Tuesday, December 21, 1999

'Big Continent' gives XU lot to cover

---

7-foot-3 Millard an inside force for St. Mary's

BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Xavier faces a big obstacle tonight. How big? Try 7-foot-3, 345 pounds.

        St. Mary's College (4-4) takes on the Musketeers (6-2) at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Gaels are led by senior center Brad Millard, AKA “Big Continent.”

ST. MARY'S at XU

• When: 8 p.m. today   • Where: Cincinnati Gardens (10,200)   • Records: St. Mary's 4-4,   Xavier 6-2   • TV: Ch. 64   • Radio: WLW-AM (700)   • Tickets: $16, $13, $9   BY THE NUMBERS   ›92: Number of blocked shots by St. Mary's center Brad Millard as a sophomore.   • 34: Number of blocked shots by XU's team leader (James Posey) last season   • 13: Number of games Millard has played in past 34 months

        Expected to be an NBA first-round draft pick, Millard did not play against the Musketeers last year when XU beat St. Mary's 77-54 in Moraga, Calif.

        Millard sat out most of last season with a broken bone in his left foot. He redshirted in 1997-98 after breaking a different bone in his left foot.

        Coming into this season, Millard had played in just five games — for a total of 94 minutes — since the end of the 1996-97 season.

        “Right now he probably is offensively better than he was two years ago,” St. Mary's coach Dave Bollwinkel said. “Defensively he's not quite as good as he was.

        “He spent a lot of time in the weight room. Two years ago he was a big, heavy guy. Now he's a big, heavy, strong guy.”

        Musketeers coach Skip Prosser can't recall facing an opponent as large. Freshman center David West will need help.

        “We're going to try to make the game more up-tempo, because he's less effective in a highly paced game,” Prosser said. “And we're going to try to cheat toward him a little bit. We don't really have anybody who can guard him one-on-one, so we're going to have to guard him with a man and a half.”

        Millard has worked on extending his shooting range, but he is most comfortable near the basket. He has great hands and also is a formidable shot blocker.

        The Seattle native is averaging 15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks a game in just 24.1 minutes. Bollwinkel, a former assistant coach at Dayton and Wisconsin, is trying to limit Millard to about 22 minutes a night, though he played 30 minutes in a 54-45 loss at San Jose State on Saturday night, scoring 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

        “He gets mad at me when I take him out,” said Bollwinkel, who plans to increase Millard's minutes as the season goes on.

        Last year against Xavier, forward Josh Greer was 9-of-11 from the field and had 22 points and five rebounds. Greer averages 10.4 ppg this season. Guard Frank Alloco averages 13.3.

        The Gaels' top three players are seniors, but they also are playing three freshmen 16 to 21 minutes a game. That's why Bollwinkel says: “We're mediocre. We're going to be a lot better in February than we are in December.”

        Back to Millard.

        He was first-team All-West Coast Conference as a sophomore. During that season he scored 22 points against San Francisco, grabbed 15 rebounds against Santa Clara and blocked six shots against Pepperdine.

        While warming up for the third game of his junior year, Millard injured his foot. He underwent surgery in December '97 and had a screw inserted into the bone. In May '98, he had a second operation, with doctors grafting a bone from his hip and putting it over the fracture.

        The nightmare continued last October when Millard hurt the foot again. He had surgery to place another screw. He sat out 3¹/₂ months, then decided he wanted to return for the last three games of the season after getting medical clearance.

        Bollwinkel said Millard could have applied for another medical redshirt and had two more years of eligibility. He essentially gave up a year to come back late last February. But with a decent 1999-2000 season, Millard would likely have turned pro.

        “He felt really close to the guys that were seniors,” Bollwinkel said. “He wanted to do everything he could to help the team go out strong.”

        Millard only played 33 minutes in the three games. St. Mary's beat Santa Clara and San Diego before losing to Gonzaga in the conference tournament.

        NBA scouts are watching his every move this season.

        Bollwinkel said Millard still gets sore and stiff and is continuing to regain his confidence.

        “He came back hungry and aggressive, but sometimes I'd like him to assert himself more,' Bollwinkel said. “He gets really beat up in the low post.

        “His nature is to take the pounding. He gets frustrated by it. If I was him, I would level somebody. But I'm not a nice guy and he's a really nice guy ... I wish he had a little bit more of a mean streak. That would help his game.”

---

Cards close gap on Astros, Reds
Deion now free agent
GM cautions Mets on Griffey tampering
AP voters drop UC to fourth
Munoz named all-USA
Vikings 24, Packers 20
UK staff adds Highlands grad
Cincinnati boys basketball roundup
Ohio boys basketball scores
Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
N.Ky. girls basketball roundup
Kentucky girls basketball scores Berea Holiday Classic
Missouri Western State 72, NKU 69

SEASON IN STORIES