Villanova's Kittles heads newest Big 5 class

STEVE LAPPAS got the job late, after Rollie Massimino had surprisingly left Villanova for UNLV. One of his first tasks was trying to convince Kerry Kittles that Villanova was still the right school for him. So he went to New Orleans.

"As soon as I walked in [to the Kittles' house], he wouldn't even look at me," Lappas said yesterday at the Palestra before the Big 5 Hall of Fame inductions.

During the meeting, Kittles warmed up to Lappas. When Lappas left, the local media were waiting on him. He told them he thought the time with Kittles and his family went well. That night, he watched on television when Kittles said he definitely was not going to Villanova.

Eventually, Lappas persuaded Kittles to try the Main Line, the Big East, the Big 5. Four years later, Kittles had scored more points than any player in school history. He had been a first-team All-America. He became one of the best players in Big 5 history, and certainly the best player Lappas ever coached.

Kittles was at the Palestra yesterday with several of his former 'Nova teammates (Jason Lawson, Jonathan Haynes and Eric Eberz) to be honored along with Rashid Bey (Saint Joseph's), Rick Brunson (Temple), Jewel Clark (Penn) and Stacey Smalls (Temple) as the newest members of the Big 5 Hall of Fame.

"Growing up as a kid in New Orleans, I knew nothing about [big-city basketball]," Kittles said. "My first game in the Palestra, I got a real taste of the city."

Kittles also played Boston, Washington and New York. And he played with a flair few in this city have ever matched.

Kittles and his wife have four daughters. One day, he plans to bring them to the Palestra to see his name on that plaque.

Bey never even thought about college basketball until coaches from Saint Joseph's came calling when he was at St. John Neumann High. He had never heard of St. Joe's. And still wasn't sure about the game or his place in it until Dec. 18, 1994, his third college game.

"One memory that I have, me being a freshman playing Villanova in [the Palestra], Kerry Kittles was going wild on us," Bey said. "I get a big steal, I think I passed it to [Bernard] Blunt. He was always leaking out anyway. We go up and then I hit a big shot. From there, my confidence starting growing. I wanted to do more and be more successful."

He was so successful he was named Big 5 Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998 as a junior and a senior.

After college, Bey played professionally in three countries and has been to just about every continent.

"I'm a product of good coaching and people that cared about me," Bey said.

Brunson was a product of one man who loved him. He wanted to leave Temple.

"I hated that guy," Brunson said.

"That guy" was coach John Chaney. Brunson was talked into staying.

"Best decision I ever made in my life," Brunson said.

Chaney told him that the "best tool for learning is listening."

Brunson listened and learned.

He was on four NCAA teams, first with Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie and then, as a senior, on a team on which he had to do just about everything.

"My senior year, Eddie and Aaron had left and everyone was down on Temple," Brunson said. "Jerome [Allen] and Penn were ranked 25th in the country. They talked in the paper how they were going to win the Big 5. We came in here and beat them and won the Big 5."

Clark never imagined coming to Penn, much less becoming one of her school's all-time best. She was a major piece of Penn's first women's NCAA Tournament (2001) and had a perfect bookend to her career when Penn won the Ivy League again in 2004.

"There is an understanding when you are at Penn that you are not supposed to beat any of the other Big 5 teams because we are in the Ivy League," Clark said.

Penn did not win many Big 5 games, but the Quakers did win a few. And Clark has not forgotten.

Smalls, a point guard, played for Dawn Staley at Temple

"I learned from the best point guard to ever play the game," Smalls said.

She learned so well that she is the only Temple player to score more than 1,000 points and lead her teams in assists all four seasons of her career.

From Barbara Albom and Jerome Allen (both Penn) and Cliff Anderson (St. Joe's) to Randy Woods (La Salle), Tom Wynne (St. Joe's) and Jen Zenszer (La Salle), the Big 5 Hall of Fame is A-to-Z. Make room for Bey, Brunson, Clark, Kittles and Smalls, the Class of 2011.