Published: July 14, 2007 09:02 pm            

Curry making the trip to pro ball

JamesOn Curry was one of the most popular basketball players ever to suit up for Oklahoma State.

But just less than a month ago, he became one of the most second-guessed when he elected to keep his name in the NBA draft pool instead of returning to Stillwater for his senior year.

Curry’s decision looked like a good one on June 28, when the Chicago Bulls selected him in the second round, 51st overall. It looked even better on Friday night, when he had his best game thus far in the NBA summer league.

Curry, who has played in all five of the Bulls’ games, made his second start in Orlando. He hit 8-of-13 shots for 19 points against New Jersey and added six assists and six rebounds, while turning over the ball just three times.

In five games he is averaging 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, three assists and 1.6 turnovers. He is at 50 percent on field goals (17-of-34) and 3-pointers (3-of-6). He has also hit 10-of-13 free throws.

“(The pro game) is slowing down already,” said Curry by phone from Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Bulls would meet Philadelphia on Monday. “I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s more simple.”

In fact, Curry said the system the Bulls run is less complex than what OSU did.

His ability to learn the system and his performance thus far have Curry confident he’ll be on the Bulls’ roster when the regular season rolls around in November.

“I’ll be fine,” Curry said. “I know I will be. I’ll be here for sure.”

But he knows it will take a lot of work and focus.

In fact, Curry has gone back to the short haircut he had his first two seasons as a Cowboy rather than last year’s braids. He said he did it for two reasons — to give himself a fresh start and so he wouldn’t have to spend as much time on his hair.

That is valuable time he could be spending working on his game.

But the 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard added, “I will eventually have (the braids) again.”

There are several players on the Bulls team who are familiar to Curry and OSU basketball fans.

Among them are Missouri’s Thomas Gardner, Iowa State’s Jackson Vroman, Oral Roberts’ Caleb Green and Pittsburgh’s Aaron Gray.

Gray was the center for the No. 7 Panthers when No. 15 OSU knocked them off, 95-89, in double overtime in Oklahoma City’s Ford Center on Dec. 21.

Curry said he and Gray have talked about the game, but there has been little mention of the game’s outcome.

“I’m not much of a trash talker,” Curry said. “Of course, if it came down to it, I would remind him who won.”

But the Pleasant Grove, N.C., native has bigger concerns now.

“It’s so surreal right now that it’s hard to explain,” Curry said. “I just go day by day.”

Having set the North Carolina state high school record with 3,307 points and originally committing to North Carolina, Curry grew up idolizing North Carolinian and UNC product Michael Jordan, who led the Bulls to six World Championships in the 1990s.

“It’s a blessing to go in there and work out and see all the things that Michael helped accomplish,” Curry said. “I haven’t met him yet, but I did see Larry Bird and Pat Riley.”

Now, Curry is in a league where he is mentioned along with the likes of some of the legends.

“Coming from North Carolina to Oklahoma, my whole story ...” Curry said. “Someday maybe I can make a movie.”

He said, despite OSU’s struggles the past two years, he still sees a bright future for the Cowboys — he called Obi Muonelo and Marcus Dove good players and Sean Sutton a great coach — and he had a few things to say to Cowboy fans.

“Thank you,” Curry said. “I appreciate everything and every bit of it. I’m still a part of the OSU family and I’ll be back in Stillwater plenty.”



Jacob Longan writes for Stillwater (Okla.) NewsPress.

        

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