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Keith Gatlin, then and now

Wesleyan Christian Academy introduced Keith Gatlin of Greensboro as its boys basketball coach Tuesday.

If the name rings a bell, well, it should.

Gatlin was a star high school basketball player at D.H. Conley in Greenville, where he earned state player of the year and McDonald's All-America honors back in 1983. He went on to play ACC basketball as Maryland's point guard. He never made it to the NBA, but he played pro ball for 11 teams on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean from 1988 through 2001.

Plug Gatlin's name into Google, and the first thing that pops up is this YouTube video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tvAi-xCFtE

It's the final play of Maryland's 77-72 overtime victory at North Carolina in February 1986. Gatlin scores an easy layup after catching his own inbounds pass by bouncing it off the back of Carolina defender Kenny Smith.

Even now, 23 years later, Gatlin says people still ask him about that play.

"That happened as a fluke," Gatlin said Tuesday. "We practiced that play the night before. Our second team was running the Carolina defense, and back then Carolina always turned their back to the inbound passer to deny the pass and try to get a five-second count. So (in practice) Lefty (Driesell) was counting, and I panicked … and threw it off John Johnson’s back and stepped back in. Everyone was, like, 'Wow.' So Lefty calls (ACC referee) Lenny Wertz and says, 'Hey, if we have this opportunity and we're in trouble, could we do that?' And he said as long as you step inbounds (before touching the ball) you can do it."

Gatlin didn't score much in college -- he didn't need to; he played with Len Bias, the best player to ever wear a Terps uniform -- but he graduated as Maryland's all-time assists leader (a record since broken by Steve Blake). Gatlin's game changed as a pro.

"You've got to score in Europe," he said Tuesday, "or you're coming home."

Gatlin has a wealth of basketball knowledge to pass on to his Wesleyan players.

"It's a different breed of kids now," Gatlin said. "Kids today want to shoot the 3-pointer or dunk the ball. Most kids don't understand the mid-range game, and that's where you win. If you can make your 2-pointers and be real efficient, you're going to be good. Kobe Bryant is the best player in the game right now, and very seldom does he shoot threes. His mid-range game is incredible. It's hard to make kids understand that."

-- JEFF MILLS, Staff Writer