Decision by Heaps Has Been March Maddening

Forgive Jay Heaps for having second thoughts Saturday. Or even third or fourth thoughts.

Somewhat to his dismay, Heaps was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with the rest of the Miami Fusion, preparing for today’s Major League Soccer game against the New England Revolution.

But--and this is the troubling aspect--he could have been in St. Petersburg, with the rest of the Duke team, for Saturday night’s Final Four game against Michigan State, which the Blue Devils won 68-62.

“It’s such a bittersweet feeling, knowing I’m not there,” Heaps, 22, told the Associated Press earlier this week.

And the closer the Blue Devils get to the NCAA title, the more Heaps second-guesses himself about deciding in December to forgo being a backup guard at Duke to become a starting midfielder-defender for the Fusion.

At the time, it seemed the right choice for the 5-foot-9 walk-on. It probably still is, but watching Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, William Avery and the rest of his former teammates close in on the NCAA title has been heart-wrenching.

“I miss just being with the guys,” he said. “It’s so exciting after 3 1/2 years. This is the goal, to get to the Final Four. So to see them there, I know the pain and everything they went through to get there. I miss being part of what they’re doing now.”

Heaps was only a bit player at Duke, coming on in the closing stages of games that were already salted away.

He played in six games as a freshman, eight as a sophomore, 12 as a junior and four this season before declaring for the MLS draft, in which he was the No. 2 overall pick. He totaled 69 minutes, eight points, 15 assists, eight steals and five rebounds.

On the soccer field, it was a different matter.

Heaps scored 45 goals for the Blue Devils--third on Duke’s all-time list--and assisted on 37 others, fourth-best all time. In December, he won the Missouri Athletic Club Award as college soccer’s top player.

“He may be as good an athlete as has ever played at Duke University,” Blue Devil basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski told the AP. “To play soccer and be on our team shows what type of kid he is.”

Heaps, from Longmeadow, Mass., said basketball made him a better soccer player.

“The level of intensity of Duke basketball is something most college soccer players never get to experience,” he told the Miami Herald earlier this month. “It really gave me a competitive edge. Plus, all the footwork and jumping and fitness you need for basketball transfers over to soccer.”

He might have had few minutes on the basketball floor, but Heaps made the most of them, impressing Blue Devil fans with his 38-inch vertical leap. It also impressed Fusion Coach Ivo Wortmann.

“I think Jay has shown that he is ready to play,” Wortmann said. “His first-step jumping is unbelievable.”

That ability was put to good use last Saturday, when Heaps headed in a goal against the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in his MLS debut.

This weekend, though, Heaps’ mind is on hoops.