Rich Hofmann | Skuchas makes most of his shot
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Playing big-time college athletics is about bargains and opportunities. Talking to Ted Skuchas, you get the idea that
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Playing big-time college athletics is about bargains and opportunities. Talking to Ted Skuchas, you get the idea that
he understood that from the
beginning.
Here in the Sweet 16 of another NCAA Tournament, Skuchas is an anomaly. A 6-11 center out of Germantown Academy, he does not start for a Vanderbilt team that will play Georgetown tonight at Continental Airlines Arena. A fifth-year senior, he
already has an undergraduate
degree in computer engineering and is working toward a master's in economics. A kid who still has hopes of playing professionally, he is one of those backbone-of-the-program types with an old-timey sensibility about what being a college athlete is
all about.
Specifically, that it is about
college as much as athletics.
"I've had my ups and my downs - every college player has that," he said. "It's one of those things where I tried to put myself in a position to give myself a good education, to give
me an opportunity to have a
successful life after basketball and be able to play myself into a
situation where I'll be able to
continue playing basketball after college.
"I went in and graduated after 4 years from the engineering school. I'm getting my master's right now [in economics], so I feel like I've covered the success after basketball. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue to play after this. Only time will tell."
Skuchas was sitting in a cramped locker room, talking about life and basketball and Vanderbilt and another run in March, his second time to the Sweet 16 with the Commodores. That he is enjoying the ride is clear. He sits there and says, "It's great to be here, it's a great opportunity, we're just trying to savor what we can," and you can tell how much he means it -
especially the savoring part.
Because, well, who knew?
Coming out of GA, playing on that great team with Lee
Melchionni and Matt Walsh,
Skuchas said he was recruited
a bit by Villanova and Saint Joseph's. But, he said, "I knew that I needed to kind of branch out a little bit and find a place that
really fit me, and I think I found that in Vanderbilt. I'm happy with my decision but I'm always rooting for the Philly schools."
To repeat, though: who knew? You visit the school and meet the coach and you think you know, but you don't know. You get on the plane and you unpack your stuff and then you find out - about school, about your friends, about how good a player you really are.
It is never smooth, never a straight line. Skuchas said,
"Every college basketball player goes through slumps. You're
going to have good times and you're going to have bad times. Some things off the court can
affect you. Sometimes your shot isn't falling."
He talked some more, then
offered the universal basketball
solution. "You've just got to put up more shots," Skuchas said.
He averages 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in just under 16 minutes per game. He has blocked 28 shots, the most on the team. In Vanderbilt's double-overtime win over Washington State in the NCAA Tournament's second round, Skuchas played 28 minutes and scored the first four points of the second overtime. There are people who believe it was his best game of the season.
Still, Skuchas has no problem with reality. As he said, "It's one of those things where you know you have three great scorers [led by Derrick Byars, the SEC Player of the Year] and you try to work through them and create yourself opportunities when you can. I know I can block shots and rebound and play defense. You try to use that - defense is such a team game - and use that to propel yourself and just kind of work your way in the
offense.
"I know I'm not a major threat. I know I'm not a first, second, third or probably even fourth
option. But I know that when I get the opportunity to score, I'm going to try to make the most of it."
Reality, then. Four years ago, Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee made national headlines by dismantling the school's athletic department and putting sports under the umbrella of Division
of Student Life and University Affairs. Skuchas said the changes were mostly "administrative," and had no real day-to-day effect on his life as a basketball player.
At the same time, though, he talks about the array of advisers, counselors and tutors available to all scholarship athletes at every big school. Skuchas said,
"Today, in athletics, there is so much support," and the lesson
is clear enough.
That is, the bargain between colleges and athletes has always been the same: The school will use the kid for its benefit and the kid will use the school for his or her benefit. But in an era where the best kids use college as a waiting room for the NBA, there still are the rest. There are thousands of them, kids like Ted
Skuchas, who all have this great opportunity if they can just
recognize it.
Anyway, somebody asked about the double-overtime game against Washington State. Skuchas said, "I know I played well in it. I don't really look at stats or minutes played or anything like that. I just try to figure out how I can contribute to winning - that's the most important thing to me.
"I don't want to stop playing," he said. "This is my last time in college basketball so I want to keep on getting as many games as I can."
And after the last game, the rest seems taken care of. *
Send e-mail to
For recent columns, go to