|
Smart |
WASHINGTON--
Sooner or later (probably sooner), it's going to happen, and Shaka Smart is already expecting it. A time will come, early in VCU's basketball season, late in a tight game, when the Rams will look for Eric Maynor to make the decisive play--as he did for the past three years.And he won't be there.
"It happens already in practice, from time to time," Smart said yesterday. "It's strange for me to say, because I never got to coach him, but I'm looking around for him.
"When you think about VCU basketball in recent years, he was the focal point."
But Maynor's gone, which means someone else is going to have to make the big shot, as Maynor did in the 2007 and 2009 Colonial Athletic Association title games, or in an epic upset of Duke in the '07 NCAA tournament.
UCLA was so sure that Maynor would take the last shot in their NCAA first-round game last March that the Bruins barely bothered to guard the other four Rams. Maynor left VCU as its career leader in scoring and assists and was named to the CAA's 25-year, 25-man anniversary team.
Things change in college sports, though, faster than ever these days. Maynor (a rare four-year college star) was a first-round draft pick of the NBA's Utah Jazz. His coach, Anthony Grant, accepted a big pay raise from Alabama--just as Jeff Capel, who recruited Maynor to VCU, left for greener pastures at Oklahoma.
That means the Rams will have a new coach (Smart, a 32-year-old former Florida assistant) and must find some new heroes to keep pace in the steadily improving CAA. It won't be easy in a league that has long-tenured coaches like Jim Larranaga (12 years at George Mason) and Blaine Taylor (eight at preseason favorite Old Dominion).
"Because Eric was such a great leader, nobody else had to be a great leader," Smart said during the CAA's annual preseason media day at the ESPN Zone. "In the past, he carried a lot of that responsibility."
Even though Maynor barely weighed 175 pounds, he left huge shoes to fill. Smart has had less than a week of official practice with his new team, and (not surprisingly) he hasn't found anyone capable of succeeding Maynor alone.
"I see little buds of leadership in practice," Smart said, "that need to be cultivated."
Larranaga, the dean of CAA coaches, doesn't expect much of a dropoff from the Rams, even with new faces in charge.
"The most important element is continually getting good players into your program," Larranaga said. "Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant were able to recruit at a very high level. VCU is still very rich in talent going into this season, and we'd expect them to remain that way. VCU has made a very strong commitment to their men's basketball program."
The logical candidate to become the Rams' new headline attraction is Larry Sanders, a long, lean, athletic 6-foot-11 junior forward who made the 2009 postseason his personal coming-out party.
After an inconsistent, foul-plagued regular season, Sanders had 18 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocked shots against George Mason in the CAA final. He's widely considered a lock to be a first-round draft pick, either in 2010 or '11.
Surprisingly, while Sanders was picked to the preseason all-CAA team by a panel of coaches and media, he was not named preseason player of the year. Old Dominion senior forward Gerald Lee and Hofstra junior guard Charles Jenkins shared that honor.
"That says something about the conference," Smart said. "We have some very, very accomplished players coming back. It's also something Larry can use as motivation. Sometimes, players can be inspired to try to prove people wrong. It can be a great motivator, and I look forward to talking to him about that."
Smart inherits three other returning starters. They include guard Joey Rodriguez, who initially decided to transfer after Grant left, but changed his mind.
Rodriguez and Sanders both spoke of how much they admired Maynor and how much of a mentor he was to them. But the Rams have moved into the A.M. (After Maynor) era, and it's time for new leaders to emerge.
Steve DeShazo: 540/374-5443
Email: sdeshazo@freelancestar.com
