CPD
COVER STORY
Roe is next in line
Thursday, November 30, 2006Eddie Dwyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
St. Edward basketball coach Eric Flannery has helped hone the skills of some of the most talented players ever to perform on area hardwoods.
In March 1998, his gifted threesome of guard Steve Logan, forward Steve Lepore and post Sam Clancy led the Eagles to the Division I state championship. Logan became a backcourt mainstay for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Lepore, now a member of Flannery's staff, played at Northwestern and Wake Forest, and Clancy was a force at the University of Southern California.
Two years later, multitalented forward Jawad Williams emerged on the scene and drew the interest of several college programs before blossoming at North Carolina.
When you look back at that array of talent, you realize it's reached the point where Flannery is not easily impressed.
However, as St. Edward was going through a preseason practice last week, Flannery's eyes seemed to light up. And a small grin crept into his firm expression.
Although he did his best to disguise it, Flannery was admiring the skills of his current headliner -- 6-8 junior forward/post Delvon Roe.
The obvious comparisons
"I shouldn't say he's the most talented player [I've had] right now," Flannery said of Roe, rated by Scout.com as the fifth-best player in the nation at any position for the Class of 2008. "He is the hardest-working player that I've ever coached who's had as much talent as he has. And he is going to be the most successful because of his parents, because of his work ethic and because of how much time he puts into the game, and how serious he takes it. "Talentwise, he's with them. But as far as everything else, the intangibles, he's way ahead of them. Like I said, when he says he works out five to six hours [every day in the summer], there's no questioning that. He does it religiously."
Paying the price
Roe said his summer workout routine, which includes lifting weights with his father, Delvon, doing agility drills to improve his speed and footwork, running up and down hills, swimming at Memorial Park in Euclid and "doing a lot of sensible eating," requires a great deal of perseverance. "It took a lot out of me, I'll tell you that," he said. "And the time I did have this summer, I was at camps or [AAU] tournaments. I had to give up a lot, a lot of junk food. But it helped me in the long run.
"I think I'm more prepared now than most kids that are already in college."
The results, other
work to be done
Although he had to give up his favorite snack, Cheetos hot chips, Roe fulfilled one of his major goals -- getting stronger.
Weighing around 205 pounds at the end of his sophomore season, the Euclid resident now checks in at a solid 220 to 225 pounds.
But gaining strength was only part of what Roe wanted to accomplish this past summer.
Admitting teams didn't respect his perimeter game beyond 5 feet when he was a freshman, and emphasizing that he wanted to help his team with its major drawback last season -- defensive pressure -- Roe continues to put an emphasis on his shooting and ball-handling skills.
"I asked a lot of the college coaches to save for me some of the workouts they do with their perimeter players," said Roe, who was named to The Plain Dealer's seven-county, five-player all-star team last season. "I do a lot of that with my father and in the morning at school before classes. I stress that -- to have the ability to do a lot of different things on the basketball court."
The rewards
Roe's skills and passion for the game have placed him among the most coveted players in the nation. After a summer that saw a who's who of major-college coaches travel to St. Edward to watch him work out, Roe trimmed his long list of considerations to his own fab five -- Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Kansas and North Carolina.
He plans to revisit that five at the end of this coming season and probably will make an oral commitment sometime before the end of his junior year. Under NCAA regulations, he cannot sign a national letter of intent until November 2007.
The next play
While Roe emphasized that he and his teammates have put the surprising loss to Strongsville in last season's Division I regional semifinals behind them, he also said the defeat is a motivation for this coming winter, that people always remember the one you lost. However, as Flannery, Roe and St. Edward senior guard Matt Salay echoed, the 2006-07 Eagles are all about the next play.
"He brings an intensity to the team," the 6-4 Salay said of Roe. "Anytime a play goes into the lane, he blocks a shot or gets in [the shooter's] face. That's what he does, he brings defense and offense to the game for us."
Defense or offense. With Roe on the floor, "the next play" can always be the most memorable.
