Stephen Curry grew up playing basketball in North Carolina, the heart of the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he was raised by NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry and trained with a longtime NBA strength and conditioning coach. He learned the game from his father, a first-round draft pick, and played pickup games with stars like Muggsy Bogues.
None of it mattered.
Because at 5 feet 9, 140 pounds in high school, the baby-faced Curry was a self-described "scrawny little short kid" - a lanky point guard who couldn't get the attention of major colleges, no matter who his father was. Virginia Tech - where his father was an All-American and his mother, Sonya, played volleyball - was the only major-conference school that showed interest, but the best Hokies coach Seth Greenberg could offer was a spot as a walk-on.
"Everything happens for a reason," Curry said.
He chose Davidson, a liberal arts college with about 1,700 students, located roughly 30 minutes away from his parents' home in Charlotte, N.C. It was at this small school that big things finally started to happen.
Curry broke five school records, set the NCAA freshman record for three-pointers in a season and led the small Southern Conference school to a record 29 wins and the NCAA tournament. Now Curry has the attention of at least one more ACC school - Maryland. The Terps will face Davidson at 12:20 p.m. tomorrow in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Buffalo, N.Y.
"I knew he was a good player, and I knew he'd have big games, but I didn't think he'd be this consistent," said Dell Curry, who is now director of player development for the Charlotte Bobcats. "Throughout the course of the season I was waiting for him to hit that freshman wall. He exceeded not only the Davidson coaches' expectations, but myself and probably him, too.
"But it's a blessing in that he is at Davidson," Curry said. "It gave him all the opportunity to prove people wrong, that they missed this one, and gave him the opportunity to break those records and play a significant role on the team so they won the conference tournament and got to the NCAA tournament. With everything that's happened, he's definitely at the right place."
Curry, now listed at 6-1 and 180 pounds, leads the Southern Conference with 21.2 points per game. The only other first-year player in the NCAA to average more points this year is Kevin Durant of Texas. Curry's 117 three-pointers are the most by a Division I freshman and have been integral to a team that graduated seven seniors.
