|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
High School |
| |
||||||
| Wednesday, July 16 |
||||||
| First things first for Eddy Curry By Chad Konecky SchoolSports.com | ||||||
|
Posing questions Thornwood High's (Ill.) Eddy Curry Jr. hasn't heard yet is an irresistible temptation. Someday soon, just about every Eddy Curry tidbit of even the most trivial worth will be publicly known. This is reality when a basketball player evolves from teenage talent into a towering, 290-pound NBA pivot prospect. Curry is a likely lottery pick in this June's NBA Draft, which means everyone wants to talk to him. And everyone who does asks basically the same things. Enter temptation. Shouldn't we know where in the name of Mt. Rushmore the 18-year-old Curry buys shoes? Not courtwear, mind you. But shoes. Like for a wedding. Size 17, please.
"Eastbay has a good catalog I order from," says Curry. "They've got boots and stuff. [Finding big sizes is] not as much of a nightmare as it used to be." Fair enough. Let's move on to sleeping arrangements. Did a mattress expansive enough for a 6-foot-11 guy actually squeeze through the Curry family's Calumet City, Ill., front door? "Naw, my parents bought me a huge waterbed," he says. "It was one of the biggest beds we found. I've had it for a couple years. It's comfortable." But right now, most folks are asking just a few questions. Repetitive questions. Questions just as easy to field as they are to forgo. Because before long, most people will consider Curry public property. Then, the questions will get piercing and occasionally provocative, even preposterous. This is a reality Curry knows he must face rather than skirt. And he has adopted two wise philosophies in preparation. First, Curry, who is in the midst of his final season with the Thunderbirds, makes every conceivable effort to ground himself in his day-to-day routine. That's not easy when fan mail from youngsters as far away as California and Florida is already finding its way to his mailbox. "I always wonder how they got my address," he marvels. Be that as it may, Curry drops anchor the best he knows how. Homework. Sit-down dinners. Occasional squawks toward the bedroom of his sister, 18-year-old Nicole, imploring her to turn down her stereo. Second, and more importantly, Curry relentlessly reminds himself of the overriding role of family in his past, present and future. "You have to keep your family real close," says Curry, who averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks per game as a junior. "If things don't go right, they're going to be the only people there for you. If I was to get hurt or something was to change in my situation, I know the only people that would be in my corner would be my family and my coaches. You can't overlook those people on your way to the top. You have to keep them in mind." Curry does more than that. For his parents -- Gayle and Eddy Sr. -- he reserves the word "admiration." "I'd say I admire my parents the most out of anyone I can think of," he says. "They're going through all the same stuff I am, except people are saying all this stuff about their kid. And they still manage to treat me like a normal kid and still manage to let me lead a normal life. They don't take advantage of me or let outsiders take advantage of me. I have a lot of admiration for them." Curry uses the word "normal" a lot. "I'm normal; just like everybody else, I have to go to school every day," is one example. "My family doesn't really talk to me about basketball or school, they just talk to me about normal stuff, like maybe a TV show," is another. He says it so often, in fact, one wonders if Curry truly understands how sticky life will get when what is now red-hot scrutiny becomes white-hot heat in the coming months. But Curry isn't immune to the heat. Far from it. He's simply not sweating it. "I really don't pay much attention right now," says Curry of the talk that he'll be the top pick in the NBA Draft if he chooses to forgo college altogether. "I hear so much and so many different things, if I were to pay attention it would probably drive me crazy. I try to block all that out. Sometimes, I can't help but sit back and reflect on this stuff and all these people talking about me. But I don't focus on it. "I do think a little about matching up with Alonzo [Mourning] and Karl Malone [in a year's time]," he continues. "I visualize game situations. I think I could handle it. But I like challenges, and I want to be challenged. I want to go someplace where I have to earn my spot and my playing time." While lesser souls in similar circumstances wouldn't be able to fit their swelled heads inside an airplane hanger, Curry is inconceivably down to earth. He won't even specify what makes him a special player beyond his "winning attitude." Thankfully, there is no shortage of volunteers willing to elaborate on his behalf. "He moves so unbelievably well up and down the court," says sixth-year Thornwood basketball coach Kevin Hayhurst. "Here's a guy with all that size and strength and those big, soft hands, but he runs the floor as well as any big man I can think of. "More than that, his family background is a big part of what's allowed him to be successful," he continues. "Nobody that matters is telling him things that aren't true or urging him in the wrong direction. His parents and family are there for him, and that makes all the difference." "He's one of the most incredibly strong human beings I've ever seen," adds Stan White, the ninth-year head coach of Curry's AAU team, the Illinois Gold. "He's dedicated himself to helping his high school team this season. A lot of elite kids don't even think about that." Curry does dutifully answer most of the questions everybody keeps asking. Yes, he has a plan in place regarding the NBA Draft. "If I'm in the top three [draft picks], I would go [to the NBA]," says Curry, who will otherwise play at DePaul next year. "I think physically and mentally, I'm ready for that level. It's just a question of where I go in the draft." What excites Curry these days isn't the future. That, he figures, keeps rocketing toward him whether he frets about it or not. He's more interested in burying the memory of last season's abrupt conclusion, when a 25-4 campaign ended with the Thunderbirds' overtime loss to Oak Lawn Richards High (Ill.) in the sectional tournament. So far this season, Thornwood is off to a 12-1 start -- with its only loss coming to nationally ranked Dominguez High (Calif.) and fellow highly touted center Tyson Chandler -- and is ranked No. 19 in the nation by SchoolSports.com On Dec. 5, Curry turned 18, marking his statutory passage into adulthood. But it's clear he has maintained an adult outlook on his fortunes for quite some time. "I just need to keep my grades up and continue to get stronger and lead my team to the states," he says. "I think everything else is going to take care of itself. My attitude is my biggest strength right now. I won't accept losing, and I think that will rub off on my teammates this year, and that's all I'm really focusing on."
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
|||||
|
|
