Hooked ‘Em

As they staggered out of Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., last March, a disconsolate T.J. Ford turned to his coach, Rick Barnes.

Texas’ surprising season had come to an end less than two hours earlier in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament against Oregon. The incandescent Ford took the loss especially hard after being outplayed by the Ducks’ equally electric point guard, Luke Ridnour.

“With tears in his eyes,” Barnes recalled, “he said, ‘Coach, I’m sorry. I’ll be back and I’ll be better.’ ”

Since making that promise, Ford has elevated his game to national player-of-the-year status, taken the Longhorns to the Final Four and, perhaps most impressively, made it fashionable to follow hoops in a land where football is king.

“Hopefully that’s what we’re building,” Ford said, “that kids dream of coming here, that we make this a dream school for basketball.”

Curiously enough, Ford, who was a high school All-American in Houston, did not envision himself becoming the transcendent player for a program that last appeared in the national semifinals in 1947.

“Not at all,” he said. “I didn’t see myself coming here. My dream schools were the Dukes, the Kentuckys, the UCLAs.

“To be a dream school, you’ve got to do it every year. You’ve got to win ... continuous.”

That’s what the Longhorns have done since Ford spurned offers from traditional basketball schools Houston, Louisville and Cincinnati and arrived in Austin.

Last season, Ford averaged 8.3 assists and was the first freshman in NCAA history to lead the nation in assists while leading Texas to a 22-12 record. This season, the Longhorns are the lone top-seeded team to make it to the Final Four and take a 26-6 mark into Saturday’s national semifinal game against Syracuse.

Ford’s explosive first step creates tremendous opportunities for his teammates, as long as they’re ready for his acrobatic passes and the ball doesn’t bounce off their unsuspecting faces.

“He sees plays ahead of time, two plays ahead,” junior guard Royal Ivey said. “He’s a wizard with the ball. He knows where to put it so we can finish.”

Yet while Ford’s ball-handling skills have never been questioned, his outside shooting always has been his weak link.

As a freshman he made five three-point shots ... all season long, out of 33 attempts, a woeful 15.2%.

“That’s all ‘T’ and no ‘J,’ ” Ivey chided Ford.

So Ford worked hard last summer, shooting as many as 1,000 jump shots a day with an assortment of aids strapped to his shooting hand -- rubber bands stretching from his thumb to his pinkie to keep his hand properly spread when releasing the ball, a padded glove to keep the ball off the heel of his palm, and a wooden splint on the end of his index finger to limit spin on the ball.

His three-point shooting has improved slightly, to 25.8% this season, a season in which his scoring has jumped nearly five points, to 15.1, while his assists have dropped to 7.5.

Against Michigan State in the South Regional final in San Antonio, Ford beat the Spartans despite leaving his shot somewhere near the Riverwalk, going four of 12 from the field.

He drove the lane, was fouled and made 11 of 13 free throws to finish with a game-high 19 points. He also had 10 assists.

That’s why there is no resentment among the Longhorns, whose national face has become that of the diminutive floor general they affectionately call “Rat.”

“The guy’s earned the spotlight so you can’t hate him for that,” Ivey said. “For someone that little, you wouldn’t think that he could do all the things you see him do.”

Obviously, others wish they were seeing him perform such magic in their schools’ colors, especially another school known more as a football factory.

“I’d get like 100 letters a day from USC and then 87 the next day,” Ford said about recruiting. “And they’d say no more than three words -- ‘We want you.’ Crazy.

“I was open at the time but some schools are going to fall off because they know they can’t get you.”

The difference, then, in staying in state to play where basketball was a nice little diversion between football season and spring football practice was the connection Ford felt with Barnes during the often-arduous recruiting process.

“Coach Barnes was the only guy to look me in the eyes the whole time,” Ford said. “Somebody looks you in the eyes, you know he’s telling the truth.”

But it was in Ford’s eyes again that tears appeared.

This time, it was as the horn sounded against Michigan State, Texas’ ticket to New Orleans stamped, just as he grabbed Barnes in as big a bear hug as a 5-foot-10, 165-pound sprite can muster.

“T.J. is a very emotional person,” Barnes said. “He’s real, in terms of being humble.

“I love him and ... that hug was one of those deals where my wife would probably like me to hug her like that this time of year.”

The entire legion of newfound Texas basketball fans would love nothing more than a group hug, especially if Ford resists the temptation of leaving school early for the NBA.

“That’s completely off the table,” Ford said. “My whole goal was to get to the national championship. We’re still [two] games from that.”

And you can only imagine what Ford and Barnes would say to each other if they swaggered out of the Superdome together as champions.