A SMALL CELEBRATION
"The superior confidence which people repose in the tall man is
well merited," wrote 6'8" John Kenneth Galbraith, the blatantly
heightist American economist. "Being tall, he is more visible
than other men and being more visible, he is much more closely
watched. In consequence, his behavior is far better than that of
smaller men."
In truth few players will be more closely watched (or inspire
greater confidence) than those on this page: A team of potential
All-Americans, composed entirely of small Americans. College
basketball is filled this season with diminutive superlatives.
Our Division I shortlist.
SMALLEST COACH
Will he please stand up? (Oh, you are standing up.) It's Dave
Faucher of Dartmouth, who is only 5'5". "Hey, one of our hockey
coaches is only 5'3"," says Faucher. "I tower over him."
SMALLEST ARENA
Carter Gym at Campbell U in Buies Creek, N.C., seats 945 fans,
but who's counting? Coach Billy Lee is. "I can tell who is
absent," says Lee. The Fighting Camels once won a home game when
a foe's last-gasp try hit a light fixture.
SMALLEST SCHOOL
Numbering only 850, the student body at Centenary can't fill
Campbell's gym. Perhaps because the school occupies but one
square mile in Shreveport, La., there are no big men on campus:
The starting lineup averages only 6'3 1/2".
SMALLEST RECRUITING BUDGET
Chicago State coach Phil Gary must make do with $2,000, and two
large is just too small. "A lot of the money to find players
comes out of my own pockets," laments Gary.
SMALLEST CHANCE OF A WINNING RECORD
Belmont U in Nashville, ex-NAIA power, plays a loaded schedule
in its first big-time season. The Belmont stakes have never been
smaller. "If we could win five," says coach Rick Byrd, "I'd be
happy."
COLOR PHOTO: DAMIAN STROHMEYER 5'10" Tyson Wheeler Rhode Island This bite-sized Tyson is earmarked for greatness. He averaged 16.4 points per game last year. "Growing up," says Wheeler, a senior, "I've always been small." (It's a short thing. You wouldn't understand.)
COLOR PHOTO: CHRIS USHER 5'4" Shawnta Rogers George Washington His nickname is Nut, but he hardly needs a shrink. Rogers, now a junior, was the Colonials' third-best rebounder last year and he had 14 in a game at Dayton. His secret? "I'm 5'5" with my shoes on," he insists.
COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND 5'8" Terrell McIntyre Clemson "I feel that my heart is always bigger than the next man's," says McIntyre, a junior who averaged 13.4 points last year. So, evidently, are his soles. "With my shoes on," he swears, "I'm definitely 5'9".
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER 5'10" Aaron Hutchins Marquette The biblical Aaron put a pox on Egypt. Hutchins was more like small pox as he averaged 13.4 points last year. "I've had to shoot higher all my life," says Hutchins, a senior, speaking literally and metaphorically.
COLOR PHOTO: DAVID LIAM KYLE 5'10" Jimmal Ball Akron Leaps 35 inches vertically, can bench 250, has 3.9% body fat and scored 44 in a game against Xavier last year. So is he bionic or Napoleonic? "When you're small," says Ball, a sophomore, "you always have something to prove."