BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Ten minutes from home yet stepping inside Barclays Center for the first time, Tarik Phillip was impressed.
It didn’t hurt that the West Virginia basketball team was assigned to the New York Islanders’ locker room for this NCAA tournament weekend, highlighting the amenities you’d expect from a $1 billion arena.
Outside, construction continues along the block four years after Barclays hosted its first basketball, and Phillip said “It’s going to cool to finally see the finished product.”
The same could be said about his game.
Last year Phillip was nothing the Mountaineers envisioned in a point guard. More turnovers (33) than assists (28), almost as nearly fouls (49) as rebounds) and he was no threat from 3-point range, making fewer than 22 percent.
Behind the statistical flaws, however, bubbled the grittiness Bob Huggins heard about from Phillip’s coach at Independence (Kan.) Community College.
“I asked his coach, ‘Can he shoot at at this level? Can he handle it? Can he be a point guard?’ And he kept saying I don’t know. But then he said, ‘I’ll tell you this: You can go in a gym with 20 guys and put whatever four guys you want with Tarik and he’s still going to win.’”
Fellow Brooklyn native Teyvon Myers witnessed this in a rec league game that’s now a decade old.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. My first organized game was against Tarik, and it was a rough one. I was playing up (in age group) and, man, they killed us.
“Tarik used to have braces, so every time he’d get hit in the mouth, he’d bleed. Then it was like when Kobe gave the face, the look. He’d turn it on and it would be over for us.”
Between then and now, Myers attended four high schools and two junior colleges. Phillip shifted to prep school in North Carolina and committed to the University of South Carolina before taking his own juco journey. But now they’re back in their old neighborhood, and Thursday they rode a team bus past some of the parks where they grew up as players and toughened their personalities.
From tearing through the defense with bloody braces, learning the need for retaliation or just plain annoying the ears off his opponents, Phillip said it’s in his DNA.
“I feel like that’s just the way New York City kids play basketball, so that’s how I tend to play, whether it’s good or bad.”
Phillip’s second season at West Virginia has been good enough to see his minutes climb to 22 from last year’s 12. His 3-point shooting jumped to 41 percent and he owns the highest assists and steals percentages on the squad. His 138 free throws are second-most behind Devin Williams.
Less noticeable yet equally important has been his influence on Myers—helping the newcomer learn offensive sets and defensive concepts. And, of course, giving him some old-fashioned beatings.
“When I first got to West Virginia, we’d play one-on-one all night,” Myers said. :I didn’t beat him once. He beat me every time. I would get close and never win. Then I’d kick the ball to the other end of he court.”
Poised to play before family members during Friday’s NCAA opener, Phillip anticipates being comfortable, not nervous.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “You get to show the world what you have.”