| OCR Text |
Show ^-^ ™ DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE SPORTS Million dollar Grant 7- wvw.dailyutahchronicle.com Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Confederacy of dunces Sophomore guard makes an impact for Runnin' Utes Joe Beatty Chronicle Sports Editor Chris Grant never had grand aspirations or a blue-chip mentality. He never really thought about playing for his favorite boyhood team, much less becoming a full-time starter on it. Bat that's the way things have worked out, and he couldn't be happier. "I've had a lot of fun," said Grant, the sophomore starting shooting guard on the Runnin' Utes. "I love our team. We've got great guys; it's been a great experience." It's an experience that wasn't always in the cards for the Salt Lake City native. Grant starred at East High School, earning honorable mention all-state honors his senior year for the Leopards. After not getting much recruiting attention, he enrolled at Westminster College, a few blocks south of his high school, and planned to play NAIA basketball for former Ute assistant coach Tommy Connor. But Grant decided to go on a mission halfway through his freshman year and give up his athletic career. "I wasn't planning on playing basketball," Grant said. "But I came home, and people tried to convince me, (saying) 'you'll regret it if you don't at least try to play basketball.' I decided, what better place than (the U), and here I am." But Grant is also in a place that most former walk-ons only dream of. At Utah, as with most schools, it is extremely rare for a player to get placed on scholarship after walking on, especially when he or she is only a sophomore. Former head coach Rick Majerus would occasionally give a scholarship to loyal walk-ons prior to their senior seasons, but Grant received one after his freshman campaign, which bears significance that is not lost on him. "My first goal was to walk on, and my goal after that was to earn a scholarship," Grant said. "I did it and that's really been a huge difference for me. I'm not in serious debt now." Thanks to inconsistent play from the team, a lack of depth and just plain personal determination, Grant has gone from typical walk-on benchwarmer to averaging 24 minutes a game for the defending MWC champs. He has started the last eight games and, even with players like senior Tim Drisdom returning from injury, has managed to stay on the floor. His numbers may not be eye-popping— 2.5 points and just over one assist per game—but Ute head coach Ray Giacoletti has kept Grant on the floor for the little things, namely good defense, tenacity and basketball intelligence, something from which the young Utes have benefited during a transition season. "I try not to have expectations for myself as far as starting or getting minutes," Grant said. "My main goal for this year was to try to be a contributor. I feel like I have been See G R A N T Page 8 Chris Bellamy NBA teams are clueless • when it comes to building for success I'd like to think it's just a passing phase, that someday soon the millions of NBA fans across the country will be able to rely on some kind of stability. But as for right now, there's no getting around it: Nobody in the NBA knows what the hell he's doing. Well, maybe a few somebodies do. But not many. For whatever reason, the NBA has become a league full of organizations without any sense of direction and lacking the basic capability to formulate a long-term plan for the franchise. Has desperation permanently set in across the league? Because it seems that just about every team is in a constant state of flux. There is not a single Eastern Conference head coach who was with his current team before 2004, and the majority of teams in the East have undergone a coaching change within the last calendar year. Even in the West, the only coaches with any significant tenure are Utah's Jerry Sloan, San Antonio's Gregg Popovich and Sacramento's Rick Adelman. Everywhere else, there's been an almost constant stream of change over the past few seasons. It's not just limited to hirings and firingsjust about every decision made by owners and general managers dictates, at worst, a complete lack of understanding as to how to build a competitive team and, at best, startling impatience that hinders the team's ability to build a cohesive group. Consider last week's Celtics-Timbenvoives trade. In essence, Boston sent Ricky Davis and Mark Blount to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak and Michael OlowoljandL The trade makes absolutely no sense from the Celtics' end. Not only has Davis matured exponentially over the last year or so to become a legitimate No. 2 option, but Szczerbiak is a glorified jump-shooter who couldn't guard even me. Let's not even start on the Kandiman. So now, let's recap the illustrious front-office career of Boston GM Danny Ainge. He took over, traded Antoine Walker and then brought in Davis. The following season, he brought Walker back and the Celtics made the playoffs. Then he hired Doc Rivers. Then he got rid of Walker again. And then he traded Davis. In other words, in almost three years on the job, he has accomplished exactly nothing. He's running around in circles and dragging the entire Celtic fan base along with him. With the exception of the Detroit Pistons— and possibly Miami and Indiana—everyone Sophomore guard Chris Grant goes up for a layup against San Diego State during the Aztecs' win over the Utes on Jan. 11 in the Huntsman Center. Grant has laid claim to his starting shooting guard spot thanks to gutsy play and a knack for knocking down key shots when needed to. See BELLAMY PageS Last Week's Winner: Greg Young (11-5) Basketball Bids Pick the winning teams and submit your contest form to Union 240 Friday by 5 p.m. Remember...Don't screw up. Beatty Bellamy Piper Patton Eryn Backshop Mulr Jake (30-18) (28-20) (26-22) (27-21) (25-23) (25-23) (26-22) (25-23) Utah @ New Mexico (Men) Utah New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico - New Mexico @ Utah (Women) Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah Utah New Mexico Utah • UConn (§> Indiana UConn UConn UConn UConn UConn UConn UConn UConn Kentucky @ Florida Florida Florida Florida Florida Kentucky Florida Florida Florida Arizona @ UCLA UCLA UCLA Arizona UCLA Arizona UCLA UCLA UCLA Pitt Georgetown Georgetown Pitt Georgetown Pitt Pitt Pitt Kansas Kansas Kansas Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Jamestown Jamestown Black Hills St. Black Hills St. Jamestown Black Hills St. Black Hills St. Jamestown Pistons 76ers Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Kings @ Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Jazz Heat @ Nets Nets Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Heat Pistons @ Pacers Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Pistons Knicks ® Raptors Knicks Raptors Raptors Raptors Knicks Raptors Knicks Knicks Sonics d> Rockets Sonics Sonics Sonics Rockets Rockets Sonics Rockets Sonics Clippers @ Celtics Clippers Clippers Clippers Clippers Celtics Celtics Clippers Clippers 76ers @ Cavaliers Cavaliers Cavaliers Cavaliers Cavaliers Cavaliers 76ers Cavaliers Cavaliers This Week's Games Pitt @ Georgetown Oklahoma @ Kansas Black Hills State d> Jamestown Pistons @ 76ers N*mp Tiebreaker: pjrk th*» ^ror e: Pistons ® Pace Phnnp MEN'S HOOPS UTAH AT WYOMING (9-9) (11-9) FEB. 1,2006 7 p.m. @LARAMIE,WYO. WOMEN'S HOOPS WYOMING AT (14-4) UTAH (13-5) FEB. 2, 2006 7 p.m. @ HUNTSMAN CENTER SWIMMING UTAH AT BYU GYMNASTICS UTAH AT . ARIZONA STATE FEB. 2,2006 6 p.m. FEB. 3, 2006 7:30 p.m. @ PROVO, UTAH @TEMPE, ARIZ. MEN'S TENNIS UTAH AT DENVER FEB. 3, 2006 7 p.m. £ DENVER, COLO. Winner |
