Former Fairfax Star Finds He Still Has Touch : Basketball: Chris Mills, who sat out a season after playing as a freshman at Kentucky, is preparing to play for U.S. national team.

As much as he might like to think otherwise, Chris Mills is not just another member of the United States national basketball team. The former Fairfax High standout and two-time Times Westside Player of the Year is the only player on the squad who did not play collegiately last year.

By NCAA regulations, Mills sat out the 1989-90 season at Arizona after transferring from Kentucky. Mills would prefer that people forget the circumstances that prompted him to leave.

The NCAA said that in April, 1988, a Kentucky assistant coach violated rules by sending an overnight mail envelope containing $1,000 to Mills’ father. Although Mills was not named in the investigation that placed Kentucky on probation, the NCAA prohibited him from playing for the school again.

Coming off a freshman season in which he averaged 14.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game and with three years of eligibility remaining, Mills was a valuable commodity. He strongly considered transferring to UCLA before finally settling on Arizona as his new school.

“It was pretty close,” Mills said.

But Arizona and its team chemistry won out.

“I liked it a lot, and I knew I would blend in better,” Mills said. “At Arizona, it’s not like you have one guy as a superstar and everything comes after him. Everybody plays a role and wants to win.”

Mills wanted to play immediately after transferring, but the NCAA unexpectedly decided he would have to wait a year, like any other transfer, because he had not appealed his ineligibility at Kentucky.

He practiced with the team, but when game time rolled around, he was reduced to the role of spectator.

“It was really tough at first,” Mills said. “But I knew there was nothing I could do, and I got used to it.”

With the time saved by not making road trips, Mills could devote more attention to his studies, resulting in his best year academically. He stayed sharp on the court as well, and when he was invited to the national team’s trials in mid-May, it didn’t take long for him to return to top form.

“I took some time to get used to it (the competition), but by the second day I felt like I was fitting in,” Mills said.

Mills’ better-than-expected play impressed Duke University’s Mike Krzyzewski, who is head coach of the national team.

“He’s been a surprise,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s gotten better as the whole process has moved along. It’s evident that he’s a fine player.”

Mills is among 16 players on the team. One more player will be cut to trim the roster to its final size before it begins competition in the Goodwill Games in Seattle on July 23.

The Mills has one outstanding asset that makes him likely to be among the final 15.

“His versatility,” Krzyzewski said. “He can play a number of different positions. He’s a very well-rounded basketball player.”

Mills won’t have to worry about scoring. With a team that’s stocked with the likes of Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson, Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning, Syracuse’s Billy Owens and Arkansas’ Todd Day, the U.S. should have no problem scoring. Mills said his biggest contributions will come on defense.

“Defensively, I’ll need to help a lot,” Mills said. “The scoring will come. However, defense we need to work on.”

When he begins his first season at Arizona, Mills expects to be playing at small forward and to fulfill different obligations than his role on the national team.

“They’re going to look for me to score a lot,” Mills said.

At Kentucky, he played at every position except center. He even endured the nerve-rattling experience of starting at point guard against Duke in a nationally televised game in his collegiate debut.

Mills remembers holding his own in that game, and Krzyzewski had good things to say about his performance as well. Nevertheless, didn’t the 6-foot-6 Mills seem a bit out of place playing point guard?

“He never looks out of place on a basketball court,” Krzyzewski said.

Mills said he might also see action at shooting guard at Arizona.

No matter what capacity he’s used in, Mills will be happy to be playing again, and perhaps by being a regular member of the team he can end the talk of his past.

“I would think that would happen,” Mills said. “I had a year off, and it kind of died down, but now that I’m playing again it’s starting over.”

Mills frequently talks of “blending in.” With the Goodwill Games ahead and the first of what should be three productive seasons at Arizona, it appears he might have finally found the right mix.