ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : Myers Becomes Bold Around the Basket During Royal Surge

One gets the feeling Russell Myers would rather pass on all this attention stuff.

The Royal High forward with the baby face and baby jumper, with the man-sized body and man-sized inside presence, is--can it be?--shy.

And, for a shy guy, the 6-foot-5 junior did the worst possible thing: He scored 81 points and grabbed 37 rebounds last week in Marmonte League wins over Simi Valley and Newbury Park and a loss to Westlake. He made 27 of 37 field-goal attempts and 27 of 35 free throws in the process and put the Highlanders (11-12, 6-5 in league play) in a position to make the playoffs for the first time since 1973.

Myers is absolutely thrilled.

“It’s a pretty big goal,” he said.

Royal Coach Joe Malkinson smiles and breathes deeply when asked for an explanation of Myers’ personality. He leans back on his chair. He breathes again.

“I really enjoy Russell,” he says finally. “Even though he scored 81 points last week, he doesn’t tell everyone he scored 81 points. You wouldn’t even know it.

“If you want the human side of him, he’s very happy-go-lucky.”

Or go to his best friend on the team--J. P. Ouellette.

“He’s more relaxed, sarcastic, kinda mellow,” Ouellette said. “Russell just lets things come to him.”

Like the ball, for instance. Against Simi Valley, Myers made his first nine shots and scored 31 points as the Highlanders beat their intracity rival for the first time in the past nine tries. Then, on Friday, he scored 32 and had 16 rebounds against Newbury Park.

Myers, however, would prefer to deflect the credit to Royal guards Greg Laranjo and Ouellette.

“I just got the ball more, so I scored more,” Myers said. “All I had to do was make a little layup. Nothing to it.”

Bunches of little layups, actually, but Myers isn’t counting. He’s made lots of those, starting with the times his father, Craig, a coach at Royal in the late ‘70s, would open the school gym for his son.

“When I was little, he always had a key to the gym,” Russell said. “Probably the biggest thing with my development is I’ve been around it so long.”

Craig Myers played basketball at Simi Valley High, continued on at Ventura College and Cal Lutheran and had a tryout with the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Assn.

So Russell gets his court sense from dad?

“We talk a lot, because he knows what he’s talking about,” Russell said. “Usually I don’t listen. I’ve got to learn to listen better.”

He’s listening to someone. Myers is nearing the top of school record lists for points in a season, points in a career; game, season and career rebounds; free throws attempted and made; blocked shots; even charges taken. And, he is still just a junior.

Myers is quick for a player of his size. His slew of uncontested layups are as much a tribute to his speed as they are to the offense.

“This year he looks like an athlete,” Malkinson said. “He always had a quick first step, but this year he has really improved. I don’t think anyone has a chance against Russell at 15 feet because he’s got such a quick first step.”

Malkinson reasons that as the team gets better, so does Myers. And vice versa.

“I think Russell has probably been the impetus, but J. P.’s floor game has improved, everybody’s really has,” he said. “We put it in the big picture rather than telling Russell or J. P. they’ve got to carry us. In the offense we run, Russell gets himself open and the guys get the ball to him.”

Besides, Myers doesn’t need all that attention anyway.