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Posted Dec. 12, 2008

De Luca has Brandeis back on track

Two years ago, Brandeis forward Steve De Luca carried the Judges to their greatest success in an eternity, an overtime win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Trinity (Conn.).

Brandeis athletics photo Steve De Luca has shot 36-for-59 (61 percent) over his past five games, all Brandeis victories.

A lot has happened since then, both for the Judges and De Luca. And this season, he's back for one more crack at championship-level success.

De Luca was the star of Brandeis' 2007 NCAA team, draining three improbable shots late in that game, the last a fall away bank over a defender from a couple feet behind the three-point line, to clinch the game and produce a grin that stretched a mile wide. He was totally in the zone.

"That," De Luca said, "was a great feeling."

But the good fortune didn't last. That August, De Luca tore a ligament in his foot. He sat for two months letting that heal, than found he had a herniated disc in his back, and issues with a pinched nearve that ran down his leg. Three shots helped but De Luca was a shell of the player he was when he tried to give it a go. By February it was clear he'd have to sit out the season, thought to be his final year as a collegiate. DeLuca ended up having a microdiskectomy, in which a portion of the disc was removed, a step below major back surgery.

Meanwhile, without De Luca, but with a roster loaded with seniors, the Judges were one of New England's dominant teams, ranked among the best in the country for much of the season, one that ended in the Elite 8 against eventual national runner-up Amherst. The transformation was complete from a program which De Luca noted "had to beg people to come to games," when he was a freshman, to one on the verge of powerhouse status. But it was one without its leader.

"Some of the games it was tough to watch even the warmups," De Luca said. "I tried to be positive and be there for the team. I think I got through it well."

Maybe that's because he realized he wasn't quite yet at the end of his career. With the ability to get a medical hardship season due to his injury, De Luca came up with the idea of going to grad school, which would allow him to play another season. Brandeis coach Brian Meehan was initially resistant, because he didn't want DeLuca and his family to have to pay another year of tuition merely for basketball purposes. Once DeLuca, peeved but understanding that reaction, came back with a plan to get his masters in business project management, Meehan relented.

Six weeks of inactivity followed the surgery and than a rehab that got him back to healthy by this August. What was left was shaking off nearly a year's worth of rust.

That took time. Brandeis started 0-3 against pretty tough competition (2008 NCAA Tournament teams Lasell, WPI, and Mass-Dartmouth). As Meehan put it, his team was a little out of sync, just like its leader.

"Though he was playing well by most standards, he wasn't playing to the level he last played at," Meehan said.

In the fourth game of the season against Tufts, De Luca got back to doing what he did best, and with that, so did the team. An 80-56 rout was the first of five straight wins (the most notable coming against Rhode Island College) heading into this weekend. De Luca's caliber of play was more befitting of his preseason first-team All-American status. Both De Luca and Washington point guard Sean Wallis were first-team picks despite missing almost all of last season, something De Luca acknowledged made them both laugh. He's been all business on the floor lately though.

"We're starting to turn things around," said De Luca. "I'm trying to just lead with my experience. I've certainly been here long enough."

"When you read about a guy coming back from major injury, they're usually trying to do something that they're tentative about doing," Meehan said. "But then they realize that it's better now. Now he's doing that. He's starting to make it look real easy. It was more of an attitude than anything else. He was aggressive and looking to take shots. He'd just catch it and shoot it. That's when he realized he was healthy."

When De Luca is going right, he's, as Rochester coach Mike Neer notes, "one of the toughest matchups in the UAA." He's big for a small forward at 6-foot-6 (he‘s played both forward spots during his collegiate career) has excellent range on his jump shot, and can go in and rebound as needed.

Through eight games, De Luca is averaging 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds, shooting 51 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range. Pair him with forwards Christian Yemga, Terrell Hollins, (the team's second leading scorer and a Team of the Week selection), and guards Kevin Olson and Andre Roberson, and that's a Top-25 caliber combination.

"He has that tough fallaway jumper in the post that you can't defend because he gets up so high," Meehan said. "Younger guys feed off his presence, calm and cool on the floor. They know late in the shot clock to get him the ball and he can make something happen. Hopefully he keeps getting better and just drags us right along with him."

ATLANTIC SHOWDOWN: When Kean and Mary Washington meet Saturday in Fredericksburg, Va., (live video) more than bragging rights will be on the line. Kean, the nation's top-ranked team is doing what many other highly regarded programs in different divisions will not, travel to find good competition.

Though the rankings say Mary Washington is the underdog, the Eagles, ranked No. 15 in the D3hoops.com poll, do not have to worry about traveling after a long week of final exams.

"We can't let the fact that they're ranked No.1 affect us mentally," UMW coach Deanna Applebury said. "We have to understand it's our home court. We have to come in and play our style. The best team's going to win. They're a veteran team. We're a pretty young team, but nonetheless, it's going to be a great game.

"It's a great team to play," Applebury added. "Our kids are mentally zapped, so we haven't been able to go through as much as we'd like to, but it is nice it's going to be on our home court."

"You just have to be able to deal with situations," said Kean coach Michele Sharp, whose team will be traveling after exams. "I always tell the kids athletics teach you life lessons. What happens when you have a big project due in the workplace and a boss from down the hallway hands you another project? How are you going to handle it?"

With both teams coming in undefeated at 7-0, a loss will spoil the chance of a perfect season for one team. However, at this point in the season, results of the game and learning from experiences are of equal importance.

Though the winning team could draw the upper hand in postseason selection, both teams are focused solely on the moment the basketball is tossed in the air and the game gets underway.

"I would rather play good teams," Sharp said. "That's why we're coming down to play Mary Washington because I know they're a very good team. With [Wednesday] night in particular, it was ugly but we won. You don't want to go through the schedule and have every game be easy or 25-point wins. You want your kids to learn how to handle different types of situations and work under different kinds of conditions.

"Everybody gets up to play you," Sharp added. "It's an opportunity not only for our team, but our university. You've got to come prepared every week and develop a mental toughness. The kids are learning everybody that plays us gets up for the game."

Kean defeated sixth-ranked Messiah 59-50 at home Wednesday evening. As a team, Kean had 15 turnovers against ten assists and committed 16 personal fouls.

The Cougars hit 32.9 percent of their shots against Messiah (23 of 70) and were just 5-of-17 from three-point range.

Conversely, UMW is coming off an 88-35 win over Hood College last Friday, a game in which the team hit nearly 52 percent of its shots and 48 percent of its three-pointers.

In the game against Hood, four different Eagles scored in double figures.

While both teams are winning early in the year, the two programs are going about it in different ways.

Kean has a veteran group back from a team that went 28-4 last year and made it to the Elite Eight in consecutive seasons. Senior guard Melissa Beyruti runs the show for the Cougars, while Cardiss Jackman became a recent addition to the starting line-up.

Beyruti averages 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. She has handed out 15 assists and registered 24 steals. Jackman is connecting on 41.4 percent of her three-pointers, while averaging 20 points and five rebounds in six games this season.

"By bringing her off the bench, we felt that we became even more effective," Sharp said of Jackman. "Our offense became a little more dynamic than what we had before.

"Melissa's got incredible range," Sharp added. "The thing about Melissa this year is she has other facets to her game besides that. She's committed to defense this year a lot more than the past three years. Now, she goes to the basket and finishes. When people start playing her to shoot the jumper, she's got other things she's doing now, which is a positive for us."

In addition to the coaching staff, Cougar players have noticed a difference on the floor.

"I try not to force as many shots because last year I used to shoot more threes," Beyruti said. "Now, I'm more versatile and contribute more than three-pointers."

"After playing here for three years, I understand my role more, what I need to do for our team to be successful and for us to win games," Jackman said. "When I step on the floor, I know my job on the team."

UMW has relied heavily on freshmen Kate Wimmer (8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds per game) and Jenna McRae for the bulk of the offense.

McRae's 12.6 points per game leads the team. She is the only UMW player to average double digit scoring over the first seven games of the year.

"We've got a couple kids with a lot of talent," Applebury said. "They're close to home and they were able to catch some of our games and get a sense of the style that we play. They fit the system. Our seniors have taken these freshmen under their wings, truly guided them and helped them feel confident.

"We have three seniors this year and they've all been key players," added Applebury. "They understand what it takes to compete on the conference level and on the national level. They see the talent in these freshmen and they want to go out on top. They're really helping teach and guide these freshmen, just like I am."

"We've been working hard and taking in all the information that Coach has been giving us," McRae said of her relationship with Wimmer. "Katie and [I] played together before this year on an AAU team. Everybody just meshes well as a team."

The one thing seniors cannot teach freshmen is game experience. When it comes time to play, the best experience is often trial by fire. Kean will do its best to make sure the UMW rookies get a proper baptism to Division III basketball.

"It'll [give] our younger girls more experience in that type of environment and learning how to support the team, help the girls on the floor be in tune with the game," Jackman said. "[They'll] learn better teamwork so that when playoff time comes, we'll already be in tune with each other and know each other's tendencies."

WHEN TWO HALVES AREN'T ENOUGH: Most teams prepare for 40 minutes of basketball with the understanding that an extra five minutes may be needed to determine the outcome of a game. Of course games could go longer and I have seen several triple-overtime games in recent years. But when Stevenson and York (Pa.) got together last Saturday, they ended up playing 60 minutes of basketball; three halves of a game. Stevenson came from 20 points down in the first half to win 102-94, but the game could have ended a bit sooner.

Early on, you wouldn't have expected Stevenson be in position to win. The team was 1-5 entering the game, their only win coming against Goucher the week before. York was playing better basketball for most of the game; shooting 50% in the first half to Stevenson's 29%. And on Hoopsville Sunday night, Stevenson coach Brett Adams admitted, "they were just beating us." But he said a couple of things seemed to get the team back on track.
 
With 12 minutes left in the first half, Stevenson center Kerry Dugan was called for a technical foul when his emotions got the best of him. Adams told me he decided to sit Dugan to let him cool off, but that also meant Adams was forced to "go small." Then something he learned from playing and coaching alongside York coach Jeff Gamber became a factor: Go with what is working. By being forced to get small, Stevenson started to play better basketball and Adams rode the success. The Mustangs chipped away at the York lead and late in the second half took their first lead of the game and eventually forced overtime.
 
Now the momentum was on Stevenson's side. The Mustangs shot nearly 20 percentage points better in the second half while York was now the team shooting 28% from the floor. But neither team was able to shake the other in the first or second overtimes.
 
Then in the third OT, Stevenson looked like they had York beat. With 0:00.6 remaining on the clock, Stevenson took a two point lead thanks to a layup by Chaise Lancaster. Apparently the excitement of winning their second game of the season on the road at York, which is also Adams' alma mater, was too much for some of Stevenson's players -- one of whom ran onto the court to celebrate. Technical foul; two shots for York; tie ballgame; fourth overtime.
 
It is a moment Adams decided not to even mention on Hoopsville, until late in the show when he talked about watching in disbelief as York got the chance to tie the game from the free-throw line. But it didn't seem to affect the team. The Mustangs controlled the last five minutes of the third half of basketball to beat the Spartans.
 
Now, in 60 minutes of basketball there are some things you hardly ever see in a box score. Five players, two for York and three for Stevenson, played over 50 minutes with York's Greg Brady playing in all but one minute of the game. A total of nine players scored in double-figures with Stevenson's Greg Woody leading everyone with 30 points. York dominated on the boards, out-rebounding the Mustangs 75-57 while also pulling down 32 offensive rebounds to Stevenson's 41 defensive boards. Both teams took 186 combined shots, 100 of which were shot by York. And both teams hit 34 of their shots during the game. (By the way, York was 0-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second half and all overtimes combined).
 
What does this game mean to these two teams and their seasons? Who knows! York lost Tuesday night down at Salisbury by 11. Stevenson is off until December 20th. But Adams did leave me with this thought, since the win against Goucher over 10 days ago, his team is "playing more consistent," including playing pretty well against No. 14 St. Mary's (Md.). This may be a turning point for the Mustangs.
 
Or perhaps it is just an extra 20 minutes of basketball both teams got to play this season.

Tune in to Hoopsville on Sundays during the basketball season, as Dave is joined by players, coaches, and regional reporters from around the nation.

If you have a tip or note, send it to atn@d3hoops.com.

2008-09 columns
Feb. 20: York (Pa.), no cliche
Feb. 13: St. Thomas writing history
Feb. 6: George Fox on hunt
Jan. 30: Brother, brother
Jan. 23: Growing a program
Jan. 16: Dudek's rare feat
Jan. 9: Ravin' about Anderson
Dec. 18: Chicago marooned at 0-9
Dec. 12: De Luca back on track
Dec. 4: Ithaca surprises
Nov. 21: Augie gets some delp
Nov. 13: Is repeat possible?

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