Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, February 24, 2005
“I’m pretty sure that me not liking Alex
Rodriguez is not a groundbreaking story. ”
Curt Schilling | Red Sox pitcher
I
A
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Oregon’s Adrian Stelly, seen here driving the ball against Portland, has seen action in four games this year as
the team’s lone walk-on player.
Adrian Stelly made his walk-on
dehut in 2002 and has provided
strong defense in team practices
BY CLAYTON JONES
SPORTS EDITOR
Putting on an Oregon uniform, seeing your
name stitched on the back and playing
basketball at the historic McArthur Court
means a lot for any player.
For Adrian Stelly, a walk-on who worked
with the McArthur Court maintenance crew
two years ago moving baskets and sweeping
floors, it’s a thrill.
“When I first got my jersey, I looked at the back
where my name was stitched on and smiled,”
Stelly said. “It was real nice to see that.”
While the sophomore hasn’t seen more
than 10 minutes on the court or scored a sin
gle point in his two years with the team, his
presence is felt during practice.
“Stelly gives me fits every time in practice,”
starting point guard Aaron Brooks said. “He
comes in and makes guys work real hard, and
he’s a great player.
“I think he’s the No. 1 walk-on in the country.”
Teammate and fellow Portland Inter
scholastic League grad Brandon Lincoln said
the effort Stelly brings on the court keeps the
team honest when preparing for an opponent.
“He keeps us accountable on walk
throughs and scout teams,” the Jefferson
graduate said. “He is constantly harassing the
ball in practice and plays tenacious defense.
He brings a lot of energy and is a pest on de
fense, always reaching and making sure we
are keeping a good hold of the ball.”
While Stelly currently lives in Eugene, his
story begins halfway around the world in Italy.
Stelly was born in Naples, where his father,
George, worked with computers for the mili
tary. His family lived in Italy for two years be
fore relocating to Portland.
His parents divorced soon after, and he
went to live with his mother. When she later
met Troy Berry, then an assistant coach at
Benson High School, Stelly got seriously into
basketball for the first time.
Danielle Hickey | Photo editor
Adrian Stelly, right, shares a laugh with Ray Schafer
earlier this season. Before coming to Oregon, Stelly
played at state powerhouse Benson High School.
“While (Berry) was coaching at Benson, 1
was a ball boy there,” Stelly said. “That is how
me and Brandon (Lincoln) know each other.
Back then, his brother played for Benson, and
we used to hang out when we were little.”
Even with all his connections, Stelly got a
late start into organized basketball.
“In middle school, I wanted to play on a
team, but our school was so small we didn’t
have one,” Stelly said. “There really wasn't an
opportunity for me to play, so when that op
portunity arose, I took it.”
That opportunity arrived at one of the best
high school basketball programs in the state.
He played on the Benson freshman team his
first year, the junior-varsity team his sopho
more year, and he split time between the JV
STELLY, page 14
■ Women's basketball
Oregon looks to sweep Stanford
The Ducks upset the now-No. 3
Cardinal for one of only two
Standford losses on the season
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Almost two months ago, something very
unusual happened to the Stanford women’s
basketball team. It lost.
In its second game of the conference season,
the Cardinal dropped a shocker to the Ducks
— its only loss to a Pacific-10 Conference op
ponent this season. Since that time, the No. 3
Cardinal has won 15 straight contests.
The Ducks’ 62-58 victory at McArthur
Court allowed them to be the only team —
other than Stanford (24-2 overall, 15-1 Pac
10) — to go undefeated at home in Pac-10
play this season.
This time around, the Ducks (18-7, 11-5)
pay a visit to Maples Pavilion — where they
are 1-17 all-time — with the weight of a 2-5
road record against Pac-10 teams resting on
their shoulders.
“We’re really excited to get down to their
house and see if we’ve improved over the
season,” Oregon freshman Gabrielle
Richards said. “The weekend here against
Kate Horton | Photographe*
Senior point guard
Corrie Mizusawa, a
Bay Area native,
hopes to help
Oregon close out its
season with a pair
of wins against
Stanford and
California.
the Arizona schools has just given us the ex
tra encouragement to go out and finish the
season strong.”
The Ducks snuck into second place in the
conference by defeating Arizona State and
Arizona last week, and they are now fighting
off the competition to secure the second seed
in the Pac-10 Tournament and an NCAA
Tournament berth.
“I don’t think our team feels comfortable
at all,” Oregon head coach Bev Smith said.
“Our team is still hungry to make sure we do
WOMEN, page 14
■ Men's basketball
A rut in the
mud should
be overcome
next season
Ernie Kent equated his young
Ducks' current playing styles to
that of a freshman Luke Ridnour
BY JON ROLTMAN
SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER
Former Oregon guard Anthony Lever ap
proached Ernie Kent after the Ducks’ 92-67 loss
to Arizona last Thursday at the McKale Center.
After watching the youthful Ducks struggle to
execute in transition, Lever said to his old head
coach, “It looks like they’re stuck in the mud.”
Kent agreed that his team wasn’t running the
floor with the efficiency needed for his style of
offense to be effective. But Kent also reminded
Lever that he too looked like he was “stuck in
the mud” when he first transferred to Oregon
MEN, page 14