Toledo's tiny—but timely—arrival

Sporting News, The, Dec 11, 2000 by Luciana Chavez

He is the forgotten man, the one starter from USA Today's 1999 national high school champion Oak Hill Academy team who fell through the cracks. The same team that spawned Maryland's Steve Blake, Tennessee's Ron Slay and Virginia's Travis Watson also produced Toledo point guard Terry Reynolds.

Reynolds is the only one in the bunch without a splashy big-time gig. Reynolds wasn't on Toledo coach Stan Joplin's radar either until this summer, but he could mean the difference between Toledo emerging on top of one of the nation's most competitive leagues or getting buried in the dog pile.

The Rockets didn't have a true point guard in Joplin's first four years and haven't cracked the NCAA field since 1980. Only two teams in the 13-team league have spent more seasons without an NCAA Tournament berth. With highly recruited guard Keith Triplett on the bench as a partial qualifier, Reynolds is filling the first hole. And he could be good enough to help the Rockets end their postseason drought.

"He's making me look pretty good right now," says Joplin, whose team is off to a 5-0 start and ranks No. 3 in the nation in the simulated RPI on collegeRPI.com.

That was after Toledo's 5-9 freshman put together a sparkling debut at the Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., then helped the Rockets defeat Detroit (led by highly-touted NBA prospect Rashad Phillips) and George Mason.

"He did a hell of a job," Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said after Reynolds' 36-point, seven-assist performance lifted Toledo past the Tigers in a 95-90 two-overtime, semifinal victory in the Energia tournament. "He will make a lot of noise this season."

Reynolds averaged 23 points and 5.8 assists as the Rockets beat 2000 NCAA tourney teams Southeast Missouri, Auburn and Creighton in winning the tournament. His performance was good enough to gain MVP honors, though that award went to teammate Greg Stempin, who averaged 19.6 points. But Stempin loves how Reynolds is taking some of the heat off him to score.

Reynolds holds a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and his speed, skill and shooting could shift Toledo out of neutral and into the mid-major fast lane, provided the Rockets hold up through the end of the month. After a trip to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, the rest of the month includes a possible matchup with Fresno State or Samford, up to two games with Xavier and firm dates with Cincinnati and Louisiana-Lafayette. All won 20-plus games last season, and all but Xavier played in the NCAA Tournament.

One person notably not impressed with Reynolds' performace was Reynolds himself.

"There is really no difference between college players and what I've faced at Oak Hill and MCI," Reynolds says.

Reynolds, who is 20 years old, spent a year in prep school at Maine Central Institute, where Connecticut's Caron Butler was among his teammates. And eight of his teammates from Oak Hill's 1999 title team are playing on Division I teams now.

Middle Tennessee, Eastern Carolina and Kent State also recruited Reynolds, but poor grades turned off most of those schools while he was at Oak Hill, and top D-I schools deemed Reynolds too short. (The 5-9 listing is generous.)

Meanwhile, the Rockets, who committed 529 turnovers last season and straggled against quicker teams, learned they were losing starting point Justin Hall to academic trouble. That's when a phone call from MCI's John Dozier got the Rockets pointed in Reynolds' direction.

"Did we do a great job recruiting him? No," Joplin says.

Reynolds' transition passes still bounce off teammates' hands, and his scoring can be a bit erratic. But with Stempin--last year's leading scorer and a two-time MAC first-teamer--healthy, the combination could become formidable.

"We run that high ball screen. I don't mind him going to the basket, but if he doesn't have it he knows he can kick it out to the open shooter," Stempin says. "He's not going to force anything. So he definitely gets a lot of open shots for me."

Stempin says Reynolds is playing like a senior. Joplin also is treating Reynolds--he's averaging nearly 38 minutes a game--like a seasoned vet.

"What I tell Terry is you have to do for us at our level what Mateen Cleaves did for Michigan State," Joplin says. "Mateen handled the ball. He broke the press, and he was a winner.

"Terry is a Mateen Cleaves-type of player. I think he's only going to get better because he likes to play the game of basketball."

RELATED ARTICLE: Nifty newcomers

Freshman point guard Terry Reynolds has helped Toledo to a 5-0 start and a No. 3 ranking in the nation at collegeRPI.com, simulated RPI. But a number of other new additions at mid-major and less-than-major programs have brightened their teams' postseason hopes.

Thomas Terrell, F/C, Jr., Georgia State. Lofty Driesell, in his fourth season in Atlanta, is trying to lead State to its fourth consecutive winning season--a program first. Terrell, at 6-7, 240, is adding much-needed power up front in the three-guard offense, and his 28 points and 11 beards helped the team open the season with a win at Georgia. That State, 5-0, is host for the TAAC tourney only adds to its hopes for its first NCAA bid in 10 seasons.