A Longley Journey to the Top : College basketball: Lobos’ 7-2 center, a perfect yet puzzling pro prospect, is unfazed by his rigorous schedule.

The latest Tom Petty album played in the background as Luc Longley spoke into the telephone.

Basketball practice at the University of New Mexico had finished a couple of hours earlier, and Longley’s Lobo teammates had scattered into the night. But Longley’s day wasn’t finished.

It seems as if it never is.

His life has pretty much consisted of non-stop basketball since he arrived at New Mexico for the 1987-88 season from Perth, Australia. In addition to New Mexico’s seasons, he played on the Australian Olympic team in 1988 and, as a member of the Australian National Team, played in the Goodwill Games and World Games last summer.

Another day, another basketball practice.

“Yeah, it does get tiring at times,” he said. “I think sometimes you go through a burnout stage. . . . I haven’t really experienced that. I still enjoy basketball.”

On most nights, Longley is brilliant in the middle. On other nights, basketball people from his coach to NBA scouts think he lets his concentration slip away more than he should. These are the times that make Longley one of the more perplexing--as well as one of the best--centers in college basketball.

When he is not playing the game, he ends up thinking about it, or talking about it. These days, he figures, he does four or five interviews a week with out-of-state publications.

“In-state, it’s more than that,” he said.

Sports Illustrated has visited. Basketball Weekly, Basketball Times . . . the list goes on. This is what happens when you are a senior center who stands 7-feet-2, have 265 pounds streamlined on your frame and are blessed with enough talent to keep opposing coaches up nights.

When New Mexico plays Thursday at San Diego State, 11 NBA representatives will be at the San Diego Sports Arena.

“I’ll be honest with you--there are no secrets at this level,” said Mitch Kupchak, assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers. “He is seen dozens of times each game he plays by dozens of NBA scouts.

“He has the potential to be a very good NBA center as far as athletic ability, size, basketball savvy and skills.”

Kupchak, who said he already has seen Longley a couple of times, will be in San Diego Thursday to see him again. Kupchak figures Longley will be an NBA lottery draft pick (somewhere in the top 11) in June.

“He could be a dominant force,” Kupchak said. “Right now, he’s an excellent college player. It always depends on who goes hardship and (who has) injuries, but, yes, he easily should be a lottery pick.

“He’d really have to show almost no promise the rest of the year for him to not be a lottery pick.”

Longley, who will turn 22 Saturday, has started 80 consecutive games for the Lobos and has scored in double figures in 47 consecutive games. He is 12th on the NCAA career blocked shots list--and the nation’s active leader--with 297.

This year, he is averaging 18.6 points a game, 9.6 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. He is shooting 68% from the floor. In the past seven games, he has averaged 21.6 points.

But these are numbers, and numbers--good or bad--don’t always tell a basketball player’s complete story. What helps set Longley apart is his intelligence.

“He knows how to play the game,” Kupchak said. “He knows how to pass the ball, when to hit cutters, take shots, set picks, outlet the ball. Those are the kind of things that have nothing to do with raw ability.”

He can pass. He is tied for second on the team in assists and has been called the best passing college center since Bill Walton. But he also has a bad habit of throwing the ball away, leading the team with 67 turnovers. Point guard Ike Williams is a distant second with 47.

“He is very adroit in passing, but his decisions are sometimes bad,” New Mexico Coach Dave Bliss said.

Also, in three Western Athletic Conference games, Longley has yet to reach double figures in rebounding. Moments like these are what make people wonder about his intensity.

Longley thinks this reputation is undeserved.

“I think it’s more media-generated than factual,” he said. “You can only be so aggressive in WAC basketball when you’re bigger than everybody before you foul out.”

Former New Mexico Coach Gary Colson discovered Longley in Australia and brought him to Albuquerque. Longley made an easy adjustment, and quickly became popular with teammates.

“The first time we ever met, we went out to a few parties,” senior guard Rob Robbins said, laughing. “I let him drive my car, and he drove it down the wrong side of the busiest street in Albuquerque.”

Robbins, who has been a teammate of Longley’s for four years, thinks Longley has handled the attention well partly because he is a foreigner.

“I think most Americans would get cocky with it and develop an attitude,” Robbins said. “He takes it in stride. I think it’s his upbringing. Where he comes from, they’re more laid back. He feels fortunate.”

On the other hand, some people attribute his concentration lapses to cultural differences between Australia and the United States.

“In most people’s upbringing, intensity is a major part,” Bliss said. “But he hasn’t had ‘Little League syndrome,’ as I call it.

“Very few players have had less preparation for (Division I basketball). He comes from a society where basketball is not as important or urgent. Intensity hasn’t been schooled into him.”

Said Kupchak: “A guy his size can have a great college career by virtue of his talent and size. At the next level, there are a lot of guys his size. He’s going to have to show more aggression. At (the NBA level), he’s not going to be able to do what he did on raw ability alone.”

The extremes in Longley’s game were magnified last summer. At the Goodwill Games, he lost his starting spot and scored just nine points in three games.

“I was playing like a dog,” he said. “You’ve got to have your ups and downs. Everybody does. You’ve got to hit the valleys to know how high the peaks are, right?”

A peak came a few weeks later, at the World Games, when he out-dueled Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning during a 79-78 loss to the United States. He scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and six blocked shots while holding Mourning to eight points and 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

Basketball in the winter. Basketball in the summer. One day you play against Mourning in the World Games. A few months later, you’re at Air Force. Maybe all of the basketball in the past year has changed his outlook on the game. Bliss has noticed a difference.

“He’s much more aggressive this year,” Bliss said. “He’s much more emotional and mature, and much more committed.”

Longley said constantly thinking about basketball has helped his game as much as constantly playing it.

“I kept talking, eating and breathing basketball,” he said. “That helps. That’s the best way to improve.”

Longley thought about turning pro after last season but decided against it.

“There were some things in college I wanted to do,” he said. “You can never regain your senior year. My game wasn’t ready yet. And, the NCAA tourney, we haven’t been to one yet. There’s one remedy.”

New Mexico has won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons but has been unable to make the tournament. The Lobos have appeared in seven National Invitational Tournaments in a row.

If Longley and his mates plan to earn an NCAA bid, they are going to have to turn things around. A preseason pick to win the WAC this season, the Lobos arrive in San Diego having lost three WAC games in a row. Longley needs to rebound more, and his teammates need to pull things together.

Longley is unconcerned. He does his interviews, listens to Petty or two of his favorites--Australian rock bands Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil--and says he will continue to improve. No worries here, mate.

“No one knows how good I’m going to be,” he said.

He laughed when he said that, an I’ll-show-you, determined type of laugh.

“Some people would disagree,” he said. “Not the guy talking to you.

“People have different ways of going about things. Some people jump and rave and holler about what they do. That’s not me. I believe actions speak louder than words.”