I uesday, February 29,2
SPORTS
Tuesday, February 29. 2000
THE BATTALION
Page 7
Only the beginning...
Tomas Ress adds European style to Aggie basketball
pa.homepagc.com By
B-HIPPH
BARRETT
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At the age of 14, Tomas Ress left
his Italian home, his family, his
friends and everything he knew to
pursue a dream. The reason — he
lowered above his classmates and
could sh(x)t a basketball.
That was all it took to change his life.
Four years later Ress made the
transition from the European circuit to
the American courts 6,000 miles away.
That was in 1998. After only a
few months spent stirring up the Mi
ami high school scene, the Italian was
drawing the eyes of col lege recruiters
across the country.
Texas A&M basketball coach
Melvin Watkins was among those
taking notice. Still in his first season
as A&M’s coach, Watkins saw Ress
as part of the solution to the Aggies’
basketball woes.
“He saw me, he liked me, he got
me,” Ress said about Watkins and his
choice of A&M.
After leaving his home to start for
theVirtus Bologna Junior team, Ress
established himself as one of the top
young big men in his country.
Since then Ress has played with
the Italian national teams—starting
for the “Under 20” team and prac
ticing with the Italian AI team that
won the Italian and European cham
pionships and also produced two
NBA players.
Commonly referred to as the top
Italian big man under 20, Ress made
the choice to spend his senior year in
the United States.
It was a choice that played out
to perfection. Ress led Hileah
Champagnat Catholic School near
Miami to the Florida state champi
onship game.
Then Ress turned his focus to a
different type of basketball, NCAA
Division I. At 6-10,207 pounds, with
the on-court statistics to go with his
size, he was a perfect candidate.
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When Ress chose A&M, he be
came the first Italian to wear an Ag
gie uniform.
Signing with the Aggies was only
the first step in a big transition. Ress
did not have the strength to go along
with his size, was not accustomed to
the faster pace of American hoops
and had to make a transition from
playing under the basket to manning
the perimeter for A&M.
Because Ress had so many ad
justments to prepare to play in the Big
12, the coaching staff planned on red-
shirting Ress for the 1999-2000 sea
son. I lis prescason progress changed
Watkins' mind and by late Novem
ber, only two games into the Aggies
season, Ress was seeing action.
Ress’ improvement on the court
paralleled his work in the weight
room. In the months before the sea
son, he gained 17-pounds, bulking up
to a respectable 223-pounds, a weight
that matched his 6 feet 10 inches and
size 18 shoe. °
Thanks to his European back
ground, Ress was able to quickly ad
just to his new position as A&M’s
forward. Previously, he had played
in the paint due to his size advantage
over his fellow Italians. However,
the nature of European play had
forced Ress to develop a perimeter
shot, a quality that made the tran
sition possible.
“Everybody can-shooHn-Etf- "
rope. Even if you’re a big guy, you
have an outside shot,” Ress said.
“Here in the United States it’s more
physical, you run more ... it’s just a
very, very fast game.”
The speed and nature of the Big
12 was the only obstacle remaining.
According to Watkins, Ress was
able to adjust during the early J
part of the season
thanks to his “high
basketball I.Q.”
“What’s unique about him - nor
mally when you talk about Euro
pean players, especially big kids,
they usually grew up playing the
perimeter. Tomas is just the oppo
site; he didn’t have that in his reper
toire before he came here,” Watkins’
said. “So what he’s accomplished to
this date on the perimeter has really
been amazing.”
Ress’ accomplishments soon
earned him a starting role at for
ward. From there he began to make
a run at becoming one of A&M’s top
contributors.
That run culminated in late Janu
ary. Ress led the Aggies with 10
points against the University of
Kansas. His second time to lead the
Aggie scoring was with more flair.
On Jan. 29 at the University of Mis
souri, the Italian was shooting lights
out. Ress shot 70 percent from the
floor, going 2-2 outside the arc and 6-
6 from the charity stripe. The result
— 22 points, eight rebounds, a pair
of assists and a block.
The Aggies lost both those
matches, but Ress had
established his game — mixing
the outside shot with his inside
experience that allowed him to
drive into the paint and finish —
a daunting task for a forward of
his size.
“He’s 6-10 with real, real good
skills, which is a great asset to have,”
A&M senior post Aaron Jack said.
“He’s actually surprisingly strong for
as frail as he looks... as he continues
to get stronger he’s going to be an un
believable match-up for people, play
ing on the perimeter. He’s just so long
and has a sweet shot.”
As he has done ever
since he was first ap
proached to play basket
ball, Ress looks to ad
just to his changing
roles and contin
ue to bo an im
pact player for
the Aggies.
o Story by Jason Lincoln
Photo Illustration by J.P. Beato
Km
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