Kerr stars at Division II Sciences

As much as any basketball coach in Philadelphia, David Pauley at the University of the Sciences tries to connect with the history of his game.

Before his team's last home game Tuesday night, Pauley gave his seniors personal copies of a book of John Wooden quotes and anecdotes.

"Ten bucks on Amazon," Pauley quipped beforehand, but he also said the little ceremony would be a private one in the locker room. That reminded Pauley that when Bill Russell's number was retired, his Boston Celtics teammates had gathered at an empty Boston Garden and watched the number being raised to the rafters.

Without trying to draw any comparisons to historical figures, it's fair to point out that Pauley has a special player. If you haven't seen Garret Kerr play yet, you've got one more season. (Tuesday was the last home game for the junior.) Even Division I coaches should call Pauley and ask for the game tape from that Philadelphia University game, show it to their own forwards about how this game can be played.

As a 6-foot-4 power forward, Kerr is at the right level. He surely will be an all-American this season in Division II. If it's possible to average 24 points and 13 rebounds and be better than your statistics, this guy pulls it off.

"I get more out of him than he gets from me. He's what [Pete] Carril would call a lightbulb," Pauley said, referring to the former Princeton coach. " You want to be a better person, a better coach."

When Kerr first got to college and immediately started racking up points and rebounds, the stories were about his being the son of Tim Kerr, the former Flyers great. Part of his story for sure, since the son's getting on somebody's hip in the low post may remind Flyers fans of how the father worked around the net.

His use of leverage was on full display Tuesday. Philadelphia University is having another terrific season under Hall of Fame coach Herb Magee. Going into Tuesday's game, the Rams had won nine straight, had already clinched the South Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and won the usual 20 games they've averaged over Magee's 46 years.

In local small-college hoops, Magee is kind of a one-man Mount Rushmore as he battles Mike Krzyzewski for all-time victories in college hoops. His feats overshadow the landscape. But when he shows up every year at 43d and Woodland, it's a battle. Tuesday, Sciences got the better of it, 72-65, improving to 15-9, good for third place in the CACC, with Holy Family holding down second place.

Tuesday, Kerr merely had 31 points, 13 rebounds, five assists. His one made three-pointer may have been the biggest basket of the game, putting Sciences up by six with two minutes left. He tried eight free throws, made them all.

"One of the best I've played against," Magee said of Kerr. "Fabulous. He just plays. There's no B.S."

Pauley, in his 14th season in charge, had challenged Kerr after he had scored 13 points in their last meeting, in which Philly U. had pulled out a miraculous comeback. Early on, it was obvious that Kerr was up for something special Tuesday. Quite a few of his teammates made big contributions, but nobody would dispute that it was Kerr who made the difference.

On one defensive play, he tipped it loose, and in the scrum he sprawled full-out, tipping it again to a teammate. If Philly U. defenders took a second off, Kerr was either gone past a screen or in a position on their hip where they had no choice but to foul him.

"Why do you think we're going to him?" Pauley yelled at the refs one time when there was no call after contact.

You could argue that Pauley has earned the right to have a player like Kerr. Growing up in Ridley, Pauley was a soccer player. He didn't play hoops there or at Temple, where he graduated in 1979. But he was a hoop fiend and began coaching wherever he could. Late Temple assistant Jim Maloney became a mentor. Eventually, he caught on as Bobby Morgan's assistant (for 18 seasons) at Sciences.

"He has a good sense of humor - I think it helps connect with some of us," Kerr said of Pauley, who spends New Year's Day marching up Broad Street in a Wench Brigade. "But he does hold people accountable. That's one of the best parts of his coaching. You don't mistake his humor for weakness. He kind of almost uses me as an example. He's on me almost more than the other guys."

"He may have been the only guy, my first choice, that I ever got, as a head coach," Pauley said. "You target kids, whatever reason, you don't get them. I got him."

And if that Wooden book is up to $12 next year, figure Pauley will spring for it.