These Two Players Know All About Tough Battles

For any McDonald’s high school All-American who feels he deserves a break, there’s always summer camp--this is, Nike camp at Indianapolis, adidas ABCD camp at Teaneck, N.J., Five-Star camp at Coraopolis, Pa. All places where hoop dreams can be made or broken.

There was no Nike Peach Jam camp in Atlanta or adidas Big-Time tournament action in Las Vegas for two players who have had a big-time impact on their teams this season--George Mason University’s George Evans and Florida State’s Monte Cummings.

Oh, they went to camp all right--boot camp.

Evans and Cummings are among the few, the proud--players who served in the military before command performances in college basketball.

Evans, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, received some recruiting feelers as a prep player in Portsmouth, Va., but joined the Army because his family needed the money. He served eight years, including combat in the Middle East and tours of duty in Haiti and Somalia--certainly far from the promise of playing in a Rose Garden.

Cummings, a 6-4 junior guard, wasn’t recruited out of high school in Quincy, Fla., so he made a turnaround jumper to the Army. He served three years in Europe--where he was far from an accidental tourist.

“The Army was kind of my only option, but it was a really good option for me,” Cummings told CBS.SportsLine.com this month. “It taught me a lot about myself and about what it takes to succeed in life.”

Both players found their salvation playing on armed forces basketball teams. Evans impressed college scouts while playing on a traveling service team. A Southeastern (Iowa) Community College assistant coach looking for European talent stumbled upon Cummings in Germany.

At age 26, Evans started over at George Mason, a Fairfax, Va., school with a basketball program that struggles for recognition in an area that includes Maryland and Georgetown.

“When George came in as a freshman, he really didn’t have what you would call a ‘game,’ ” George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga told the Associated Press this week. “Offensively, he was a project. He was limited to scoring off the fast break and scoring off offensive rebounds.”

What Evans lacked in skill, he overcame with discipline and determination. First he added a jump hook, then efficient moves around the basket and finally a one-hand runner to push his scoring average from 13.4 as a freshman to 19.3 this season. He has also increased his shooting percentage from 52.7% to 62.9%.

“He has a tremendous work ethic and an awful lot of discipline from being in the Army,” Larranaga said.

Evans is one of four Division I players, along with Kansas’ Danny Manning, La Salle’s Lionel Simmons and Duke’s Shane Battier, to get 200 assists, blocked shots and steals in a career. He’s also about to become a three-time Colonial Athletic Assn. player of the year--an honor he would share with another military man, David Robinson, who went from Navy plebe to NBA aircraft carrier.

A role player is all that Evans might ever be in the NBA because of his thirtysomething age and a jump shot that falls off the radar after about eight feet.

“He’s a good story. Thirty is not that old,” Robinson said admiringly. “There’s plenty of time left for him to play. He can come in and help a team, but at his size he’s going to have to be like [San Antonio Spur teammate] Malik Rose or somebody like that, who’s just a great hustle-and-effort player. A 6-7, you’ve got to be able to handle the ball and do some pretty special things.”

The only thing special that Evans wants to accomplish is help George Mason--16-9 overall and atop the CCA at 11-3 after a 79-66 victory over James Madison Saturday--get into the NCAA tournament. The Patriots made the tournament in 1999, but were bounced out in the first round by Cincinnati, 72-48. Evans was scoreless in that game, but don’t expect him to feel the pressure to redeem himself.

“Before a game, you’re nervous, but it’s fun pressure. In combat, you’re nervous because you might die,” the Gulf War veteran said.

Cummings has a similar perspective.

“Three years ago I was wearing combat boots and living in a tent,” he said. “I never thought I’d be playing college basketball. This is like a dream.”

After completing his military obligation Cummings went to Southeastern CC, where he teamed with Johnny Selvie, a future forward at Connecticut, to end Iowa rival Indian Hills’ three-year run as national junior college champion.

Suddenly, Cummings had gone from pitching tents in the middle of nowhere to putting up big numbers as a shooting guard. Division I university recruiters who once wouldn’t give him the time of day now lined up for his services. At age 24, Cummings decided to return to his home state and play for Florida State, where he has averaged 10.6 points in the role of a jump-starting sixth man for a team that is a snake-bitten 7-18.

“Monte brings energy . . . an activeness to the court,” Florida State Coach Steve Robinson said. “He’s the first player I’ve had who had experiences outside of basketball like he has. He appreciates everything. I think that helps him play harder.”

And, the motivated Cummings--holding his own in an Atlantic Coast Conference filled with shooting stars--knows he is better for all he has been through.

“All my life I’ve been the underdog,” Cummings said. “[But] regardless of the situation you have to look at the positive.

“I guess you could say I am like the commercial, being all I can be.”

Is this all you can be? The U.S. Military Academy’s basketball team is in need of a few good men such as Evans and Cummings. Army’s 7-17 record represents its 16th consecutive losing season. Worse yet, Army has lost 18 consecutive regular-season games to Navy--including 82-70 Saturday at Annapolis, Md.

The ex-Patriot: Preceding Larranaga at George Mason was former Laker and Loyola Marymount coach Paul Westhead, who had a 38-70 record in four seasons.

And from George Mason to Roger Mason: Virginia won for the second time in as many games on a last-second shot Saturday in a 69-66 victory over Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla.

After Roger Mason’s three-point basket with one second left, Virginia Coach Pete Guillen remarked, “I’ve had more buzzer shots than Davy Crockett at the Alamo.”