Thompson Has No Fear of Heights : Crenshaw’s High-Flying Guard Has the Talent to Help Syracuse

Talk about leapers! At 6 foot 3 inches, he can work inside and dunk with--and over--the best of ‘em. Hard worker in practice as well as games. Heck of a nice guy, too. And don’t forget that 3.65 grade-point average.

But will Stephen Thompson be as big a hit at Syracuse as he has been for two seasons at Crenshaw High?

No way. Or so people say.

He is a power forward locked in a guard’s body, someone so successful at getting position and then gracefully climbing above the rim for rebounds that at times his jump shot could be listed as MIA.

That’s fine for now, but Walter Berry and the rest of the Big East await, and they don’t figure to be a pushover for this great natural talent.

Besides, he could be pressed into action right away with the Orangemen, who will be very much in the red next year in the guard department, so there won’t be much chance to “bring him along.” Syracuse’s star, Pearl Washington, figures to go hardship; Rafael Addison, moved from forward earlier this season, is a senior, and one guard originally projected as a returnee, Michael Brown, transfered to Clemson when Addison took his starting job.

Still, Coach Jim Boeheim smiles. He signed five high school seniors in November, calling them “the most highly rated group we’ve ever had.” In that group are Thompson and point guard Earl Duncan from St. Monica of Santa Monica.

And Boeheim chuckles at the thought that Thompson’s style won’t get the job done in college. He has heard that before.

“He makes the plays when the game is on the line to beat you,” Boeheim said. “It’s the same old story that people were saying about Pearl Washington, that he can’t shoot outside but still scores a lot. It’s the same thing with Steve. He just beats you.

“In our system, we run and press. So he doesn’t have to be able to shoot 20-foot jump shots all night. He can play transition basketball and use his jumping ability to work inside. He can shoot, but why have him do it if it’s not needed? I’ve never criticized a player before for taking a layup.”

Thompson and Crenshaw Coach Willie West, subscribe to the same theory.

“I don’t know how the coach plans to use him, but he is the type of athlete who can adjust with little trouble,” West said. of Thompson. “He has that toughness about him that makes him such a success.”

Said Thompson: “I like the way my game is. During league, I was shooting a lot from the outside, but during the playoffs it tapered down because Coach West wanted me to play more inside. Besides, why shoot 20-foot bombs when you can shoot layups?”

And if the opposition forces him to shoot outside?

“That’s what I want people to say so they will give me five feet of space,” he said. “Then I’ll bust all night.”

Life above the rim, Thompson says, is “an exciting feeling. When I watch them play in the pros and in college, it looks so fun. Dunking in someone’s face is really exciting because that shows you can jump above someone and still slam.

“When I come down on a fast break, I’m thinking, ‘What should I do this time?’ After I do the dunk, I know how good it was by the roar of the crowd. I can hear how they rated me.

“It’s a lot of fun. In the 10th grade, me and Dion (Brown, now a starting forward) would compete a lot, trying to come up with different slam dunks. We would see what we could create in the air. It just carried on until now.”

West would provide a prologue: “He came down on a breakaway a couple of times, and it was like he left the floor at the free throw line. I don’t think he actually did, but it’s like he just glides.”

Thompson was just a JV player as a sophomore, a year after transferring from Long Beach St. Anthony, and one who often faced the varsity in practice. Part of that meant going against John Williams, then a high school All-American, which made for tough workouts but also provided a chance to learn.

So when he started on the varsity last season, as Crenshaw won the second of its three straight City titles, there was no holding back. He averaged 28 points a game in winning the scoring title and was named City 4-A player of the year.

Thompson spent a lot of time at the gym during summer vacation, practicing with Crenshaw grads Williams, Marques Johnson, Darwin Cook and Robert Smith. They concentrated on the jump shot. They would take turns at different spots on the perimeter, then move to a new area for another 25. That would go on for hours a day.

He also went to the Nike camp in Princeton, N.J., where Boeheim got his first look.

Thompson didn’t lead the City in scoring this season, even though he averaged about 34 points a game--Jerry Simon of Marshall beat him out with a 37.8-point average--but a second straight 4-A player-of-the-year award is a cinch.

Thompson will also go out with two straight City titles--and if the Cougars (24-2) beat Oakland Bishop O’Dowd (31-4) Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum, with two straight state Division I championships.

“I don’t want to go out a loser,” he said. “I made a bet with myself that this will be the best high school game I’ve ever had.”