ODU teammates taking the first steps toward success

NORFOLK

Nick Wright drops a perfect bounce pass to Chris Cooper for a layup.

On ensuing trips down court, Marquel De Lancey slices through the lane for a basket, then finds Trian Iliadis on a breakaway.

In the years to come, Old Dominion University basketball fans and coach Blaine Taylor hope these are regular occurrences at the Constant Center. For now, ODU's incoming freshman class is taking its first steps toward getting to know college basketball and each other on a high school court in Norfolk.

The quartet - Cooper and De Lancey, of Northern Virginia; Australia's Iliadis; and Suffolk's Wright - last week moved into the same on-campus housing, began taking summer classes together, and started playing in the Hampton Roads 7 Cities Pro-Am basketball league.

"It's like us growing up together," said Wright, who played at Nansemond River High School. "We're all new to each

other, and it's all new to us, so we've got to do everything together. We have to get groceries, we go work out together and we're bonding."

Taylor had hoped to blend his incoming players with their future teammates in the pro-am. But the league missed a deadline for getting insurance and is not sanctioned by the NCAA, so no current Division I players can participate.

That leaves Cooper, De Lancey, Iliadis and Wright with most of the summer to connect.

"I think off the court we've bonded right away and we get along fine," Iliadis said. "But on the court, that's where we have to get it together."

The summer games are especially important for newcomers Cooper and Iliadis.

Cooper, a 6-foot-9 forward, missed his senior season at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge after undergoing surgery on his left knee. He began playing basketball again about three months ago.

"Right now, I'm really, really rusty," Cooper said. "I take this as a way for me to get back in shape and try to learn how to play again and be a lot more comfortable on the court."

Iliadis, meanwhile, is learning about basketball - and living - in a new country. A 6-3 shooting guard from Gwelup, Western Australia, Iliadis signed with ODU in April. He was the leading scorer on Western Australia's under-20 national squad.

"I'm able to get accustomed to the game here," Iliadis said. "Back home, their quickness isn't as quick as it is here."

Cooper and Iliadis joined Wright, a 6-8 forward, and De Lancey, a 6-0 guard from Alexandria, this past weekend for their first pro-am games together at Booker T. Washington High. They're playing with former Monarchs, including Brian Henderson and Valdas Vasylius, who were not affected by the league's insurance slip-up.

The pro-am continues through July 27, and ODU's incoming freshmen will see a mix of competitive teams made up of small-college players, fellow incoming freshmen and former collegians.

"They get a few jitters out and get a little comfort level with things, and there are a lot of good things to be gleaned from it," said Taylor, who under NCAA guidelines may not yet attend the pro-am games. "I'm not sure you're going to write any history books or reinvent the game. But it's fun and something the kids look forward to doing."

And ODU's newest recruits are taking advantage of their first chance to form a cohesive unit both on the court and off.

So far, they say, it's working.

"I like them," Wright said of his new teammates. "I wish they could've been on my high school team."

Jami Frankenberry, (757) 446-2295, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com