By
Bryan Rosenbaum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
MINNEAPOLIS - When Duke forward Shane Battier was growing up in Birmingham, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, he despised Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan because they were the Detroit Pistons' biggest enemies.
Now, the senior and Naismith Award winner as College Basketball Player of the Year finds himself in those players' shoes.
Loved by his own fans and loathed by the opponents' fans, Battier has the ability to swing the momentum of a game by taking a charge or knocking down a three-pointer.
"Those 'I hate Shane Battier' signs, those just warm my heart," Battier says. Battier will play his final game as a college athlete tonight in the national championship game against Arizona, but his impact, on and off the floor, will last well beyond what happens in Minneapolis.
"I have really appreciated this opportunity," Battier says. "This being my senior year and my last game at Duke, win or lose, I'm going to enjoy it."
As a young man growing up near Detroit, Battier found himself constantly trying to fit in. He was a baseball, football and basketball star, as well as the product of a biracial marriage.
"When I went to play ball in the city, the guys there saw me as a white kid from the suburbs," he says. "When you're a kid, the most important thing in the world is fitting in."
At Detroit Country Day High School in Birmingham, he was constantly compared to the school's most famous alumnus, Chris Webber, currently with the NBA's Sacramento Kings.
"Initially, when I came to Country Day, the comparisons were inevitable - we were both 6-foot-8 and were expected to do great things as ninth-graders," Battier says. "Once people saw me play, they saw I was a different person and player.
"Chris was all cut and had huge muscles, he is a man amongst boys in the NBA, let alone high school. I never had that luxury."
Battier won three state championships at Country Day and was the top college recruit, turning down his favorite team, Michigan, in favor of the stricter, more academic Duke University.
"The great thing with Shane is that he's gotten better every year," Arizona head coach Lute Olson says. "He was the outstanding high school senior, the outstanding freshman in college, sophomore and junior, senior (year). So it's been the case where he has really worked hard to continue to be the best player."
Few players in college basketball are as complete as Battier. He has the size to battle inside and rebound, yet is an excellent three-point shooter, shooting 41.6 percent this season.
"He creates so many problems," Olson says. "He can take the ball to (the) hole well, he shoots the three(s), he sets great screens for his teammates, he gets to the boards, he blocks shots. There isn't really anything he doesn't do."
Off the court, Battier is an Academic All-American, is active with children, performs in improvisational theater on campus and represents everything that's right about college athletics.
On the court, his oddly-shaped head and large, pointy ears have given opposing fans plenty ammunition to taunt him, but rarely does Battier let it get to him.
"I enjoy playing the villain, kind of like Reggie Miller," he says. "After the game, you just walk off, smile, give the crowd a little wink. I think that's the best way to combat that."
Looks like he has learned from the best.
