Roger Mason did not always get all the attention.
The junior guard, and star of the Virginia basketball team, leads the Cavaliers into Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday night looking to upset top-ranked Duke for the second straight time. Win or lose, the spotlight is sure to shine brightly on Mason---a luxury he has not always had the pleasure of enjoying.
Despite being a consensus top-50 prospect and a highly sought-after recruit at Good Counsel High School in Silver Spring, Md., Mason was not even the most celebrated player in his own conference. That honor befell the ballyhooed tandem of Joseph Forte and Keith Bogans from rival DeMatha High, who went on to flourish immediately at North Carolina and Kentucky, respectively. While those two were enjoying early stardom, Mason was biding his time as a freshman reserve for the Cavaliers.
Despite the rivalry, Mason remained good friends with Bogans and Forte.
"We love playing against each other," Mason said. "It's always going to be competition against friends.... But when we all get home, we get together, go out, and work out together. It's nice [that we can] still be cool off the court."
Fortunately for Mason, he didn't have to wait long to emerge from his friends' shadows. He enjoyed a breakout sophomore season, and this year the Wooden Award candidate has established himself as one of the best players in the country. While Forte perseveres through a dismal first season in the NBA and Bogans remains mired in a season-long slump, Mason has become the third-leading scorer and top free throw shooter in the ACC, not to mention a captain and leader of the seventh-ranked team in the nation.
"Roger really finished strong at the end of last year," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
"He was our go-to-guy during the last seven or eight games of the season. [He] is a tremendous player and still has room to get better."
The only uncertainty about Mason's game now is what position he is going to play. While more of a natural shooting guard, Mason also served as the backup point guard for the Cavaliers last year, and has seen time at both positions this year. As if this were not enough versatility, Mason even started at small forward this past summer when he represented the USA in the World University Games.
"For this team, I just want to do whatever it takes for us to win," Mason said. "Some nights it might be me playing [shooting guard] and scoring, but other nights it's just going to be me being a point guard and distributing the ball. We have a lot of talented guys on this team, so I don't necessarily have to score a lot of points. I can run the team and make sure the pace of the ballgame is [what we want]."
That team-first attitude helped Mason greatly in the World University Games, in which he accompanied a team of American college all-stars to China to compete with the best players in the world. The U.S. team earned the bronze medal, and Mason finished as the third-leading scorer.
"It was a really good experience for me because you have to [adjust], because my role was different," Mason said. "I had to play small forward and rebound and check bigger guys, and I think that helped my game in the long run."
That wasn't the only part of the experience that Mason enjoyed.
"The tryouts [for the games] were great because it allowed me to play against great players trying out for the team," Mason said. "That was a great experience, getting to meet [Duke starters] Dahntay [Jones], Chris [Duhon] and Carlos [Boozer], because I've become pretty good friends with those guys."
Mason will have to put his new friendships aside on Sunday night when the Blue Devils and Cavaliers square off. Last year, the Cavaliers suffered a 103-61 drubbing at the hands of the Blue Devils when the teams met in Durham, yet managed to bounce back and defeat Duke 91-89 in the rematch in Charlottesville. Mason attributes the discrepancy to the raucous atmosphere in Cameron.
"When you go down to Duke, it's one of the toughest places to play in America, and that's a tribute to the fans and the students down there," Mason said. "You really have to be mentally focused and just try to blank out the crowd."
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday night's game, Mason has established himself as a star in his own right, and now has new issues to ponder, such as the lure of following the lead of his buddy Forte in declaring early for the NBA Draft.
"It's something that's always in the back of your mind, because in today's game everybody's thinking about leaving [for the NBA]," Mason said. "If I have that opportunity, that means I had a great season, and I'll deal with it after the season."
If and when Mason does turn professional, it may not be long before he and his hometown friends Bogans and Forte are reliving their high school days and battling for supremacy of the NBA.
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