| A Knack for Making Good Moves |
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By William C. Rhoden
We often talk about how this player or that epitomizes the student-athlete ideal. More often than not, it's wishful thinking.
But Julius Hodge really does.
Yesterday, he lived the dream of the college basketball hero when he slashed to the basket and, with sheer single-mindedness, scored the game-winning basket with 4.3 seconds left. He drew a foul and completed a 3-point play as North Carolina State added to a string of upsets by beating the defending national champion, Connecticut, 65-62.
"We knew there was something about us," Hodge said. "The way we felt this morning, waking up, eating breakfast - the togetherness, the unity - we were not going to lose the game."
But I'm not a Julius Hodge fan because he hit a game-winning shot or scored 17 points or passed for 6 assists yesterday. I'm a fan because he has been able to maintain focus on his classes and the college life.
In the highly commercialized world of Division I basketball, he gets it. After yesterday's dramatic finish, a reporter recounted Hodge's game-winning shot and asked whether the possibility for such a moment was why he had returned for his senior year. Hodge could have easily played along. Instead he set the record straight. He said no, he returned because his mother told him to complete his degree in communications.
"She said come back to school and get your degree, and I had to do it," he said.
Hodge went to North Carolina State in the 2001-2 season, at a time when Herb Sendek and his staff were under increasing criticism after five consecutive seasons without reaching the N.C.A.A. tournament. The Wolfpack hadn't made the tournament since 1990-1991.
Hodge was a McDonald's high school all-American who gave the Wolfpack hope.
"He's meant everything for our program," said Larry Harris, a North Carolina State assistant for nine seasons. "Up until that time, we hadn't got a guy like him, who was a high school all-America, but who was unbelievably unselfish and willing to do things to make other guys better, along with being good himself.
"What he brought was a lot of ability, but what he also brought was that cohesiveness and togetherness. When you listen to him, that's what he's all about: winning first. Kids like him are different. He's a throwback. He's one of those guys who likes Magic Johnson. Michael Jordan, he could care less."
His presence was felt immediately. In Hodge's freshman season, North Carolina State finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference and reached the conference tournament final before losing to Duke. The Wolfpack made the N.C.A.A. tournament, defeating Michigan State, then facing UConn in a game that set up a twist for yesterday's finish.
In the 2002 game, Hodge fouled Caron Butler on a 3-point shot with 11 seconds left. Butler made all three free throws. Hodge had a chance to tie the score before the buzzer but missed a 3-point heave.
Three years later, he had his revenge.
"There was a little payback for freshman year," Hodge said.
Hodge clearly enjoys college. In an era when top-flight athletes are in a hurry to grow up, to get to that "next level," Hodge said he wanted to savor where he was.
"I think I'm prepared for the next level, but I'm still here in college, I love being a college ballplayer," he said. "Doing the homework, the 20-page papers, the three-hour practices, Coach running down my back, telling me to go harder than what I am, because I'm the leader and I'm the senior.
"I just love the college experience, and I don't want it to end anytime soon."
Hodge reminded me of something that Charlie Villanueva, the UConn star sophomore, said a day earlier. Talking about his thoughts on leaving for the N.B.A. after this season, he said, "If I could do the college thing forever, I'd do it forever."
But there were family issues, medical issues involving his mother, that might compel him to leave.
Hodge's family could have used the financial security, too - nothing dramatic, just the perils of a family in Harlem with not a lot of money. For Hodge, that wasn't reason enough to leave.
"Being poor one more year isn't going to hurt anybody," he said. "I've been through my share of nights, nothing to eat, mayonnaise sandwiches, butter rolls for breakfast, then go out and play three A.A.U. games. So struggle is what made me the way I am. It helps my makeup and makes me that much stronger."
That's why I'm a Julius Hodge fan.
Used courtesy of: The New York Times |
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