The Revenge of the Curry Brothers

By DARREN EVERSON

Life on the bubble -- college-basketball parlance for being uncertain of reaching the NCAA tournament -- is a fretful existence for schools this time of year. No one has it worse, though, than Virginia Tech.

One month ago, the Hokies, who rarely make it, were in good shape. Then they lost six of their last seven games. Now they must beat Miami today and, if successful, top-ranked North Carolina tomorrow to have a reasonable shot at getting in.

Meanwhile, in the back of their fans' minds remains the mother of what-ifs: What if Stephen and Seth Curry, the sons of Virginia Tech legend Dell Curry, had come to Tech, rather than being allowed to slip through the school's recruiting net? "I wish the best for them," says Tech fan Chris Coleman, "but I'm ready for Stephen to go to the NBA."

Photos: Associated Press(3), Getty Images (Stephen Curry); Photo illustration: The Wall Street Journal

Top, Dell Curry in 2007; left to right, Liberty's Seth Curry (with ball) and Davidson's Stephen Curry, both in December 2008 games ; bottom, Virginia Tech's coach Seth Greenberg

The Curry boys, who were undersized guards and not considered top prospects in high school, were recruited by their father's alma mater. But after feeling that these overtures were lukewarm, they both decided to play elsewhere. They have since become sensations -- the sorts of sleeper players that give college coaches nightmares. Last year, older brother Stephen led tiny Davidson College to within one game of the Final Four, and this season led Division I college basketball in scoring. Seth, a freshman at relatively obscure Liberty University, averaged nearly 21 points per game.

This year, neither Curry is likely to play in the NCAA tournament -- but that's little consolation to Tech, which, barring a miracle, won't either.

Seth says it's still disappointing that the school didn't push harder for him, given his older brother's success. "Definitely," he says. "I figured I was good enough to play at the highest level regardless. It's kind of shocking to me, knowing that my brother went out and showed that size doesn't matter."

Stephen says he was surprised his little brother didn't get more consideration, but also understands the school's decision. "You can't recruit somebody just based on what the public thinks you should do. I was a little surprised Tech didn't go further, but going there would have been a worse situation for him. He wouldn't have had as much playing time."

A member of the basketball-rich Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia Tech is much better known for its football. While the Hokies reached college football's national-championship game following the 1999 season and have won the last two ACC titles, their men's basketball team has won only six NCAA tournament games in its history. Kansas, the defending national champion, won six last season alone.

What few basketball glories Tech has had, Dell Curry played a great part in. Mr. Curry, a sweet-shooting guard who played for the Hokies in the mid-1980s, broke the school's scoring record and went on to a 16-year NBA career.

Given this, and the presumption that nothing greases the college-admissions wheels like legacy connections, it seems a no-brainer that Mr. Curry's sons -- who grew up Tech fans -- would play there too. But both were late bloomers: Stephen, now a 6-foot-3 college junior, was 5-foot-4 as a high-school freshman in Charlotte, N.C., while Seth, who is two years younger, was thin and slower to develop offensively. Tech wanted Stephen to walk on, or come to the school without an athletic scholarship, his freshman year because the team was out of scholarships; the Hokies, according to Seth, "recruited me a little bit, talking to me every once in a while."

Both balked and instantly became stars in smaller conferences, displaying dead-eye aim reminiscent of their father. They likely would have had less impressive statistics playing in the more rigorous ACC, but both have fared well against major-college competition. Over the course of his three-year career, in which he has averaged 25 points and shot 47%, Stephen's corresponding numbers in NCAA tournament games and against major-conference competition are 26 points and 41%. His shooting percentage versus such opponents declined this season, as Davidson had a weaker team around him. Seth has played three games against major-conference opponents, averaging 22 points and shooting 47%.

Seth Greenberg, the Virginia Tech coach, declined to get into what happened. "I'm very, very happy for Seth and Stephen," he says. "They're from a terrific family and having great careers." But, in defense of his own performance, he adds, "It's not like we haven't won games here."

Indeed, Mr. Greenberg led Virginia Tech to the NCAA tournament in 2007 -- its first appearance since 1996. In January, the Hokies defeated then-No. 1 Wake Forest on the road. But in a powerhouse conference that's home to Duke and North Carolina, the Currys might have represented a chance at sustained success.

What happened with the Currys speaks to two pitfalls endemic to college basketball: the difficulty in assessing still-developing talent and the need to win immediately. If Virginia Tech underestimated the Currys, the Hokies were hardly alone; neither player received much major-college interest.

"It's an instant-gratification society," says Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com, a Web site that covers college recruiting. "Whereas 20 years ago teams would take players who weren't developed, college coaches are on three-to-four-year revolving contracts. They've got to win now. Guys get recruited now not for who they can be but who they are. It's really an indictment of the system."

That the Currys didn't attend Tech actually is in keeping with the current legacy trend: Famous sons often don't wind up at their father's alma mater. Two of the biggest names in college-basketball history, Ralph Sampson of Virginia and Michael Jordan of North Carolina, have kids playing elsewhere (Ralph Sampson III is at Minnesota; Jeff Jordan is at Illinois). Gerald Henderson, whose father Gerald played at Virginia Commonwealth and in the NBA, is at Duke, and Glen Rice Jr., son of the former Michigan sharpshooter, has chosen to attend Georgia Tech. But in several such cases, the sons grew up far away from their dad's school, had opportunities to play at more visible programs or simply wanted to carve their own path.

That the Currys were interested in Tech makes their absence tougher to take -- even though, in both cases, Tech made more of an effort than other major programs did. "There are a few outspoken fans who, no matter what you tell them, they refuse to get over it," says Mr. Coleman, the managing editor of Tech Sideline, a Hokies blog.

As for the men most directly involved, Mr. Greenberg, the Tech coach, is unfailingly complimentary toward the Currys. "They're a reflection of two great parents," he says. And the Currys say the situation worked out for the best. But, asked if they're still Tech fans, both separately give the same qualified answer. "Still football fans, definitely," Stephen says.

Write to Darren Everson at darren.everson@wsj.com