Former ODU star has hand in Magic's rise

Italy can wait. Dave Twardzik has every reason to be in Los Angeles this week.

As assistant general manager for the Orlando Magic, Twardzik was scheduled for an overseas scouting trip, but that was before the Magic upended the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando's traveling party headed west for the start of the NBA Finals.

The former Old Dominion University All-American, who is responsible for scouting and the draft, helped the troubled Orlando franchise steer away from the rocks after joining the Magic in 2003.

Twardzik was a member of the brain trust that selected Dwight Howard with the top pick in 2004. Today, that seems like the most natural of choices. Howard was already the NBA's top center this season before Orlando's playoff run made him an even bigger star.

But five years ago, the Magic raised more than a few eyebrows by picking Howard, a raw high schooler.

The decision went against conventional wisdom. Emeka Okafor, the big man who would be taken with the No. 2 pick by Charlotte, had just led UConn to the NCAA title and was considered the safer choice.

"Eighty percent said we were crazy to take Dwight over Okafor," Twardzik said over the phone. "Everybody had Okafor as the No. 1 because his team had just won the championship."

Dick Vitale, recalls Twardzik, went on TV and said, "The Orlando Magic are going to rue the day they passed on Okafor to draft Dwight Howard."

Twardzik and the Magic, though, placed a lot of stock in what they heard from Howard during the pre-draft interview.

"He said, 'I don't want to be good; I want to be the best player in the world.' "

"And," Twardzik added, "coming from him, it didn't sound braggadocios, either."

If he's to be the best - or one of the best - Howard will be expected to win something that Twardzik already has - a championship ring.

Twardzik was a starting guard on the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers that won the title in 1977. He arrived in Portland after leading ODU to the 1971 Division II title game and following four seasons with the Virginia Squires.

"Our time in Norfolk," Twardzik said, "were great years."

In Portland, as at every other stage of his basketball career, Twardzik surprised people. Wherever he played, his success was attributed to his ability to overachieve and to defy the doubters.

Twardzik was an intelligent, resourceful talent - the quintessential blue-collar player - and it's a testament to what he meant to his teams and their fans that his ODU No. 14 and the Trail Blazers No. 13 are retired.

After his playing career, Twardzik applied himself to the challenges of the front office without losing a step. Following several stops around the NBA, he has helped rebuild a Magic franchise that was badly scarred when Shaquille O'Neal went to the Lakers after the 1996 season.

In Orlando, frustrations grew. The talented Tracy McGrady became the poster child for unfulfilled expectations, while the signing of Grant Hill led to a debacle when Hill's chronic ankle problems prevented him from making meaningful contributions for several seasons.

But with the new cast of characters brought in by Twardzik and general manager Otis Smith, the Magic are back where they were in 1995 - The Finals.

This might not be Orlando's year to win it all, but with its 23-year-old center improving almost by the hour, the rest of the league rues the day the Magic drafted Dwight Howard.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com