Cavs star Reynolds tries to build on gunslinger label

Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds is a defensive specialist as well as a 3-point threat. (MATT GENTRY/The Roanoke Times)

By Ed Miller
The Virginian-Pilot

TAMPA, Fla. - There are worse things to be known as than the next great shooter from Roanoke.

The city produced the University of Virginia's Curtis Staples, who owned the NCAA's career record for 3-point shots... until fellow Roanoker J.J. Redick came along and broke the record.

In the contrails of both came Virginia senior J.R. Reynolds, who established his "Shootersville" credentials by once making 14 3-pointers in a high school game.

"I took him out at the end of the third quarter," said Steve Smith, Reynolds' former coach at Oak Hill Academy. "I don't know how many he would have had."

Another slinger from Southwest Virginia.

That's the reputation Reynolds brought to the Cavaliers four years ago. And the one he's been trying for four years to live up to but also to shake.

There's nothing wrong with being known as a lights-out shooter. But Reynolds wanted to prove he could do more than that. Heading into today's ACC quarterfinal game against N.C. State, he has narrowly missed being voted All-ACC, established career highs in assists and rebounds and ranked second in scoring (20 ppg) in conference games.

"I always thought he could do more," coach Dave Leitao said. "He's a guy who's scored more than 1,600 points here, while getting better all the time."

While getting trimmer, too. When Leitao arrived two years ago, Reynolds was a thick 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Conditioning coach Shawn Brown's first priority was for Reynolds to drop some weight, without sacrificing much strength.

"It was apparent that he was going to play a lot of minutes, and that he needed to go by people," Brown said. "If you're going to give up three or four repetitions on the weights, that's not going to matter vs. getting by people."

At 188 pounds, Reynolds drives by people now. His penetration sets up teammates for open shots, and his improvement as a ball handler has allowed Sean Singletary to take a break from playing point guard.

Reynolds has transformed his game without sacrificing his shooting. He poured in a career-high 40 points, and made 6 of 8 3-pointers, against Wake Forest. He followed that game with 29 points and 5 of 8 treys at N.C. State.

"He's capable of exploding big numbers at any time," Singletary.

Staples, effective as he was, was never able to overcome the "shooter-only" label. Redick did, but not until his final two seasons, when he blossomed into an all-around scorer.

Reynolds has always been conscious of wanting to do more.

"That's all I would hear from everyone in Roanoke, 'Don't just be a shooter,' " Reynolds said. " 'Don't be like Curtis Staples, just a shooter.' "

That was tough advice to hear, considering Reynolds looked at Staples as a mentor.

Raised by his mother alone, Reynolds grew up in Southwest Roanoke, where he tagged along behind his older cousins on local basketball courts. Eventually he started going to the downtown YMCA, where Staples, nine years older, worked out, often with Troy Manns, a high school teammate who played at George Mason and Virginia Tech.

"He was just always around," Manns said. "We could always tell he would be pretty good."

Reynolds made the varsity as an eighth -grader at Roanoke Catholic and committed to Virginia as a junior. He transferred to Oak Hill for a senior year that was more like a year of prep school.

Reynolds played in a backcourt that included Isaiah Swann, who signed with Florida State, and Marcus Williams, who was headed for Connecticut. His time in Oak Hill taught him how to play with other talented guards, a lesson that would prove valuable when Singletary arrived at Virginia a year after Reynolds.

"He was our most solid, consistent guard," Smith said. "He was also a guy we put on the other team's best player, as long as he wasn't a post guy."

Reynolds still guards the other team's best perimeter player. He also makes his defender work, with ball fakes, drives and a developing middle-range game.

"He used to just shoot 3 s and go to the basket," Smith said. "He's developed that middle-range game."

Reynolds has improved to the point where he'll get a long look from the NBA, said Brown, who was an NBA strength coach before coming to Virginia.

"If he had three more inches, he'd really be looking down the barrel of a good paycheck," Brown said. "He's going to have to bring something else to the table. But he definitely cannot not be quick."

Reynolds' favorite player is Chauncey Billups, another under-sized "combo" guard. He's a player known for hitting timely shots, a reputation Reynolds hopes to earn for himself this weekend. He's on his way. In six career ACC tournament games, he's averaged 20.7 points.

"Big spotlight," he said. "I guess that's the reason."