UMass man

Sporting News, The, March 18, 1996 by Michael Gee

"You can sit Up nights trying to be a genius for a day," Jarvis says. "But if you try and trick the No. 1 team, they'll beat the hell out of you."

Koul eventually fouled out, but not before Camby shot 4-for-13 in the first half and George Washington had a 17-point lead. Travieso couldn't get open outside the 3-point line until late in the second half, when the scoreboard made the outside shot the only option.

And, like Reeves, Koul has moves to accompany his muscles. He was offensively skilled enough to occupy Camby's full attention, allowing the other Colonials to drive to the hoop without worrying about Camby lunging to block a shot.

Small wonder that Calipari recently fumed, "Basketball is all about passing and team chemistry. People don't want to see that bump-and-grind play. Naismith and others didn't create it to be that way."

That burst of preemptive bench jockeying might not be necessary. Bulky yet gifted centers in the classic mode are thin in the college ranks this season. Look at the other potential championship contenders. Who has the frontcourt power to knock Camby out of his feeding grounds?

UMass already has beaten Wake Forest's Duncan and Memphis, Wright. Among the schools it hasn't played, Georgetown, along with UCLA and Cincinnati, could provide problems reminiscent of Oklahoma State. But the college game is filled mostly with leapers and athletes, and Camby remains the leapingest athlete of all.

The other obstacle between UMass and the Final Four is Camby's shooting, which has been skittish. In a three-game, late-season stretch against Rhode Island, George Washington and St. Joe's, Camby hit only 24-of-63 shots. Consequently, the Minutemen barely beat two teams that won't make the NCAA Tournament and were thumped by one that will.

It isn't that UMass is a one-man team, a contention that annoys Camby. The Minutemen are vulnerable to a Camby downturn precisely because they've been so precisely blended into his game.

"There are good players out there who will block shots and make shots and get rebounds and numbers," Calipari says. "But only a special player makes everybody around him a better player. Marcus is a special player."

The corollary of that tribute is obvious. A player capable of making his teammates improve is also capable of dragging their performance down. Umass, balance leaves it vulnerable to slumps from any of its five starters. Like many things of beauty. this team is a delicate creation.

"When we play together. we're a powerful car," Calipari says. "When we don't, we're four tires and a steering wheel."

The UMass car depends on its motor. Because he's so determinedly low-key, Camby can be hard to read. But despite his accomplishments this season, Camby hasn't escaped one bitter irony. He is better known for his collapse than for being an All-American on a great team.

Camby turned down big money to stay in school to improve himself. He ought to be the star of NCAA propaganda films aimed at undergraduate athletes to stay in school. But that's not what people remember.