Lee Nailon has heard the hype before.
In high school, he was an All-American and dubbed as a can’t-miss college prospect.
In junior college, he was again an All-American and called the nation’s best junior-college power forward by The Sporting News.
And now, in his first year in Division I, Nailon is receiving national attention after leading Texas Christian to a 14-0 Western Athletic Conference record and a No. 14 national ranking.
“I don’t let (hype) bother me,” Nailon said. “People are going to talk. As long as I keep doing my thing, they’re going to talk more.”
What is his thing?
It’s 25.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. The nation’s third-leading scorer. The main weapon on the highest-scoring team in the nation.
When the WAC Tournament begins today in Las Vegas, Nailon and the Horned Frogs will be resting, earning a bye in the first round as the Pacific Division’s No. 1 seed.
But when the winner of today’s Colorado State-Southern Methodist game takes the court Thursday at 2:30 p.m., the scoring machine that is TCU will once again be on display. And that could be bad news for everybody else.
“Lately, we’ve been playing really hard and sticking together,” Nailon said. “We should win the WAC Tournament; that’s the way I feel.”
A confident TCU team has now reeled off 15 straight wins, including a 31-point blowout over then-No. 11 New Mexico 10 days ago. In that win, Nailon led the Horned Frogs with 31 points. But being the leader is a role the 6-foot-9 junior from South Bend, Ind., has stepped right into in his first year in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Some of the guys on the team look up to me and look to me for ideas on what we can do,” he said. “I try to stay focused and make the right decisions for them.”
And Nailon has been making the right decisions all year.
Almost everything Nailon has done this year has helped his team to its best record in school history. Almost.
On Jan. 14, Nailon pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. After being placed on a one-year, deferred sentence and ordered to undergo counseling, Nailon was suspended for one game.
The result: a 105-61 TCU win at San Diego State. It was the Aztecs’ worst home loss ever.
But more importantly than a win for TCU, the incident and SDSU game served as a wake-up call for the Horned Frogs, according to Nailon.
“I think the media blew the whole thing out of proportion,” he said. “The media’s just like fans. They’re going to be on the bandwagon until you mess up.
“After the incident, (head coach Billy Tubbs) told us to stick together, and good things will happen for us. And they have.”
And good things have happened for Nailon.
Along with being featured on nationally televised stations like ESPN and CNN, Nailon was just named the WAC Pacific Division Player of the Year.
After all the success and accolades this year, Nailon’s attention may be focusing to once again moving up to a new level of competition, the National Basketball Association.
“I’ve thought about (playing in the NBA),” Nailon said. “There’s a possibility that I will come out, depending on how far we go in the (NCAA) Tournament.”
The tournament will provide Nailon with the spotlight he hopes will propel him to the top of the NBA scouting lists.
“The good thing is that a lot more people will get to see me and see what I can do,” he said.
For those who have already seen Nailon play, there’s no question he’s ready for the pros.
“He’s an NBA player,” SDSU junior guard Matt Watts said. “He was an NBA player in junior college. He’s been doing this since I met him. He’s a definite NBA prospect.”
Watts should know.
He and Nailon were teammates at Butler Community College in Kansas last year. And they’ve developed a bond that’s transcended the distance between Southern California and Fort Worth.
“Matt’s one of my boys. We hung around a lot last year,” Nailon said. “We’ll get in touch in Vegas.”
Watts added: “He’s gonna be my boy for life. In that one year, we came together like family. Whatever I had, he had.”
Watts knows what a dream come true it would be for Nailon if he were to go pro next year.
“He’s been talking about going to the NBA since I met him,” Watts said. “It’s his dream. It’s all about his decision.”
And Watts agrees Nailon’s ready for the hype that the NCAA Tournament and coming out early bring with it.
“Hype’s been on him since high school,” Watts said. “But nothing’s gone to his head. He’s still down to earth and hasn’t forgotten where he came from.”
But now, it’s not where Nailon came from that matters, it’s where he’s going. And if he gets his way, he and the Horned Frogs will be going a long way in the NCAA Tournament.
“We just keep proving ourselves,” Nailon said. “As long as we do what we gotta do, we should do all right.”
And if Nailon keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll once again deal with a new level of hype ? the NBA.
