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Friday, July 13, 2001

Sports

Mallon battles with elite
Spreading his wings

Dave Trimmer
The Spokesman-Review

photo
Christopher Anderson - The Spokesman-Review
Ferris senior Sean Mallon was dominant at the state tournament last season and held his own with players from all over the country at the recent Nike Camp.

All this time we've had it wrong.

Those big summer basketball camps, the prep meat markets for college coaches we just read about, aren't what we thought.

It's not just for the big names to prance, hoping to draw the attention of Coach K and The General, even if he is in Lubbock now.

That's what Sean Mallon learned.

The 6-foot-9 senior-to-be at Ferris just returned from the Nike Camp in Indianapolis. He is the first Spokane player to hit a big-time camp since they became recruiting necessities over the last decade.

"It was a good trip but I'm glad to be back," said Mallon, who was gone for six days.

And that's the first thing to learn about the camp. It's not just a place to put players trolling for scholarships in front of coaches casting for athletes.

Mallon committed to Gonzaga University last spring, though he is free to change his mind until he signs a letter of intent in November.

It won't happen -- changing his mind, that is.

> First, Gonzaga is one of the schools that recommended Mallon for an invitation.

Obviously, the Zags staff is confident in Mallon's commitment and they wanted him to get a taste of the talent he'll face in the future.

And it couldn't hurt that if Mallon played well, combined with Gonzaga's new national prominence, even more big-time players would open their door when the Zags came knocking.

"I thought I played pretty well," Mallon said. "You could tell a lot of guys were trying to impress coaches."

Many would pass on the dish to bust a move and then look into the stands to see who was watching.

"That," Mallon said, "was kind of frustrating."

And that is another reason Mallon knows Gonzaga is for him.

"Going there made me feel better about my decision," he said. "A lot of guys there were good but I didn't like the way they played basketball."

He mentioned words like passing and team, things most players and fans thought were important until recent Zags star Casey Calvary found the bridge from college to pros washed out by individualism.

The camp wasn't all balling, either. The first couple of days, before recruiting season opened, the 190 invitees went to seminars, ranging from leadership to dining etiquette. Games were limited to the evening.

Camp counselors, elite college players that included GU's Dan Dickau, also answered questions candidly.

The last three days, under the piercing eyes of recruiters, there were drill stations, 3-on-3, shooting and games. Mallon's crew was competitive, though they finished 2-4 with three losses by a basket.

Mallon went in with the assumption, shared by many, that Washington in general and Spokane in particular was a little behind the basketball curve of the high-profile areas in the South and East.

"I realized that's not true," he said.

Mallon is listed on one recruiting site as the No. 2 prospect in the state behind Garfield's Brandon Roy, who left the Nike Camp early, citing a sore knee. Shadle Park's Danny Pariseau and Brett Weisner, not invited to a big camp, are in the top 10.

The Shadle teammates and Mallon are on a summer team that is playing in a tournament in Seattle this weekend before heading off to Las Vegas and Los Angeles at the end of the month.

In fact, there are three Spokane teams, bolstered by area players, on the same circuit and Mallon thinks a number of local players can compete with the name players.

"They can definitely play (with anybody)," Mallon said. "Any of those guys can go (to camp) and hold their own."

His advice to his friends -- or friendly rivals -- is simple:

"Don't be afraid of anybody. Don't get me wrong, those guys were good players, but they're so hyped up. Just play your game and you'll be just fine."

In fact, Mallon would have welcomed the companionship of Weisner and, especially, Pariseau.

"I haven't played with those guys in (at least a) month," Mallon said. "I love playing with those guys . . . the three of us play well together, we get along so well. . . . I think it would have been good to have Danny back there. A lot of point guards aren't really point guards. . . . He knows how to get you the ball."

Mallon has a scholarship in hand. Pariseau and Weisner give Spokane three probable Division I recruits. On the tourney trail, look for Mallon to try to help his friends look good for the bloodhounds.

Back at Nike, Mallon was impressed with Amare Stoudemire of Orlando.

While the most talented, Stoudemire's skills, Mallon observed, were lacking, the opposite of his No. 2 pick, Shavik Randolph of Raleigh, N.C. A 6-10 post being recruited by Duke and North Carolina, Randolph is skilled but not as athletic.

But those are just one player's observations, though a Nike camper is worth believing.

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