by Alex Schwartz

This season he is a pre-season first team All-American. Last season he was the talk of the NCAA Tournament as he led 10th seeded Davidson on a magical run to the Elite Eight, defeating seventh seeded Gonzaga, second seeded Georgetown, and third seeded Wisconsin. Although Stephen Curry and his fellow Wildcats would lose to eventual NCAA champion Kansas in the regional finals, his heroics will not be soon forgotten. Stephen—the son of former NBA baller Dell Curry—and his team as a whole had one of the truly remarkable sports stories of the 2008. Stephen Curry helped to add Davidson to the growing list of programs in non-BCS conferences that are starting to hang with the big boys. I had the opportunity to speak with the talented junior guard at the Steve Nash Skills Academy, where we discussed this past season, amongst other topics.

NB: What’s it like for you coming out here and working on your game over the summer at such an intense camp?
SC: It’s big for me, especially just because I’m transitioning to the point guard position [this] year, and to play against the best returning point guards in the nation, guys that I’ll probably play against during the season, it’s good to get that kind of exposure, learn how to defend them, and run a offense. So, . . . especially with Steve [Nash] here giving us tips—he’s a very veteran NBA player and he knows the game more than we do, so it’s a real pleasure to come out here and learn from all these guys and Steve.

NB: How do you think moving to the point is going to affect your game, shooting-wise and basically [with] everything you did last year?
SC: I think it’ll be a little different, but not too drastic. Our offense is centered around our guards moving and setting screens for each other, so I [will] have the ball in my hands a lot more with the dribble, but I’ll still have opportunities to come off the screens and get shots, and hopefully draw some attention and set my teammates up for shots.

NB: How is adding [incoming freshman] Frank Ben-Eze down low going to help you guys?
SC: It’s big. We lost Thomas Sander and Boris Meno, who were great all four years they were [at Davidson], so we had to find somebody to replace him and . . . he’s going to be a force once he learns the offense and gets conditioned . . . [and is] able to run. He’s going to be a big factor for our success [this year].

NB: You guys are also losing Jason Richards. What’s it going to be like [for] you guys, losing so much senior leadership?
SC: It’s going to be a new experience for us. We’re going to be a whole new team with different captains [and] different leaders, and hopefully I can take . . . part of that leadership role, but he was our floor general the last two years, so it should be tough to replace him, but I think with the new confidence we have on the court and [because] everybody [was] working on their game this summer, we’ll be fine.

NB: What led to your decision to stay in school and not come out for the NBA Draft after that great season you had?
SC: Honestly I didn’t really think about it until the [NCAA] Tournament happened, and the buzz started going. Just, I think I got to come back, get stronger, [and] learn how to play the point guard position because if I’m going to be a good guard in the League, I got to be able to play both positions, and just work on my . . . athleticism and strength, and all the little, small things that will help me at the next level.

NB: What was the best moment of that [NCAA] Tournament run for you?
SC: Just playing in front of that many people at Ford Field [in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight] on that big a stage. That [doesn’t] happen too often at Davidson, since in 40 years we hadn’t won a game [in the NCAA Tournament]. So, just that whole experience, not one specific event, but that whole experience.

NB: [Was] that the [best experience] of you [whole] basketball career as well?
SC: I think so. I haven’t won a championship, I think, on any level up until then, and I won . . . a conference championship. Just, you never really think you’re going to make it to that level until you get there, and [so I] just sit back and think, ‘wow, we really went to the Elite Eight.’

NB: When you guys returned to school after that great performance, getting to the Elite Eight, what was the reaction like on campus?
SC: It was amazing. We got greeted with —we only have 1,700 students, so pretty much I’d said about 75% of them were outside when our bus pulled [into] the parking lot, and they all were just cheering. It was like three o’clock in the morning. . . . The shirt sales [chuckles] went up and everybody knew where Davidson, so it was just a fun experience for all of us.

NB: What [are] the strongest and weakest points of your game?
SC: [My] strongest point is probably my shooting, and being able to create shots for myself, and hit open shots. . . . I think [my biggest] weakness probably would be just overall strength of the game, and down low, I got to be able to . . . finish around the basket, and then I just got to work on my leadership role.

The show put on by Stephen Curry in the 2008 NCAA Tournament was not a fluke; he really is that good. Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop—who coached the 2008 United States U-18 team in Argentina over the summer—will continue to keep his squad atop the SoCon and will look to have it make more March Madness noise. Much of that burden will rest on the back of Stephen Curry, who is without a doubt one of America's best players. Look for Curry and the Davidson Wildcats to put themselves on the national map once again, as the team will attempt to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Whether or not the Wildcats are able to do that will likely depend on how Curry performs come when crunch time rolls around, but if last year was any indication, they have nothing to worry about.

Note- the following two websites were used as sources for information: http://espn.go.com/ and http://wikipedia.org/.

Note- photo is from http://www.streetball.com/.