By Bob Hertzel
For the Times West Virginian
BUFFALO, N.Y. —
There was a moment Friday when Devin Ebanks …
No check that. There were many moments Friday when Devin Ebanks did something special while West Virginia University was waltzing past Morgan State in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, 77-50, but there was this one extra special moment.
He was on the defensive end, doing a shutdown job on Reggie Holmes, the best offensive player Morgan State had to offer and what Holmes had to offer on this occasion was one of the 13 shots he missed.
Ebanks first batted the ball around with his long arms, keeping it of the grasp of a couple of defenders, before scooping the ball up and heading down court in the midst of a fast break. This side of Magic Johnson you do not see many that size in the middle of a fast break, looking one way, then the other before leaving the ball for Truck Bryant.
Bryant, who has been having all kinds of trouble introducing the basketball to the basket, did the gentlemanly thing and said, “Here, Mr. Ebanks, you deserve this far more than I do” and gave him the ball back just a defender was sliding his way, creating a gap for Ebanks to go through.
The big man went skyward, almost high enough to be picked up on the radar at the local airport, and proceeded to slam the ball through the hoop with all the grace of a flamingo in flight and with dimensions almost to match the long-legged bird.
When Ebanks does things like this he transforms the game of basketball into an art form, somewhere between a symphony and a ballet. If they awarded style points, Ebanks would be the Big East’s leading scorer every year.
What’s more, he is the same no matter what aspect of the game he attacks, save for jump shooting, an art form he has not yet mastered.
That he does all this is hardly a surprise to himself or to those around him. He has been something of a prodigy around the New York area since he was only 6-foot-1, or so.
“I do some things good, not great,” he said, turning on the modesty.
With all that, you are forced to ask just which aspect of his game he enjoys the most and the answer you get nearly floors you.
“Defense,” he says without hesitating.
Defense?
Who would have thought?
Certainly not Da’Sean Butler.
Butler marveled at Ebanks’ skills when he arrived at West Virginia.
“We heard how good he was but freshmen will be freshmen,” Butler said.
The expectations were that he’d come in with a lot of rough edges.
Hardly.
“He got here and that wasn’t the case at all. The things this kid could do at his height were amazing. I mean, you saw people do things like that television, guys like Carmelo Anthony, but I hadn’t seen anyone do those things in person.”
But defense?
That was a different story.
“I didn’t think he could play defense at all,” Butler said. “He worked at it and he’s come a long way from getting killed every game as a freshman to now stuffing the other team’s best player.
Ebanks wasn’t sure he could play defense, either. Truth is, he didn’t care if he could play defense. That wasn’t being asked of him until he was introduced to Mr. Huggins, who values defense only slightly below God and his country … and that might be overstating his patriotism.
“I never would have said that back when I was in high school,” Ebanks admitted.
Here, though, defense equates into playing time.
It also equates to victories.
Huggins assigned Ebanks to Reggie Holmes, a clever 6-4 guard out of Baltimore who was averaging 21.8 points a game.
“Holmes is a great player,” Ebanks said. “Watching tape of him the last three days, I really tried to study his moves to the basket. Two dribbles in, step back, create open shot. I was trying to eliminate his touches. When he got the ball just stay in his face and not let him get a clean shot off.”
Think he isn’t into defense now?
“I try to use my length. I’m taller and way longer than he is. I try to keep my hand in his face and not let him get a clean look at the basket. And if he did get a clean look, just keep it in his face so it’ll be difficult to make the shot.”
The result was 4 of 11 shooting for Holmes and 12 points. In other words, he was stuffed.
Not that the lad would admit it.
“DeWayne Jackson is 6-8. We go at it at practice every day. Wasn’t different,” he said, rather ungraciously.
If what Ebanks did to him wasn’t any different than what he does in practice, how does he have a starting job?
E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.
