Spaulding leads Sooners in tourney

"I never dreamed I'd play this good," he said.

He's not alone. Spaulding's first two seasons with Oklahoma had been remarkably average - many would say below average. He scored 2.5 points per game while averaging only 6.2 minutes last season. This season, he averaged 3.2 points although he started 19 times.

But coach Kelvin Sampson insists he and the team aren't surprised by Spaulding's play in the tournament. He scored 10 first-half points against Arizona in the first round, then had 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists against North Carolina-Charlotte."

"He's not surprising us because we've seen him do it," Sampson said. "I saw the kid score 39 and 43 points in a high school game. I saw him take his team to the state championship at the Dean Dome in North Carolina and win as the point guard on that team.

"He had three recruiting visits - to Wake Forest, Clemson and Oklahoma. It's not like he was a shot in the dark. This kid's a player."

He's also, Sampson said, a victim of circumstances and the public's rush to judgment.

Sampson had planned to redshirt Spaudling last season to allow him a year to adjust, but a back injury knocked Tim Heskett out of the lineup and left Sampson little choice but to play Spaulding.

In October, Spaulding left school for personal reasons. That cost him a spot in this season's media guide - there's no bio, no picture - but he returned two weeks later and asked to be put back on the team.

Sampson again planned to redshirt him, but then Kelley Newton, who was going to be a starter, injured a knee, so Sampson was forced to play Spaulding.

"Those developments have slowed his progress," Sampson said. "Unfortunately, people look at numbers and statistics in evaluating players."

What many people didn't know, Sampson said, is that Spaulding had knee surgery in the spring of his senior year of high school and didn't recover well. So that slowed his progress when he got to Oklahoma.

The Sooners will need another solid game from Spaulding if they are to beat Michigan State in the Midwest regional semifinals Friday.

"If you think about all the things he's been through ... it's not shocked me that he's come along so slowly," Sampson said.

03-18-99