Winner University Of Idaho’s Point Guard Usually Gives His Teams A Lift

Everywhere Reggie Rose has played basketball, wins have followed.

At Hubbard High in Chicago, a traditionally lethargic program was stirred to life about the time Rose, as a sophomore, was scoring 19 points against a team led by Juwan Howard, now with the Washington Bullets.

Hubbard won 80 games in Rose’s four years. Even some of the losses were memorable.

“We played King (High) and they were No. 1 in USA Today,” Hubbard coach Bill Ociepka recalled. “They had us down 17, but we cut it to four. I think we lost by four, but Reggie had 32 points.”

At Garden City (Kansas) Community College, Rose’s two seasons resulted in 43 wins.

Now a junior point guard at the University of Idaho, Rose is dealing with the Vandals’ 9-9 record, 3-4 in the Big Sky heading into tonight’s 7:05 Kibbie Dome date with Boise State and Saturday’s contest with Idaho State.

It hasn’t been easy.

“I’ve never played on a losing team,” said Rose, sturdily built at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds.

He doesn’t plan on starting now. UI has six of its last eight regular-season games at home, where the Vandals are 6-0.

Still, Idaho’s .500 record gnaws at Rose, to the point that he questions how he’s being used and the desire of a few of his teammates.

“I think I’ve played OK, but I think I could be used a little more in different positions,” said Rose, who could be limited this weekend by a tender ankle. “I don’t want to blast coach or anything, but sometime they should just test me on the wings. But that’s hard to do because I’m the only point guard.”

“I think that’s frustration more than anything else,” Idaho coach Joe Cravens said. “They’re all searching for answers, like I am. At 9-9, I certainly think we should be better than that and there’s a lot of frustration right now. We’re trying to get well.”

Rose became well acquainted with winning as a youngster in Chicago. You win on the neighborhood court, or you watched somebody else play.

On those courts, Rose learned to play with the fervor he displays at Idaho. He’s hopped over at least two scoreboards in pursuit of loose balls and his slashing drives to the basket often end with him being knocked to the floor by 240-pound enemy centers.

In the eighth grade, Rose was listed as one of the city’s top 20 players by a Chicago newspaper. “Like throwing body parts into a shark-infested lagoon,” Ociepka said. “Everybody calls these kids all the time, trying to get them to come to their school.”

Rose went to Hubbard because his older brother already was a student there. Following high school, Rose’s suitors included Cincinnati, DePaul and Iowa, but his SAT score didn’t meet Division I requirements.

“Cincinnati was basically a done deal, but they were waiting on my test scores to come in,” Rose said.

Soon after Rose arrived at Garden City, so, too, did the persistent recruiting of UI assistant coach Ray Jones.

“A lot of schools have a tendency to forget the family,” Jones said. “We recruited Reggie’s mother and the grandmother. Like every mother and grandmother, they wanted what was best for him.”

“Everytime I called home, they’d say Coach Jones had called,” said Rose, whose parents separated when Reggie was in elementary school.

Rose is a point guard who can score, a rarity at Idaho. Outside of Mark Leslie, who led the team in scoring last year, nearly every Vandals point guard since the mid1980s has specialized in defense and ball-handling.

Rose leads UI at 13.9 points per game, but he also has a team-high 71 turnovers against 55 assists.

“You can’t fault his effort,” Cravens said. “A lot of his turnovers come at probably wanting to do too much, trying so hard.”

“It’s a transition period for him,” Jones said. “He’s such a good scorer. To his credit, he’s given up some of his game to sacrifice for the team.”

That’s a sacrifice Rose will gladly make if it means more victories.

“I think we can make a run - if everybody believes we can,” Rose said. “A couple of guys on our team are playing basketball just to play. It’s different when you play the game because you love it.

“I’m the kind of guy, if we’re down 30 points with 5 minutes left, I still think we can win.”

“He plays with great effort,” Jones said. “You can’t manufacture effort. It’s like emotion, it’s got to be genuine, and he has a great disdain for anybody who doesn’t give 110 percent.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo