Ben's gentle �� until crunch time - Rising star: Ben Gordon

WHEN IT CAME TO 2-GUARDS last year, every high school guru had Allen Iverson-esque Dajuan Wagner rated on top. Then came Kelvin Torbert (a.k.a. The Next Michael Jordan), Josh Childress, Rashard Carruth, Ernest Shelton, and the Carolina-bound duo of Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott. They were all Next Somethings as well.

Ben Gordon? He was next to nothing as far the gurus were concerned. You couldn't find his name with a microscope, at least not until you played hoop archeologist and dug way, way down on the list of Top 100 high school players.

How could such a tremendous talent stay snoozed on in an era of "no more sleepers?" "I didn't go to too many of those AAU tournaments and camps," Gordon says, barely above a whisper. "You don't improve as a player at those places, anyway. You're constantly travelling, then just go to a hotel, sleep, and play day after day. There's no time to work on things. But, to me, the summer is the time when you examine your weaknesses and better your game.

"I knew [skipping AAU play] might hurt me as far as playing in All-Star games and everything. But the way I looked at it was that, in the long run, it was going to help my game."

But what about the risk of being underrated--or even ignored? "Nah," Gordon says. "I figured if anyone wanted me, they knew where to find me." Duke, North Carolina, and every school in the Big East sure did.

A year and change later Gordon, now a softspoken sophomore at UConn, is still a grown-up in a kid's game. He's also one of those players whose floor presence reflects their personality to a T: Simply too darn smooth for his own good, you barely notice until him he drops 35 points and a tassel of assists on you.

The 6'2" Gordon was nothing less than transcendent as a freshman, improving practically from game to game and, along with teammate and 2002 NBA lottery pick Caron Butler, basically carrying a bunch of barely-shaving Huskies to the Big East championship and the Elite Eight. All the while, Wagner made beautiful music at Memphis, but Torbert was terrible, and that maddening multitude of Something others barely made a mark.

"Ben has ice in his veins," UConn coach Jim Calhoun says. "He never gets up, he never gets down. He just goes out there and does the job."

"Yeah, that's what coach says to you," Gordon says, actually cracking something of a smile. What he tells me is to play upbeat. And that I'm a little too laid back, that I should change my personality on the court and become a little more aggressive."

Gordon's working on it. This summer, he's also toiled at refining his handle and other point guard skills, well aware of the projection that, "at my height, that will be my NBA spot."

Does anything bother this guy? Gentle Ben isn't even put out by the curious fact that, while he's surely the team's star, he may not even be a starter this season. "That's fine," he shrugs. "Whatever coach wants. I may not start, but I'll finish games. Anyway, I'm not here to make out the lineup. I came to Connecticut to play."

That he will. Big, 30-plus, minutes. But with pure point Taliek Brown integral to team chemistry and senior 2-guard Tony Robertson making his NBA run, more than likely Gordon will do his exploding off the bench once again.

Of course, Ben would chew the bench for Calhoun if the coach so wished. "He's the reason I came to UConn," Gordon says. "Look at what he's accomplished. Look at the guards he's coached over the years. I wanted to play for a guy like that wanted to play for someone who will make me better."

Gordon follows the likes of Richard Hamilton, Chris Smith, Tate George, Kevin Ollie, and Khalid El-Amin among Calhoun-coached, NBA-caliber, Husky guards. And don't forget Ray Allen--a guy whose supersmooth Silent Killer game reminds many of Gordon's.

Which is why Gentle Ben has already been anointed as "The Next One" by his bud Butler. Still, as a business major carrying a B average, Gordon claims he'll stay in school "the full four years if at all possible. [Leaving's] not anything to even talk about. Basketball is not forever, so school should be primary. Staying four years should be the rule, not the exception."

And what would be the exceptional circumstance that could change. Ben's mind about leaving early? "Well, if coach and the NBA guys tell me I'm high lottery," he says, "I guess I would have to consider it."

Without much fanfare. Smartly. And deliberately.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group