Before 2002, basketball had always been a joke in Bay City, Mich.

Since the early 1970s, the team at Central High School, one of two high schools in the city of about 45,000, had failed to record back-to-back winning seasons.

‘We’ve got a long tradition of football and baseball excellence in Bay City,’ said Joe Ricard, Central’s basketball coach, laughing at the disparity of his team’s situation. ‘We’re in arguably the best basketball conference in Michigan but, unfortunately, we’re not the best basketball school in that conference.’

Competing against perennial powerhouses like Flint and Saginaw, two of the state’s more potent basketball hotbeds, a losing season was nothing out of the ordinary.

Then Eric Devendorf, a 6-foot-3 guard committed to play basketball for Syracuse next fall, entered the picture. In 2002, Devendorf’s sophomore season, he led his team to a 12-9 record. Then, his junior year, the guard led his team to an identical finish. Just like that, the streak was over. The school even managed a few upsets along the way.

‘They’re horrible,’ admitted Devendorf’s father, Curt. ‘But when Eric played they actually did well. They beat Saginaw High for the first time in 40 years. He scored 31 points on them. It was amazing.’

What made him so special, Ricard said, was his offensive prowess, both as a scorer and as a passer.

‘He’s that rare scorer who doesn’t have to score,’ Ricard said. ‘I used to think at one time, that every scorer has to score, but if you ask Eric to go into the game and be an assist leader, he will go in and be an assist leader.’

Almost immediately, Devendorf became a legend – not only in Bay City, but throughout the state. Swarms of people would flood Bay City’s 2,000-capacity gymnasium to watch him play, only to be turned away because the seats had filled up.

Everywhere the team traveled, the same thing happened. Kids would line up after the game for autographs. News outlets would request interviews. SLAM Magazine even asked him to participate in a monthly diary about his high school season. Each time, Devendorf obliged.

‘It was good to have everybody come out and watch me, but I didn’t really think that much of it until everybody started talking about it,’ Devendorf said. ‘At times, it could be kind of annoying, but other than that it wasn’t really a big deal.’

To his family, though, it was a big deal. His father compared the attention Devendorf received in Bay City to Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara’s scenario in Scranton, Pa. Devendorf was the town hero. He was the star.

‘It’s at least at that level,’ his father said. ‘He was unreal in this town. He packed this gym. And it was him, it was nobody else.’

Nationally, though, comparisons between McNamara and Devendorf began expanding to focus on more than the fervor of the two players’ fans. Because of his offensive abilities and his outside shot, the comparison seemed natural to everyone – except Devendorf.

‘A lot of people probably just say that because we’re white,’ he said behind a chuckle. ‘I wouldn’t really say I play that much like him at all. I go to the hole more, and he’s more of a catch-and-shoot type player. It’s two different games.’

The national attention only added to the local frenzy, though, and as his career progressed, so did Devendorf’s star in Bay City.

‘It was new for everybody in the town,’ Ricard said. ‘If you’re a good player in Detroit or a good player in Flint, you’re not the first one. They’re used to it in other towns. It would be very difficult for any 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kid, that constant adulation. But I thought he handled it real well. I don’t think he ever got the big head from that.’

Instead, Devendorf turned his focus to practicing and making himself a better player. He would practice in the school gym for two hours after his team had finished its drills. He would wake up each morning at 6 to shoot around in his driveway. The weather wasn’t a factor; if it rained, it rained. If it snowed, he’d wake up earlier to break up and shovel away the ice.

‘He’s been that way forever,’ Curt Devendorf said. ‘That’s the way he is. I don’t know why it is, but he’s been so dedicated and has known that basketball is what he’s wanted to do since Jump Street.’

All the hard work paid off. Devendorf became the state’s darling basketball player. He committed to play for Michigan State. He was a frontrunner for the state’s 2004-2005 Mr. Basketball Award.

‘He would have been Mr. Basketball,’ his father said. ‘There’s no question about that.’

Then, over the summer, he gave it all up. The attention, the adulation, everything. He decided to forego his senior year at Bay City and instead play at Oak Hill Academy, a high school basketball factory in Mouth of Wilson, Va., known for breeding college basketball players, including Carmelo Anthony and two other Syracuse players, Billy Edelin and Dayshawn Wright.

He also reneged on his verbal promise to Michigan State and accepted an offer to play for Syracuse, immediately becoming the school’s most highly-rated recruit since Anthony.

‘I’m sure I left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths,’ Devendorf said of his decision. ‘But it wasn’t their choice, it was mine.’

The fans were disappointed with the decisions, Ricard said, and while there were some who understood the benefits for Devendorf, many followers were upset with how things turned out.

‘Some understood and some didn’t,’ Devendorf’s father said. ‘It was a family decision, and I personally didn’t give a shit what people thought about it. Eric was the kind of guy that people loved him, or they didn’t.

‘He’s caught a lot of grief for that. It was really, really tough.’

But Devendorf hasn’t looked back. This year, Devendorf led Oak Hill to a 34-2 record and a No. 1 ranking in the USA Today Super 25 poll. He also improved his grades enough to make himself NCAA eligible.

‘I wasn’t used to winning like that,’ he said. ‘I had a lot more fun playing this year than I did in any other years of playing basketball.’

After completing his Oak Hill season and a postseason of All-American games – including a performance that earned him the MVP award at the EA Sports Roundball Classic – all Devendorf has left to do is graduate and wait out the summer before he comes to Syracuse.

Of course, for a guy who’s been used to being the center of attention for the past four years of his life – both for his talent and his decisions – waiting is the last thing he wants to do.

‘I’m ready,’ Devendorf said. ‘I’m ready right now to come up and get going.’

Published on April 18, 2005 at 12:00 pm