Farther: Travis Ford

Sporting News, The, Nov 29, 1993 by Mark Coomes

Everyone gets the green light at Kentucky. The Wildcats are virtually free to fling 3-pointers at will, just as long as they toe the line.

Coach Rick Pitino likes his 3s launched as close to the arc as possible. About 19 feet, 9 1/2 inches is the standard demand.

Unless, of course, the shooter is Travis Ford. He can fire from as far away as he likes. Or needs to.

"Sometimes I have to move back a foot or so to get my shot off," Ford says.

At 5 feet 9 and 150 pounds, Ford is a subcompact in a stretch-limo game. He appears too small to start for a top 10 team.

Yet thanks to the 3-pointer, which is pulling the game farther and farther from its pound-it-in-the-paint days, Ford, Kentucky's senior point guard, has become one of the biggest men in college basketball.

"I think he's the key to their team," Louisville Coach Denny Crum says. "He's kind of like (Bobby) Hurley was for Duke, though he's not quite as big. Of course, Hurley wasn't that big, either."

Precisely. The 3-pointer has helped little men play huge roles again. Some of the big men in the game this season are Ford, 5-10 Joey Brown of Georgetown, 5-10 Tyus Edney of UCLA, 5-10 Damon Stoudamire of Arizona, 5-11 Travis Best of Georgia Tech, 5-11 Tony Miller of Marquette, 6-foot Dedan Thomas of Nevada Las Vegas and 6-foot Jacque Vaughn of Kansas.

Ford, who before transferring from Missouri made the Big Eight's All-freshman team in 1989-90, might be the best of them all. He ranks fourth nationally among players returning in 3-point and free-throw percentage (52.9 and 88.1 percent, respectively) and averaged 13.6 points last season as Kentucky reached the Final Four for the first time since 1984.

Ford would have averaged exactly three points fewer if the 3-pointer were still worth two. Last season, he shot 245 2-pointers, making 53 percent. He shot 191 3-pointers, also making 53 percent.

Would Ford be a factor without the 3?

"No question," South Carolina Coach Eddie Fogler says. "Anyone who shoots that well can play for anyone."

Ford admits, "The 3 is kind of my signature move. I'd be stupid to say it wasn't."

It would be even more stupid for opponents to assume that flinging 3s is all Ford can do. He can pass (4.9 assists per game), defend -- "He's tougher than you think," Fogler says -- and direct traffic.

"Travis Ford is the best leader I've ever had," Pitino says. "He has a great future in coaching."

His NBA outlook isn't quite so bright. "Unless you're a flat-out blazer like Muggsy Bogues or Spud Webb, it's pretty tough at that size," says Pitino, who coached the Knicks from 1987 through '89.