Chauncey Billups N1

Chauncey Billups was born in Denver, Colorado on September 25, 1976 to Ray and Faye Billups. The couple welcomed another boy, Rodney, and a girl, Maria, in the following years. The Billups family was a closeknit bunch. Faye doted on her children, and they looked out for one another. Chauncey and Rodney were particularly tight. Both loved sports and were excellent athletes. Chauncey, however, possessed an inner drive that his little brother did not. His top two sports were basketball and football, and he worked hard every day to improve in both. Chauncey looked out for his little brother, too. Rodney was a lazy kid, a character flaw that didn’t sit well with Chauncey. He dragged Rodney to practice whenever he said he was too tired to go. Like any young basketball fan in the 1980s, Chauncey was a big fan of Magic Johnson, but the player he identified with most was Joe Dumars. A stifling defender who could run the point or shoot from the wing, Dumars was the unsung hero of the Pistons teams that won a pair of NBA titles. In the fifth grade, Chauncey was flashing the combination of skill and instinct that defines special athletes. A youth basketball coach nicknamed him “Smooth,” because everything he did seemed so effortless. Chauncey also distinguished himself off the court. He was a natural leader, a disciplined student and well liked by everyone he met. By the time Chauncey entered George Washington High School in 1991, he was already a celebrity in the Denver area. Within a year, he would be the state’s most recognized athlete. Chauncey was named Colorado’s Mr. Basketball after his sophomore season, and also earned the award after his junior and senior years. The personal accolades were flattering, but Chauncey was all about winning. In the 1993-94 season, he led the Patriots to the Class 5A state title, dominating rival Horizon High School with a scintillating performance in the final. Going into his senior year, Chauncey was regarded as one of the nation’s top prospects. Kansas coach Roy Williams called him the most talented high schooler he had ever scouted—high praise considering that years earlier he had recruited Michael Jordan to North Carolina. Agents could be found in the stands at most of Chauncey’s games. So could gang bangers, who respected Chauncey so much that he was the one player they refrained from heckling. As Chauncey pondered the next move in his basketball career, he found himself being pulled in several directions. Some advised him to skip college and head directly to the NBA. Others told him to cut a sweetheart deal with one of the powerhouse schools romancing him. But he had a different idea. Despite another stellar campaign as a senior at GW, the year was tough on him because of the passing of a grandmother and grandfather. Leaving his family didn’t feel right, so he opted for the University of Colorado. For Chauncey, the chance to play in front of loved ones in nearby Boulder was too tempting to pass up. Joe Dumars biography The one thing the Buffaloes could not offer Chauncey was a proud basketball tradition. Coming off a sub-.500 season, the team had not been to the NCAA Tournament since the late 1960s. Coach Joe Harrington was trying to rebuild the program, and Chauncey became the centerpiece of that effort. But the 1995-96 season turned ugly for Colorado, both on and off the court. The team posted another losing record, going 9-18. This, however, was the least of Colorado’s problems. Harrington’s leadership came under fire when several players were declared ineligible and several others wound up in hot water for various indiscretions. Even Chauncey landed in trouble, after he and teammate Matt Daniel got caught stealing video rental coupons from a campus bookstore. Embarrassed, he wrote a letter of apology to the school’s administrators and the student body. His willingness to accept responsibility for his actions won him widesp