Oct. 22, 2004
The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears each week beginning in the fall and continues through the basketball season.
Ask Chris Charles about his summer of 2004 and you will learn about the visits he made to Las Vegas and Europe in a quest to enhance the finer points of his basketball skills.
You will hear about his trip home, to Milwaukee, to spend some time with family and friends.
There will be something else, though, too, something that extends far beyond the joys of the hardwood or simple home cooking. More so than most, Chris Charles has an appreciation for those events that have helped shape his world.
Indeed, of all that he experienced this summer, the event that seems to have struck the deepest chord in him was a visit his traveling all-star team made to a concentration camp during a stop in Germany.
"It was kind of ominous and sad," stated the 7-0 junior who grew up in Milwaukee before attending prep school in York, Pa. "It's hard to come up with the right words to describe it. I don't know the proper word for it, but it was something that definitely makes you think.
"You see films of that in classes that we take. You see a lot of things written about World War II. But it's something else to come face-to-face with what those people went through. They could have lost their life any day.
"They took us to one room that was the execution room. You saw pictures of the people that stayed at the camp. You read the different bios on some of the people who were there. It stays with you."
As he moves forward into another semester of college, Charles is very appreciative of what he has. And what he has on the basketball court this season is an opportunity. An injury that has clouded the immediate future of frontcourt sidekick Jason Fraser and the torn ACL that sidelined freshman guard Kyle Lowry have thinned the Wildcats' bench.
Those developments and his own improvement suggest Charles will be front and center as the Wildcats aim to build on their fast finish in 2003-04.
As a redshirt sophomore, Charles started eight games in 2003-04. There were flashes of excitement, especially early in the campaign when the 7-0 forward/center was a regular part of the playing rotation. But when Fraser returned from a stress fracture injury in his left foot on Jan. 2 at Kansas, Charles' minutes diminished.
In 2004-05 he figures to see as much action as he can handle.
"I think I'm ready," states Charles. "As a player, you always want the chance to show people what you can do. If any time, now is the time.
"I feel like I've paid a lot of dues. My teammates are confident in me and now I have to be confident in myself. I just have to show it on the court."
Although his production has been uneven, the fact is that the learning curve Charles faced was steeper than most. In his final year of prep basketball, Charles did not play a single game when Crispus Attucks Youth Build dropped its program. As a Villanova freshman in 2001-02, an irregular heart beat sidelined Charles for a month at the season's outset and then ended his campaign prematurely. In 2002-03, he did not play a single minute as he redshirted.
When it comes to game experience, Charles remains something of a novice.
That's why his recent off-seasons have been so critical. He has spent endless hours building skills in everything from pickup games to specialized camps to individual instruction.
"Chris has made strides," notes Villanova head coach Jay Wright.
That and his seniority - he and Marcus Austin are the only two scholarship fourth year players in the program - have given him broader responsibilities in 2004-05.
"We have a responsibility to show leadership in our own way," states Charles. "I try to lead by doing smart things. I'm not perfect but I really concentrate on doing what coach Wright and the coaching staff tell me to do. I want to help my teammates in any way I can out there."
The experience gained in the past two years has given Charles an added measure of another vital ingredient: self-assurance.
"I think I am a more confident player than I was in the past," he says. "Those experiences have made me a more knowledgeable player. My basketball IQ is not where I want it to be, but it's better. I think my coaches and teammates can see that."
One area of growth is apparent when watching Charles practice. He appears more fluid now and reactive and that, he says, is for good reason.
"The coaches had an expression for it: paralysis by analysis," Charles states. "I would be in certain situations in a game and kind of freeze up. We practice those things but it's different in a game. In a game you don't want to make mistakes. You want to do things perfectly. In practice, you just play.
"Coach Wright tells me all the time, `Chris don't think too much. Just play.' You have to trust in what you do. I just think I will be a more confident player. Also, I've been working on a lot of back-to-the-basket moves which I hope will help. Coach (Ed) Pinckney and Coach (Brett) Gunning have been working with me on those moves."
Through the ups and downs that have characterized his three-plus years at Villanova, Charles has remained upbeat and so have his teammates. Part of the credit for that belongs, in his view, to the coaching staff.
"I think our attitude is a reflection of the coaching staff," he states. "They have always been positive and professional, even in tough times. They have stuck with us and told us to stick with it. Plus, we have a lot of good guys on this team. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it's true.
"I think we ended last year showing people we could do something positive. I'm really looking forward to this."
Chris Charles is a student of history, be it of world events or his own life.
In 2004-05 he is eager to take the lessons of his personal hoops history and use them to author a chapter unlike any of those that preceded it.
