EDUCATING A CENTER : Syracuse Seems to Be the Best at Making Unpolished Basketball Players Productive

When talking about the college giants who have gone on to rule the courts in professional basketball, Syracuse’s name may not come up.

But the Jim Boeheim-era Orangemen have exhibited a knack for taking raw recruits and turning out steady performers in the pivot position.

“It just goes to show, you don’t have to get a Bill Walton or a Pat Ewing, all you need is a player who is going to develop,” said Boeheim, whose third such player over the last decade, Rony Seikaly, is expected to go in the first round of the NBA draft.

Boeheim’s other successful projects have been Danny Schayes, who was the 13th overall pick by Utah in 1981 and is now the starting center for the Denver Nuggets, and Roosevelt Bouie, who was drafted high in the second round by Dallas in 1980 and has gone on to an all-star career in Italy.

All three came to Syracuse as unpolished players, and only Bouie was heavily recruited, although by less than a handful of major colleges.

When Bouie picked Syracuse in 1977, the Orangemen were not yet a power, even though they had had a winning program in each of the previous seven seasons.

“We couldn’t recruit the so-called super players back then, so we looked for kids who could develop,” said Boeheim. “For every 10 like Danny and Roosevelt, one or two might make it and become something.”

“Roosevelt was a great physical specimen who specialized on defense. But he wasn’t much of an offensive force,” recalled Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine, who helped then assistant coach Brendan Malone (now with the New York Knicks) in molding Bouie into an NBA-caliber player.

“My coach in high school gave me good fundamentals,” said Bouie. “When I arrived at Syracuse, my coaches told me the center position would take some polishing, and they gave me different moves around the basket, showed me how to be an all-around player.”

But Bouie, like his successors Schayes and Seikaly, had a willingness to work--and work hard--at improvement. Malone would push Bouie to his limits and spent extra time daily helping improve his game.

“He (Malone) would tell me, ‘If you want to be an All-American you have to do this,’ ” said Bouie. “He would work out a specific drill for helping out and getting back that was almost impossible to do. He would have me work at it so that 50% of the time I could actually do it. So in the game it felt like a piece of cake. He also helped me in footwork and keeping my body away from the man when blocking shots. Unless someone sets up the drill, there’s no way you can learn.”

The benefits: the 30-year-old Bouie has been a five-time all-star in his eight seasons, averaging 17 points and 11.2 rebounds a game.

Schayes’ story was similar. The son of former NBA great Dolph Schayes, Danny was a tall, skinny kid who was recruited by only Syracuse and Princeton following a standout high school career.

“Danny was a smart player, but he lacked quickness and didn’t have a great body, he wasn’t as strong as he should have been,” said Fine, the man who recruited Schayes and took over the task of working with the centers after Malone’s departure.

“A lot of people thought we were crazy for taking him because he wasn’t a great athlete,” added Fine. “But he’s proven us right and a lot of people wrong. He’s in his seventh year in the NBA. He’s starting. He’s scoring and rebounding.”

Schayes, who plays about 25 minutes a game, is averaging 12.6 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Nuggets.

Schayes’ development was helped by the fact that for three years he played against Bouie.

“Roosevelt made life tough for Danny,” said Boeheim. “It was a struggle every day. Roosevelt was the hardest working player we had and he forced Danny to work hard every day in practice, and it paid off for him. He had a great senior year, and look at him now.”

Seikaly wasn’t quite as fortunate when he arrived at Syracuse in 1984. Although he was unquestionably the best pure athlete of the three, the Lebanese-born Greek center was the embodiment of raw. He didn’t begin playing basketball until his junior year of high school.

“We’d run a pick and roll and notice he’s not doing what he’s supposed to,” Fine remembers of seeing Seikaly in that first year. “You’d think he was a little stupid. But he came here with a third-grade basketball knowledge.”

Because of Seikaly’s vast potential, he drew even more specialized attention than either of his predecessors. Fine teaches Seikaly at practice, working on everything from taking entry passes at the post position to turn-around jump shots. Boeheim, in a scene that has become commonplace in the last four years, teaches Seikaly during games in sideline lectures and mid-game pointers.

“If I had gone to another school, maybe I would have gotten better quicker, but I’ve had four years here with Bernie and he’s a great teacher. Here, I’m learning everyday,” said Seikaly.

Seikaly, who should be one of the top seven draft picks, has averaged 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds despite double and triple teaming.

“Giving Rony a scholarship was one of the greatest decisions we’ve ever made,” said Fine.

For the first time in Boeheim’s tenure, the Orangemen will bring into the program two of the nation’s most highly touted big men, Richard Manning of North Highlands, Calif., and Dave Siock, of Vestal, N.Y. The two 6-10 centers both rate among the nation’s top 10 prospects at that position.

But that doesn’t mean Syracuse will ignore those overachievers in the future.

“A lot of coaches feel unless they have somebody like a J.R. Reid or a Billy Owens (the Carlisle, Pa., prep star who is headed to Syracuse), they have no chance of winning. But I think these coaches have just gotten away from the coaching element,” said Fine, who says he likes helping young players develop.

It’s a formula that has had a bountiful result for Syracuse--in the nearly nine years that Bouie, Schayes and Seikaly roamed the lane for the Orangemen, Syracuse has compiled a 221-58 record.

“Syracuse has been extremely successful with the players nobody else wanted,” said Fine. “We definitely wouldn’t hesitate to take that chance again.”