Jan. 28, 2004
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) – Will Bynum always wanted more from life than what he saw daily on Chicago’s mean streets.
The gangs. The drugs. The violence.
Basketball in hand, he vowed to find something better.
“He knew which way he wanted to go as a little boy,” said Bynum’s mother, Rose Robinson. “The way he used to bounce the ball in the house, all day and all night. That boy would eat, drink and sleep basketball.”
He knew the stakes were high. He knew he couldn’t afford to fail.
“Chicago is crazy, man,” Bynum said, sitting on the bench at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum after a recent practice. “It was hard just going to school. It was hard just coming from school. Any wrong decision could be the end of your life.”
He made enough right decisions to make a name as one of the best high school players in Chicago. “Will the Thrill,” they dubbed him. He earned his coveted ticket out – a college scholarship to Arizona.
Bynum didn’t stay in the desert for long, leaving the Wildcats early in his sophomore season. He moved on to Georgia Tech, where he had to sit out a year before joining the Yellow Jackets.
With that time served, Bynum has become a driving force on one of college basketball’s most surprising teams. In consecutive games, he scored a career-high 25 points against Maryland, 20 in a victory at Wake Forest, an 17 in a loss to North Carolina State.
No. 14 Georgia Tech (16-3), picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference, set a school record by winning its first 12 games, has all but locked up its first NCAA bid in three years and seems likely to contend for the league championship.
With unyielding confidence and a crossover dribble that can buckle knees, Bynum has provided the Yellow Jackets just what they needed: A point guard who can spell starter Jarrett Jack and a shooting guard who can provide instant offense.
“That’s definitely one of the things we lacked last year,” Jack said. “It’s a beautiful thing. I can finally get a break and know when I go out, we’re not going to start turning the ball over.”
After high school, Bynum’s mother urged him to attend Georgia Tech. But the Yellow Jackets already had a senior point guard, Tony Akins, and coach Paul Hewitt wouldn’t promise a starting job.
So Bynum headed off to play for Lute Olson at Arizona.
“I was hypnotized,” Bynum said, managing a smile. “That’s about all I can say about Arizona.”
He showed promise as a freshman, making nine starts for a team that reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16. But he also shot just 34 percent from the field. Early the next season, his playing time began to dwindle with the emergence of freshman point guard Chris Rodgers, considered a better defender by Olson.
When Bynum backed out on a road trip, his days there were done.
Looking back, Bynum insists that he didn’t leave Arizona because he was unhappy with his role. His family couldn’t afford to travel out West to watch him play, leaving a giant void in his life.
“After games, I would see the other players with their parents,” Bynum recalled. “After a while, it started to bother me.”
Then, his mother was hospitalized with diabetes after his freshman season, forcing him to skip out on Arizona’s summer tour of Australia. Bynum decided he wanted to be closer to his family. His mother pointed him toward Georgia Tech once again.
“He liked Arizona, but being away from home and me being ill and everything, it was too much for him,” Robertson said. “He was so far away.”
Atlanta isn’t exactly in the same neighborhood, but it’s a lot closer to Chicago than Tucson. “I can always get a ride there,” Robertson said with a hearty chuckle. Indeed, most of Bynum’s family plans to be at Saturday’s game against No. 1 Duke.
Olson isn’t surprised that Bynum is playing so well for the Yellow Jackets, averaging 11.1 points even though he’s started only one game.
“Will has always been a team guy,” Olson said. “He loved it here, and we loved having him here. But it got down to minutes. … Now, he’s evidently found his niche.”
Added Arizona center Channing Frye, “I knew he was going to be successful wherever he went. I’m glad for him. His overall ability was amazing.”
While Bynum took the long route to Georgia Tech, Hewitt didn’t mind waiting. He loved this guy’s bravado, epitomized by the tattoo on his left arm – “Victory or Death.”
“He has that good combination of confidence and ability,” Hewitt said. “And he has a coach who knows when to get out of his way.”
Bynum’s game includes plenty of moves honed on the blacktop, whether it’s a crossover dribble that would make Allen Iverson proud or whipping the ball behind his back while slicing through a crowd.
“Growing up on the streets of Chicago, you had to have a variety of moves,” Bynum said. “You always have a lot of people coming at you, getting in your face.”
Beyond the flash, he also has improved his outside shooting, connecting on nearly 43 percent from the field and almost 35 percent outside the 3-point line. His height – generously listed at 6 feet – makes him a bit of a defensive liability, but the Yellow Jackets cover up that shortcoming by using him as a reserve.
Bynum wears his dreams permanently on the inside of his left forearm, where he has a tattoo of the NBA logo.
“I won’t be shocked if he makes it, I’ll tell you that,” his mother said. “That’s been his dream for a long time.”
