University of Memphis Athletics
With Carney, Calipari Gets Chance To Groom Unheralded Forward
Mar 23, 2006 | Men's Basketball
March 22, 2006
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - As soon as John Calipari arrived at Memphis six years ago, he earned a reputation for recruiting some of the biggest prep stars in the country.
Amare Stoudemire. Qyntel Woods. Dajuan Wagner.
Stoudemire and Woods never set foot on the court for the Tigers, and Wagner played one season before bolting to the NBA as the No. 6 overall pick by Cleveland in 2002.
Then there's Rodney Carney, the unheralded forward Calipari has groomed into a star and likely lottery pick in the NBA draft. Now, as a senior, Carney is determined to end his career at the Final Four in his hometown of Indianapolis.
The top-seeded Tigers will try to move one step closer to that goal when they take on surprising No. 13-seed Bradley in the Oakland Regional semifinals Thursday.
"If Amare Stoudemire came, we wouldn't have gotten Rodney," Calipari said Wednesday. "Rodney has really developed as a player and a person. He's matured - his self-confidence, his self-esteem, his skill on the basketball court, his poise. His personality has blossomed. He's primed to be a lottery pick and no one knew who he was coming out of high school."
Speaking of being unknown, Bradley's players are getting used to answering questions about where they play. And they're loving the attention.
"Peoria, Illinois," they answer politely.
While this may seem like a lopsided matchup between the favored Tigers and upstart Braves (22-10), everybody involved refuses to look at it that way.
"They're a top, elite team," Memphis forward Shawne Williams said. "They accomplished something great, too."
Memphis (32-3), an NIT team a year ago, has won 21 of its last 22 games and is riding a six-game winning streak. The Tigers won the Conference USA regular-season and tournament crowns, then beat Oral Roberts and Bucknell for their first appearance in the regional semifinals since 1995.
The 6-foot-7 Carney leads the young Tigers at 17.4 points per game and helped the school to a top seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time.
But Carney isn't a flashy scorer like Adam Morrison of Gonzaga, which plays UCLA in Thursday's late game. Memphis last made the Final Four in 1985. The Tigers beat Gonzaga on Dec. 27 and the Zags have won 20 straight since then. Memphis also defeated UCLA this season.
Calipari, who regularly plays four freshmen and three sophomores, pointed to the fact many top players in Carney's position would choose to use the NCAA tournament forum to further boost their star status.
"If you were a player and you knew you were in the top 10 right now in the draft, would you not play to get to the top five, in other words shoot every ball, try to score 30? Say, 'OK, you think Morrison is good, watch me,"' Calipari said. "He's not doing that. He only took 10 shots last game. He's trying to defend and rebound. He wants his team to win. How unique is that? ... He's unselfish."
An example of that unselfishness came Wednesday when Carney opted not to speak to the media because, according to a school spokesman, he wanted to let his teammates have the spotlight for a change.
Bradley is certainly enjoying its moment in the sun - the Braves are the most popular thing in Peoria right now. Marcellus Sommerville would know, too. Already a husband and father, the senior forward is a hometown product and couldn't have envisioned this kind of success when he first stepped on campus.
Sommerville is the only one who could provide true perspective on this run, the school's first trip to the round of 16 since 1955.
"I went to Hersey Hawkins and Jim Les basketball camp when I was in grade school," said Sommerville, averaging a team-best 15.6 points along with 6.8 rebounds. "I've heard stories. Never on this level have I heard the amount of volume that's been going around Peoria and the buzz."
The Braves were loose during their shootaround at the Oakland Arena, even holding a dunk contest at the end. On the interview podium, Sommerville, Patrick O'Bryant and J.J. Tauai chuckled and looked to each other to answer questions.
Coach Jim Les is encouraging his players to relish every bit of this experience. He laughed and joked around right along with them despite maintaining the same stance with his arms crossed for most of the 50-minute session.
Bradley, which boasts an enrollment of just more than 6,100 students, got this far by shocking fourth-seeded Kansas 77-73 in its NCAA opener, then beating No. 5 Pittsburgh by six.
"We don't want this to be a one and done," Les said. "Heck, I want to put pressure on myself to make this a yearly event, and that will trickle down to the expectation of our players having gotten a taste of this."
Calipari, with six straight 20-win seasons at Memphis, doesn't need to be told about Bradley's credentials. He opted not to have his team watch tape of the Braves, instead asking them to focus only on what they need to get done.
"I don't want them to worry about Bradley," Calipari said. "I'm vomiting worrying about Bradley."
