Living the Dream
February 10, 2007 11:57 PM | General
February 11, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Ted Talkington’s eyes weren’t as big as saucers when Alex Ruoff picked up his third foul early in the second half of West Virginia’s 70-65 victory over No. 2 UCLA on Saturday, but they were certainly wide open when he was asked to go into the game.
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| West Virginia's Ted Talkington attempts a shot against UCLA on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia defeated the Burins 70-65.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“With that much time left I was like, ‘Oh,’” Talkington said. “We got on a little run and I was happy to keep it going.”
This wasn’t a situation where Talkington was being asked to steal a few minutes to rest either Ruoff or Darris Nichols: this was a circumstance where he had to come into an important game and try not to blow up West Virginia’s 13-point lead against the second-rated team in the country.
“When you’re a former walk-on and you see a Ted Talkington get a shot like that and give us that momentum … if he doesn’t get in there and do that we don’t get up by 17,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein. “That’s what you coach for. Kids like that give everything they have and end up living a dream out there.”
Talkington’s dream began at Magnolia High School in New Martinsville, a bottle of Pepto-Bismol west of Morgantown on winding, twisting W.Va. Route 7. The 6-2 sophomore guard scored 2,000 career points in high school and was a two-time all-state player.
His pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left helped the Blue Eagles beat Keyser in the state semifinals in Charleston his junior year. But playing against Keyser, Tyler Consolidated and River is one thing: being asked to go out and guard Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp in a game beamed to 80 percent of the country on CBS is something entirely different.
If not for choosing West Virginia, Talkington figures he would probably have wound up playing at Division II Wheeling Jesuit.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Talkington made 12 appearances mostly in the usual mop-up roles walk-ons play. However, when backup point guard Joe Mazzulla went down against Marshall with a deep thigh bruise and Devan Bawinkel injured his hand in practice before the Seton Hall game, Talkington’s mop went back in the closet.
He played five minutes against Seton Hall, getting a steal, a foul and a turnover. Beilein thought so much of Talkington’s performance that he presented him a miniature game ball for his help in West Virginia’s big road win against the Pirates.
Last Wednesday, Talkington once again came off the bench against No. 6 Pitt to give Nichols and Ruoff extra rest before television timeouts. Against UCLA it was a different story.
“I wasn’t that nervous,” Talkington said. “I got in against DePaul for like 30 seconds. They were a good team but they’re not ranked like UCLA or Pitt. Getting in against Pitt eased my nerves a little. As soon as I got that one shot up it was a little easier.”
After a missed lay up when he somehow found himself with the basketball down in the paint being stared down by a couple of Bruin brutes, Talkington collected himself and nailed a huge 3-point basket from the corner. Then right after that he pulled up and calmly drilled a jumper just inside the 3-point line to give WVU its biggest lead of the game at 19 points.
A third shot attempt by Talkington from well behind the 3-point arc came up short. If he hadn’t missed that one the WVU student section probably would have rushed the court right then and there.
“I was tired,” Talkington said. “I was losing my legs so it was a little short.”
Talkington is not quite sure what his reaction would have been had he made that third shot.
“I would have probably just taken my jersey off and left the building,” he laughed.
What Talkington did Saturday is almost too good to be true. He is one of the brightest players on the team, the engineering major usually being the guy asked to take on the brilliant Joe Herber in team debates last year on bus trips.
Talkington’s teammates have nothing but respect and admiration for what he has been able to accomplish for himself, his family and his community.
“He showed today that he can play,” said Ruoff. “He’s a Big East player and I think he’s going to help us some more down the road.”
“Everybody knows what Ted can do,” added Nichols. “He does it everyday in practice. He hasn’t really had the game reps to show it.”
It remains to be seen just how much more Talkington will play in the future. Mazzulla is expected to be available for Monday night’s Georgetown game.
“Most coaches are not going to put me in against a team like UCLA,” Talkington admitted. “It was great that he had confidence in me.”
Beilein says he simply had no other choice because he is a man of his word.
“I tell our walk-ons all the time that they are only a sprained ankle away from getting into the game. It happens and then you don’t put them in? You lose everything you’ve built with those guys,” Beilein said.
“He means a lot to our team,” added senior center Rob Summers. “We’ve been friends and he was always encouraging me when I wasn’t playing. I’m always talking to him and encouraging him.
“It’s one of the biggest games of his college career and he comes in and hits some key shots for us …,” Summers said, shaking his head in amazement.
Talkington will be the first to admit that it was a performance he couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams.
"If I never play again this is still worth everything," Talkington said.
“It’s a dream as long as he doesn’t insist he plays more,” Beilein joked. “But he’s been in tough games now.”
Yes he has.
