"I feel like I'm a four-year guy," Aldridge

"I feel like I'm a four-year guy," Aldridge

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Late at night, when his cell phone would ring, Seagoville High assistant basketball coach Wendell Thornton could identify the caller before checking.

It was LaMarcus Aldridge again, making sure the gym was open for him. Aldridge, after leaving his job at a store that sold athletic shoes, returned to school to work on his shooting, sessions that sometimes lasted past midnight.

"He would practice for hours and hours," Thornton said. "Nights. Weekends. Any time."

Indeed, Aldridge didn't just develop his renowned diligence after arriving at the University of Texas last season. He had already established good habits, including a penchant for watching tape during his lunch hour, Seagoville Coach Robert Allen said.

"He's a workaholic who puts his heart into everything he does," Allen said.

Aldridge says he had practical reasons for his devotion.

"Going into high school, I really wasn't that talented," he said. "I was just tall."

He is more than that now. Aldridge, a 6-foot-10-inch sophomore, was voted to the All-Big 12 Conference first team by the league's coaches. He ranks second in the league in rebounding with 8.9 per game, a shade below teammate P.J. Tucker. Aldridge is ahead of everybody in field-goal percentage (60.5), and he ranks third in blocks (1.97 per game) and ninth in scoring (15.4).

The coaches voted Aldridge as the defensive player of the year, respectful of performances that included four blocks against Kansas and five in the second half vs. Villanova.

And yet, as Longhorns Coach Rick Barnes often reminds, "He hasn't even started in terms of how good he is going to be."


NBA can wait

NBA scouts agree, some projecting him as a top-three draft pick should Aldridge choose to leave school after this season. The No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft will receive a guaranteed two-year contract worth $7.75 million. The third pick will be paid more than $6 million for two seasons. Contracts include separate options for a third and fourth year at the team's discretion.

Aldridge, an education major, says he enjoys college ? he had a 3.4 grade-point average last semester ? and is in no rush to join the NBA.

"I feel like I'm a four-year guy," Aldridge said, noting that plan worked for Tim Duncan, who spent four seasons at Wake Forest before joining the San Antonio Spurs. "The NBA is not going anywhere."

Aldridge's mother, Georgia, said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see him in school."

People around the UT program say they can't predict what Aldridge will do.

And skeptics everywhere say, "How do you pass up that money?"

One thing is certain: Aldridge is not fully formed. He can improve his skills, increase his strength, become consistently dominant. Aldridge is a rangy 240 pounds, not yet strong enough to maintain position on offense, particularly when the referees allow defenders to push him away from the basket.

That problem could actually decrease in the NBA, where players are allowed to work more freely near the basket. The rules governing contact are more defined, and illegal-defense regulations, a wider foul lane and a three-point line farther from the basket produce better spacing than in the college game.


700-shot club

For now, Barnes has encouraged Aldridge to make better use of his perimeter skills. His jump shot is accurate from 15 feet or more.

Aldridge has put that shot to good use in some games. In one game against Kansas and two with Oklahoma, Aldridge converted 25 of 33 shots, primarily from the perimeter. Good strategy, particularly against the muscular resistance provided near the basket by Oklahoma seniors Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray.

"He's not going to post those guys up," Barnes said. "They're older, and they know how to push you around. He doesn't have to play with his back to the basket. He's really a good face-up shooter."

Which makes sense, since shooting is a skill he can develop alone, no teammates necessary. One day last season, when the Longhorns were to play Memphis at 8 p.m., Aldridge showed up at noon to take 500 shots and 200 free throws. Aldridge missed the last 15 games of the season with a hip injury that required surgery, but he practiced shooting while sitting in a chair.

These days he shoots standing up, sometimes well past midnight in Cooley Pavilion, the team's practice facility.

"I can call coach (Barnes), no matter what time, and he's always there for me, whether I want to get some shots up or watch tape," Aldridge said.


Studying up

Aldridge often spends long nights alone watching tape at his campus-area apartment. The most common subjects for Aldridge, besides himself, are NBA stars Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Aldridge likes Duncan's cool patience and Garnett's fiery attitude. Aldridge learned to run the court relentlessly, one of his best assets, by watching Garnett.

As for his own game, Aldridge studies his shots, hoping to detect how he put himself in good position or bad to take them. Sometimes he's not finished until 2 or 3 a.m.

Who knew that a player so young could set an example for his team?

"It's incredible seeing a kid his age never be content with how good he is," Longhorns senior Brad Buckman said. "He can push you and keep you focused."

That drive and discipline were instilled early by Aldridge's parents, Georgia and Marvin, before they divorced when LaMarcus was 16.

"We didn't stand for disobedience," Georgia said. "He never gave me any trouble."

There was one time, though, during his junior year in high school, when Aldridge went to visit a friend after Georgia had told him not to go. Mom took the keys to his 1992 Honda for two weeks, forcing Aldridge to rely on another friend for rides.

"I learned to do what she said," Aldridge said.

Georgia said she didn't tolerate C's on her son's report card. When Aldridge finally made one ? Georgia thinks he was a junior ? in an advanced-placement class, he was afraid to bring his report card home.

"Coach Allen called to let me know that LaMarcus really tried, so I didn't get mad," Georgia said. "But he never made another C."

That doesn't surprise Randa Ryan, the senior associate athletic director who oversees academic support at Texas for all sports except football.

"It's about being dutiful," Ryan said. "He tries to do the right thing. And he loves learning."

Barnes can support that assertion. Aldridge has cut down on the fouls he commits after a short stretch of games in which he reached for opponents while trying to make steals and jumped into them hoping to block shots.

During that period he listened to tough lectures from Barnes in tape sessions.

"The hardest two days of my life," Aldridge said. "He just killed me."

Aldridge, of course, took the message.

"I don't know if I've ever coached a guy who wants to be coached more than LaMarcus," Barnes said. "He wants to be special." </div>

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