Landesberg, UVa a match made in heaven

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Published: June 19, 2008

If you’re wondering why Virginia was eager to host the NBA Top 100 Camp the past two years, look no further than Sylven Landesberg.

The New York City hoops star came down to Charlottesville about this time a year ago and was accompanied by his father, Steve. While Sylven spent the entire camp either on the court or in his room fighting a virus, Steve was exploring UVa’s campus and the city.

The elder Landesberg was hooked. He loved the place so much that he would have committed on the spot. But it was Sylven that UVa was after, not Steve.

“People can walk across the street here in Virginia and drivers will stop the car and let someone cross,” Steve Landesberg noticed. “In New York, that person would be dead. I like the civilities of Charlottesville. It’s just beautiful down here — the mountains, the town. A kid could actually grow up being a kid around here. I love everything about this place.”

While Sylven’s dad knew this was the place for his son, he had to let the kid make his own decision.

“My dad had the chance to look around that week and he’d tell me how the campus was great, how the town was great, that I had to see it,” Sylven remembered. “Once I came back here for my unofficial visit, that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, this is a special place.’”

While all the scenery and civility of the area were impressive, what really sold New York’s “Mr. Basketball” on becoming a Cavalier was his impressions of the coaching staff and the UVa players. He said that of all his visits to various schools, there wasn’t another team that had the personality of Virginia’s. He also liked the coaching staff.

So when it came time to choose a school and three remained on his final list — UVa, Georgia Tech and nearby St. John’s — he chose the Cavaliers.

“My last visit was to Georgia Tech and all three schools had a shot, but this one, Virginia, really caught my eye and I know I made the right choice,” Sylven Landesberg said this week before a pickup game with his new teammates.

Certainly, UVa coach Dave Leitao and staff were sweating out the decision, particularly assistant Bill Courtney, who poured all his energies into luring the New Yorker southward in a challenging recruiting process.

“It was extremely difficult to get in the picture because it was New York City, the basketball mecca, a place where a lot of people recruit,” Courtney remembered. “And, him being player of the year as a junior, then again as a senior, it was obviously a very difficult recruiting task. Fortunately for us, he’s the type of kid that flourishes at Virginia — a very good student, a very good person and a very good basketball player.”

Virginia had to have this kid. He led the tough New York City Catholic League in scoring the last three years, averaging 29 points his senior year while leading Holy Cross to its first state championship in 40 years. At 6-foot-6, 195 pounds, he had an uncanny ability to handle the ball and to score.

“I like to score,” Landesberg said with a big smile. “I can score in a lot of different ways and I like to be creative.”

He was just that in the state semis, pouring in 30 to beat Rice 64-62.

While he has been criticized by some of the national gurus for his defense and the need to add strength, Virginia fell in love with his ability to create. The Cavaliers coaches know the rest will come in time.

“When we first saw him as a junior in high school, what stuck out about him was that he was such a smart basketball player,” Courtney said. “Very cerebral — he really understood the game. We saw immediately that he could handle the ball and make good decisions.”

A big guard, Landesberg keeps the ball low when he’s dribbling, which allows him to navigate the court with ease. He likes to hesitation dribble, spin dribble, things that remind Courtney of another terrific product of the Big Apple.

“I kid his dad about this a lot, but Sylven is the closest thing I’ve seen to Mark Jackson,” Courtney said. “He has gotten more athletic, which has been very

impressive. He’s continuing to improve his jump shot. But the biggest thing about him is he has that New York swagger. He’s not afraid and won’t back down from anyone.”

That’s something Leitao has wanted more of since the day he came to Hooville.

Landesberg went on to become a McDonald’s All-American, although he was knocked for having an off night in the game.

“Oh yeah, the McDonald’s experience,” Landesberg said, rolling his eyes while unable to hold back a chuckle. “It was an experience all right. The game was actually the worst part of the week. I had a lot of fun and the workouts were good. I gained some things from that. All the players were great people.”

So what went wrong?

“At practice, when we were scrimmaging, it looked like we were going to play as a team,” he said. “Everybody was scoring, sharing the ball. When we got to the game it was a completely different story. It was like, what happened to playing like a team? I said to myself, ‘Oh, man, I’m in for a long one.’”

All that is in the past. Now he’s enrolled in UVa’s second session of summer school and working on becoming a college player every day.

His typical day begins with a 9 a.m. study hall, followed by classes at 10:30 until the mid-afternoon when he reports to the arena for weight lifting, then individual workouts, then pick-up games with UVa’s players. He goes home to eat, then comes back later at night to shoot by himself.

“All I do is go to class and work out, so it’s a full day,” he said.

Along the way he has become close to assistant coach Rick Brunson, a former NBA player who joined Virginia’s program last year.

“Ever since I’ve been here he’s been like a big brother to me,” Landesberg said of Brunson. “He’s helping me fit in, feel more comfortable.”

But Virginia, as Steve Landesberg will readily tell you, is an easy place to become comfortable. Sylven thinks so, too.

“I’m from the city where everything is real fast and people aren’t as friendly as they are down here,” Sylven said. “Everybody says good morning to you and people will talk to you as you’re walking down the street. That’s all new to me. But I like it.”

Most likely, Virginia is going to like Sylven Landesberg, too.