s Wildcats. Asked about Bibby, Pitino remarked that some people are simply not freshmen. “And he’s one,” Pitino said.

Bibby’s performance last season was marvelous by any measure. That he was a freshman made it historic, too. In guiding Arizona to its first national championship, he became the only freshman point guard to lead his team to an NCAA men’s title since freshman eligibility was restored in 1972.

Bibby began his collegiate career with 22 points against North Carolina and ended the season with 19 points and 9 rebounds against Kentucky. In between, his preternatural poise helped him cope with the hype he received as Arizona’s best-ever recruit, the complexities of the transition to the college game and the soap opera trappings of two contests with the Southern California team coached by his estranged father, Henry. Nothing, not even the stunning title run, fazed Mike Bibby.

“It was what I expected,” Bibby said. “I didn’t expect anything less.”

Said Arizona Coach Lute Olson: “Nothing surprised me in terms of his ability on the court. What was even more of a pleasant surprise was how he dealt with the pressure because when he had to hit big shots he really stepped up. His poise under pressure was beyond what anyone should expect from a freshman.

“He’s special, no question about that.”

After averaging 13.5 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds during the regular season, Bibby responded to tournament pressure by averaging 18.0 points, 3.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds. This season, Olson said Bibby “has to understand the true test of his performance has to do with how the team does and not how he does individually. He has to make everyone is better for the team to be successful . . . He can’t let personal duels get in the way of what his job is.”

To that end, Bibby worked hard over the summer on his already-improving defense, got stronger and made about 500 jumpers per day. Asked how many shots he took to make those 500, Bibby coyly responded, “I didn’t count the other ones.”

Bibby and equally-relentless running mate Miles Simon form the best backcourt in the nation and the best advertisement for the current adage of college basketball: Speed kills. Opponents, that is. Arizona continued a trend that began with UCLA in 1995 and Kentucky a year later. Force the tempo on both offense and defense and watch the turnovers (for them) and the baskets (for you) increase. When asked about the impact of speed, Bibby said, “I have no idea. I’m not an analyst or anything. I don’t really look at that. I just go play.”

Said Olson: “Mike really has an outstanding sense of humor. He loves life, he enjoys having people around him, he’s very loose. I don’t think any of that has changed. He’s obviously grown up more from a year ago but at heart he is still very much of a kid.”

Sort of.

THE FRESHMAN:

Four Dookies

No cute nicknames here. No Fab Four or The Four Freshmen or Little A and the Killer Bs monikers . . . yet. None ever, if Coach K has his way.

But the celebrated recruiting class of Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski has been unable to escape the dreaded comparisons. Lofty comparisons. Best recruiting class in the nation. Best recruiting class in Duke history. Best recruiting class since Michigan’s Fab Five (sorry).

The best news for Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils might not be that these guys are the best anything. Rather, it might be the quartet’s understated response to the growing hype.

“We really have not thought about that label,” 6-8 forward Shane Battier said. “We know we’re really fortunate to come into a really great team . . . That’s a lot different from the Fab Five when they came in. They totally revamped the team. We’re coming in to supplement an already great team.”

Said Krzyzewski: “For us, we don’t look at it as four kids, we look at it as they’re part of our team and that’s what they want to be. They didn’t go to Duke to be part of a class, they came to be part of our program. We feel we can handle that, and we feel they can handle that. That’s why they’re exceptional kids.”

No one more so than Battier. As smooth and polished off the court as he is on it, Battier has an advanced knowledge of the game that has begun to draw, ahem, comparisons to Duke alum Grant Hill. Battier is a veteran of such seductions. As a high school freshman at Detroit Country Day in Michigan, Battier was hailed as the next coming of one of that school’s alums--Fab Fiver Chris Webber.

“I heard every comparison in the book so I learned to deal with that kind of hype at an early age,” said Battier, who noted that he and his peers have shucked aside expectations from those outside the Blue Devil program. “The only expectations that our team worries about are the expectations of our team and coaching staff. We all have very lofty goals here. We have a chance to be very special here if we put in the time and listen to the coaches.”

Battier, 6-10 center Chris Burgess and burly 6-8 forward Elton Brand are expected to shore up Duke’s woeful interior game, while 6-2 guard William Avery backs up playmaker Steve Wojciechowski. Together, the quartet averaged more than 87 points and 40 rebounds as high school seniors.

Already, they have made Duke’s usually-spirited practices even more intense as a deep squad battles for playing time. They also have impressed upperclassmen with their demeanor and work ethic. Good thing, because some of the Blue Devils grew weary last year of talk about the incoming wunderkinds.

“We were having a good year and somebody would say, ‘Wow, you’re going to be really good next year,’ ” junior guard Trajan Langdon said. “What about this year? It was a little puzzling and frustrating.”

Now that the future has arrived in Durham? “They’re well-deserving of the attention,” Langdon said. “They’re very talented but also very mature on and off the court.”

Whether they match the exploits of Duke’s previous best recruiting class--the 1982 group that included Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas and David Henderson--remains to be seen. As seniors, that quartet won 37 games and reached the NCAA championship game, the first of Krzyzewski’s seven trips to the Final Four.

Said Krzyzewski: “This is another really good group of kids that hopefully will create their own identity.”