Msu’s Sleeping Giant Awakes Just In Time Dampier Stands Between Uconn And Trip To The Ncaa’s Elite Eight
The scouting report was brief, but very much to the point. “Great size, great strength. Must be aware of where he is at all times.”
The Princeton players read it, memorized it and couldn’t do a thing about it. Not many teams have had much better success in handling Mississippi State’s Erick Dampier, the 6-foot-11-inch, 265-pound, three-time All-Southeastern Conference center.
“Biggest man I’ve ever seen,” muttered one Princeton player after Dampier jammed in 9 of his first 10 shots, all from 5 feet or closer, in the Bulldogs’ 63-41 win over the Tigers in last weekend’s NCAA Southeast Regional second-round game.
Dampier, who “cooled off” to finish with a 10-for-12 shooting night and 20 points, may be the biggest man the University of Connecticut’s Travis Knight must deal with in this tournament. The top-seeded Huskies face No. 5 seed Mississippi State on Friday night in Lexington, Ky.
In a season when the University of Massachusetts’ Marcus Camby and Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan have been the dominant big men, Dampier hardly has received a mention outside the SEC.
One reason may be Dampier’s demeanor, which is on the low side of quiet in what is hardly a media mecca. Then there is Dampier’s competitive clock, which is not always ticking.
Not even Mississippi State coach Richard Williams, who recruited Dampier out of New Hebron, Miss., can figure it out.
“With Erick, you never know,” said Williams. “I can’t tell when he’s really going to be focused. I never know what the level of his game will be when he walks out on the court. But when he sets his mind to dominate a game, he can do it.”
Dampier says his mind-set is just fine now that it’s March. “You know if you lose, the season is over,” said Dampier, who has always played well in the NCAA tournament, the primary reason Mississippi State is making a return visit to the Sweet 16.
That’s the dangerous part for the Huskies. Most people figured they would have problems with No. 4 seed UCLA or No. 2 Cincinnati or No. 3 Georgia Tech when they first looked at the pairings last week.
But Princeton took care of UCLA in Indianapolis, and Cincinnati and Georgia Tech will meet in Thursday’s other Southeast final, which leaves Mississippi State as the next major obstacle for the Huskies.
The Bulldogs, who were projected as a Top 10 team in a lot of preseason publications, never really hit their stride until the end of the season, climaxed by a victory in the SEC tournament final over Kentucky.
Dampier is the indicator for how State will play. If he plays big, the Bulldogs can be a very dangerous team. “We need the big man playing hard for us to go as far as this team can go,” said point guard Marcus Bullard.
Dampier wasn’t even the best big man coming out of his state in high school. Or at least not the best known. That honor went to Othella Harrington, who chose to head north to Georgetown.
Dampier was a homeboy. The kid who was 6-7 in seventh grade was never very forceful, even on the court. It seemed he had to be pushed or challenged.
Williams did that from the start, and Dampier has improved each season, finishing up this year with 14.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
He considered going into the NBA after his sophomore season last year, but after talking to NBA super scout Marty Blake, he decided against it. “(Blake) said I had to work on my offensive game a little,” said Dampier, who has a body that could be compared to that of a young Darryl Dawkins, who joked that he came from the planet Lovetron.
When Dampier has his mind focused on the task at hand, he can look like a player from another planet. Although he hasn’t said anything officially, he is reportedly leaning toward the NBA this season.
But that won’t be a real priority until the season is over, and if Dampier brings his “A” game to Rupp Arena Friday night, that might not happen for a while.