Higgins Seeking a Magic Number : Basketball: Former Fairfax High and Michigan standout has 10 days to prove himself with Orlando.

When Sean Higgins was beginning his senior year at Fairfax in 1986, he was the West Coast’s most sought-after high school basketball player.

Today, he is trying to earn a job with arguably the NBA’s worst team, the Orlando Magic, who signed him Friday to a 10-day contract.

But Higgins doesn’t feel that his tale is one of woe, just an example of someone who “got caught in the numbers game” with the San Antonio Spurs and is in a position “a lot of guys would love to be in.”

In less than a season and a half in the NBA, Higgins has usually been the odd man out. Last season as a rookie with the Spurs, he played in 50 of 82 regular-season games, averaging 4.5 points in 9.3 minutes per game. This season, he averaged 2.5 points in six games before being released Dec. 13 when the Spurs needed a roster spot for Terry Cummings, who had been on the injured list.

The Charlotte Hornets and Minnesota Timberwolves were among the teams interested in Higgins, but he believed the injury-plagued Magic offered the best opportunity.

“We’re really desperate for good all-around basketball players right now,” said Magic Coach Matt Guokas, whose 7-28 team has an NBA maximum three players on the injured list, including leading scorer Dennis Scott. “Guys who can pass and catch. It sounds like it’s very simple, but we don’t have a lot of that. We have a lot of guys who don’t have the necessary skills to be effective NBA players.”

So far Higgins has proven he has the skills. Making his debut the same day that he signed, and despite not knowing the plays, Higgins made five of seven shots, scoring 13 points in 16 minutes during a 118-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

“I was just trying to fit in,” Higgins said before a 112-99 loss Sunday to the Lakers at the Forum. “The guys were real receptive and we jelled pretty good together. I’m a basketball player. It’s easy for me to play with anybody.”

Two nights later, Higgins scored 15 points in 31 minutes, hitting seven of 15 shots. But the 6-foot-9 swingman was disappointed that he missed two free throws with 4 minutes, 22 seconds left, when Orlando trailed, 91-90.

“Those free throws really devastated me,” Higgins said. “That just ruined my whole night. Anything I did positive before then really didn’t matter after that.”

Higgins had a memorable high school and college career. As a sophomore in 1985, he was the City 3-A Division player of the year, leading Fairfax to a 25-2 record and the championship. He averaged 25.4 points as a junior and 22.8 as a senior as the Lions went 26-1 and won the 4-A title.

He enrolled at Michigan in 1987 after originally signing and being released from a letter of intent at UCLA because of “extenuating circumstances.” Higgins averaged 12.5 points in three seasons with the Wolverines. (In a 1987 interview with Sports Illustrated, Higgins said his stepfather, Clifford Benson-Bey, slapped him in the face, struck him on the shoulder and stood over him with a baseball bat before he signed with the Bruins.)

Higgins was a starter and major contributor to Michigan’s 1989 NCAA championship team. With the Wolverines and Illinois tied at 81 in the final seconds of their Final Four semifinal, Terry Mills missed a three-point attempt from the corner. The 6-9 Higgins battled current teammate Nick Anderson for the rebound and jumped over him to grab the ball. He made a six-foot shot over Anderson for the winning basket.

When the Wolverines took the title two days later, Higgins had 10 points and nine rebounds in an 80-79 overtime victory over Seton Hall.

A year later, Higgins opted to forgo his final season of eligibility to enter the NBA draft.

“I’ve done what I’ve come here to do,” Higgins said in 1990. “That’s to win an NCAA championship.”

The Spurs made Higgins the 54th and final player selected in the 1990 draft.

“If I had stayed in school, I would have been a top-round draft pick,” Higgins said. “But that’s like saying you should have been born yesterday. You never know what could happen. I think it was a good decision because I’m ahead of the guys who came out my year.”

Higgins cited Orlando teammate Chris Corchiani, who played against Higgins in the 1987 McDonald’s high school all-star game.

“He’s getting that rookie treatment now,” Higgins said. “I paid my dues. I learned the ins and outs of the NBA as a rookie. Now I think I’m ready to play in this league.”

On Monday, the Magic will decide whether to re-sign Higgins to another 10-day contract. If they do, Higgins may have a good chance of making the team when that contract expires Jan. 30. Under NBA rules, a team can sign a player to a maximum of two 10-day contracts. At the end of the second contract, a player either must be released or signed for the rest of the season.

“He can shoot the ball,” Guokas said. “So few guys in this league are good perimeter shooters. He certainly has a good-looking shot and a nice touch. What little I’ve seen of him, he looks like he can put the ball on the floor a little back and get to the basket. If he can do those two things, he certainly can score in this league.

“The big question will be . . . defensively. Generally the big guard and small forwards have a full-time job every night. They’re playing against very talented people who they’ve got to neutralize or hopefully play real sound defense against.”

Regardless of Orlando’s decision, Higgins, 23, is set financially for the rest of the season. He is in the final year of a two-year guaranteed contract he signed with San Antonio in 1990.

“I want to keep playing professionally,” Higgins said. “If I didn’t play professionally, I’d be at the rec center playing. That’s how much I love playing.

“I’d just like to take advantage of this. It’s a golden opportunity to play in the NBA. I still have my ultimate goal to be a star in this league. I’m not here to be a marginal-type guy.”