060
36 10
1983
illar
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FHINSS,
Texas A8cM
The Battalion Sports
February 4, 1983 /Page 11
SKA/1E?
iRENTS
anadiani
York for
■d in a UJ
eld on
ring was
Reid Gettys’ a Cougar Mr. Cool
UH sophomore just trying to help
by Frank L. Christlieb
Battalion Staff
While his teammates at
demorial High fielded scholar-
hip offers from this, that and
he other school, Reid Gettys
ad but one direction to turn
pon graduation in 1981.
Eric Poerschke narrowed his
ist bit by bit before Finally sign-
ng with the Arkansas Razor-
acks. Andrew Adair consi-
ered several schools, but even-
ually signed with the Vander
bilt Commodores.
But Gettys, captain of Memo-
Manli district championship
cam in 1980-81, didn't have to
lie awake at night wondering
here he’d attend college.
Ithough he averaged 15 points
game and shot nearly 65 per-
Jent from the field that season,
|ist one school offered Gettys a
holarship.
Thus, life for Gettys didn’t
urn into the racehorse af fair it
lecomes for many high school
,. , enior athletes. Once a scholar-
lc " n ^ eP hip offer had been made by the
university of Houston, all Get-
ys had to do was sign his name
n the dotted line, buy a new
air of high-tops and get set for
ollege life.
And now, as a sophomore, the
l-foot-6-inch Getty says his col
lege basketball career hasn’t
een all that bad — at least not
:>r someone who received just
Bne offer to keep playing after
high school.
"When 1 came as a f reshman,”
ettys said in a long-distance in-
fcrview Thursday, “there were
four guards ahead of me, and
three of them (Eric Davis, Rod-
ey Parker and Lynden Rose)
(ere going to be seniors and
fher was Rob Williams. Deep
own, I knew Rob wasn’t going
tbstay after his junior year. So
ontributesi
it are
: lethal tl;
’ said
□rial,
lity whjM
riing bal;
uld be on
ihn C. B;
re thousi
lions fori
,’hich areji
“the now
ing prewi
t!
a.rP'
light
oo
OFF
Reid Gettys says Cougars
still owe Aggies a beating
actually, it was an ideal situation
for me.”
However ideal the situation,
Gettys knew he wouldn’t have a
chance to play much last season.
As it turned out, the Cougars
advanced to the Final Four and
Gettys averaged about seven mi
nutes and 2.2 points a game.
“I either had a choice of going
to school or going to school and
playing basketball, and UH was
my only choice,” Gettys said.
“It’s always been a goal of mine
to get to the college level and
play basketball. At first, I
thought I was going to have a lot
of schools to choose from, but it
was an easy choice for me. It’s
not too hard to choose when
there’s no choice to make.”
But when UH played Boston
College for the NCAA Midwest
Regional title in St. Louis last
season, Gettys flashed his name
all around the nation for people
to see. With the Cougars cling
ing to a slim lead late in the
game, Gettys stepped to the
free-throw line and sank 10
straight free throws during the
final minutes.
Yes, that’s /din a row. Thanks
largely to Mr. Cool, Calm and
Collected, Houston won the
game 99-92 and advanced to the
Final Four, where it lost 68-63 to
eventual champion North Caro
lina.
Gettys said the Boston Col
lege experience gave him insight
into his true ability.
“More than anything, I
proved to myself that I could
play,” he said. “I’d known all
along that I could play with the
team. I’m not nearly as talented
as the guys on the team, but I
really needed to show myself to
gain some inner confidence.
“That proved, to me that I
don’t have to do the running
dunks and all the flying 40 feet
above the rim. There are other
ways to contribute to the team. It
helped me realize that all I need
to do is play my game.”
Speaking of running dunks
and the like, Gettys has several
teammates who specialize in that
particular line of work. And
members of “Phi Slamma Jam-
ma,” the Cougars’ slam-dunk
fraternity, will be in G. Rollie
White Coliseum Saturday after
noon at 2:40 to play the Texas
Aggies.
Entering the 1982-83 season,
Gettys said, he concentrated his
efforts on working hard to gain
more playing time. But even af
ter the loss of four guards, he
didn’t expect to start.
“It’s every athlete’s goal to
start,” Gettys said, “so that was
definitely my goal. And I still
want to start. Who knows — 1
may never start.
“I was excited coming into the
year, because of the opportuni
ties I had. I knew about the pub
licity UH was going to get be
cause of its lack of guards. I was
just going to come out and play
my hardest.”
At the start of the season, Eric
Dickens and Michael Young
were the starting guards, while
Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, Clyde
Drexler and Larry Micheaux
opened under the basket.
After 19 games, Gettys still
hasn’t started. Young and fresh
man Alvin Franklin are starting
at guard, while Gettys and
senior David Rose are consi
dered the top substitutes.
UH coach Guy Lewis has been
using Gettys as a point guard
most of the season, but the soph
omore says that’s not really his
true position.
“I’m really not a point guard,”
he said. “I really play Mike
Young’s position, which is an
off-shooting guard. Right now,
I’m just a shooting guard who’s
playing a lot of point guard.
“Mike Young’s awesome. I
tried to beat him out, but realis
tically, I knew that Td get most
of my playing time at point
guard.
“So, I spent a lot of summer
hours trying to improve my bal
lhandling, trying to keep my
head up,” he said. “More than
anything, I just wanted to be
come solid. I’ll never be the type
that can shake ’n bake some
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body, but it’s just a matter of get
ting the ball up and down the
court. I’ll never look pretty
doing it, and when I do handle
the ball it’s never graceful or
anything.”
With the Cougars sporting a
17-2 record (8-0 in the South
west Conference), Gettys said,
the team is his main concern.
UH has lost only to nationally
ranked Virginia 72-63 and to
Syracuse 92-87.
“More than anything, I’mjust
pleased with the team,” Gettys
said. “I would like to find myself
and help the team blend
together and play well. I’m not
particularly concerned with
playing or with contributions,
but with the team’s ability to'win
and win consistently.
“I think the team is playing
well together and meshing right
now. I knew we’d have some
problems somewhere along the
way. Syracuse wasn’t really that
much of a problem, because we
went out and played hard. But
against Virginia, we laid down
and played dead.
“We had some problems to
take care of, but it was simpler
thap last year when we lost four
in a row,” he said. “Then, we had
some problems to deal with and
we put them aside and went
from there. This year, we had a
few problems to clear up among
ourselves. We tossed all the little
petty stuff aside and decided to
just come out and play.”
And even while standing on
top of the SWC hill, Gettys said,
the Cougars aren’t losing sight
of reality.
“People ask me if we’re get
ting overconfident,” Gettys said,
“and the only reason we’re not is
because the conference is so full
of good teams. Even though we
may have beaten some of them
by a big margin, every team in
the conference can beat us.
There’s not a team that couldn’t
have beaten us on any given
night.
“So, I’d love to say that we
have it all wrapped up, but we
don’t. Unless we’re mentally
ready, we won’t win it. And I’m
really worried about the game
Saturday night.”
In the Aggies, the Cougars
See GETTYS page 14
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