London Calling: Cal Alum Alysia Montano Heads to the Olympics in Search of a Medal

Montano’s first Olympic race will be the morning of August 8. The final is held on August 11. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Montano’s first Olympic race will be the morning of August 8. The final is held on August 11. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

By Connor Buestad | connorbuestad@gmail.com

Traditionally speaking, rummaging through a collection of YouTube videos featuring a middle distance runner is not exactly an enthralling experience. Unless, of course, you are talking about the video library of newly minted US Olympian, Alysia Montano. A runner who makes watching a pack of girls run two laps around a track not just tolerable, but downright captivating.

At last month’s Olympic Trials, Montano cruised to an impressive victory in the Women’s 800m with a time of  1:59:08. It was the fourth time Montano had won the US Title in the 800, and it was her first time punching her ticket to the ever-elusive Olympic Games. In the case of Montano, elusive would be the operative word, considering the long road Montano was forced to take to arrive in London.

The first thing anyone notices about Montano (formerly Johnson before marrying in 2011) when she sets foot on a track is the flower she wears in her hair for every race. But then comes the infectious smile, the hell-bent running style and the happy-go-lucky post race interviews. And then there’s the way Alysia Montano likes to finish her biggest races, with a tumbling dive across the finish line. It is this signature dive that might find the UC Berkeley graduate in NBC’s London studios alongside Bob Costas, discussing the triumph of winning an Olympic Medal.

Alysia Montano’s first notable dive on a national stage came in 2007 when she was a just a junior at Cal. The overwhelming favorite going into the race was the eventual three-time Olympian Hazel Clark, a seasoned racer with a long frame and smooth running style. It wasn’t an Olympic year, but it was Montano’s first chance to lay claim to the title of “Fastest 800 Meter Runner in America.”

On a rainy, wet track, Montano shot out in front of Clark and dared the seasoned Olympian to try to catch her from behind. Well versed in the strategies of middle distance running, Clark hung back behind Montano, letting the youngster set the pace and complete the stressful task of leading from the front. On the second of the two-lap race, Clark gradually closed in on Montano until the two runners were neck and neck as they crossed the finish. Clark and Montano both dove for the tape, with Montano winning by an inch. As her body bounced to an eventual halt, Montano was left with her tongue hanging out, clutching the blue finish line tape in her arms.

“Me and my coach were talking before the race and he told me that the last 50 meters was going be where I needed to find something and dig deep and go after it, and that’s what I did,” explained Montano, almost matter-of-factly.

With 2007 complete and an 800m NCAA and National Championship in hand, Montano set her sights on Beijing and the 2008 Olympics. She was the fastest woman in America now, with seemingly nothing that could stop her.

The 2008 Olympic trials were held in Eugene at the University of Oregon. Known as “Tracktown USA”, Hayward Field in Eugene is considered the Mecca of US track & field. With boisterous, knowledgeable crowds, the stadium is the last of a dying breed when it comes to track outposts that consistently draw big crowds and create memorable moments. What Madison Square Garden is to basketball, Hayward Field is to track and field.

2008 was expected to be the year that Montano would fulfill her dream of making the US Olympic team, but she instead suffered a runner’s worst nightmare. A nagging foot injury gave way completely during Montano’s quarterfinal race, leaving her writhing on the track in agony. Montano’s attempt at running through her injury resulted in a broken foot and subsequently, broken dreams. As track officials carried Montano off the track, she was left with the sobering realization that her next chance at the Olympics was four long years away. Hazel Clark would wind up winning that year’s Olympic Trials, sending her to her third Olympic Games. Montano could do nothing but sit home in Berkeley and ponder what might have been.

“I showed up at the Olympic trials and ran the first round, and my foot literally felt like it was crumbling,” Alysia told ESPN. “I remember kind of a black-out phase. I don’t really remember the last 50 meters. I remember looking up in the sky and felt like my dream had passed me by.”

Agony in Eugene (Photo by Eric Gay, AP)

Agony in Eugene (Photo by Eric Gay, AP)

Done with college, Montano was faced with the lonely prospect of training on her own for the next four years, in hopes of getting another shot at her Olympic dream. After a year dedicated to rehab under the guidance of her trusted coach, Tony Sandoval, Montano put together a magnificent year in 2010, highlighted by her personal best 800m time of 1:57:34. No other female runner in the world ran a faster time during that calendar year. At the 2010 World Indoor Championships, Montano went on to win a bronze medal, not to mention her second US Outdoor Championship. After a year marred by injury, Montano was back winning championships and competing at an elite international level. A true testament to the impenetrable will and perseverance she’s known for.

2011 brought with it the exciting challenge of competing in the IAAF Outdoor World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. The event had the look and feel of a true Olympic competition and gave Alysia the opportunity to battle the best runners the world had to offer. In a race that Montano had no business winning, she maintained pace with the leaders throughout, only to fall short of her first international outdoor medal as she was bypassed down the home stretch. Once again, Montano found herself diving across the finish line in dramatic fashion, only this time, it was more like a full-blown barrel roll. The fact that the dive only landed her in fourth place was almost beside the point. Alysia had laid it all out on the line in a way which was inspiring to watch. If she was going to get beat on an international stage, she was going to make sure she went down swinging.

Mariya Savinova of Russia wound up winning the race, followed by Caster Semenya of South Africa and Janeth Jeposkosegi-Busienei of Kenya. Savinova and Semenya both hold sub-1:56 personal bests, while Montano has never run below a 1:57. People often say of track that runners are running against the clock, and in this case Alysia couldn’t quite beat it. “I got stuck twice during the last 150m, its just about positioning,” explained Montano after the race. “The 800 is an unforgiving event.”

This past month brought Montano full circle, as she arrived back in Eugene for the Olympic Trials with a second chance to realize her Olympic dream. This time, things went much smoother, as Montano exorcised her demons at Hayward Field and ran away from the pack to become the US Olympic Trials champion. During the race that secured her Olympic berth, Montano wore a Hibiscus flower in her hair to honor her grandma’s Jamaican heritage. Not just any grandma, mind you, her 100 year old grandma, a centenarian who still carries an unflagging vitalitiy and passion into her triple digits. A grandma who’s energy has undoubtedly rubbed off on her champion granddaughter.

The 800m is often debated as being the toughest event in track & field, as it requires the all-out effort of a sprinter coupled with the long term stamina of a long distance runner. Try sprinting a lap around a track at full speed, and when you’re done, do it again without stopping. “The 8 is just a fearless event,” Montano has said. “You have to go into it really believing in what you have been doing in your training, and believing in your coach and in yourself.”

Only two American women have ever medaled in the 800 at the Olympics. Madeline Manning won gold in 1968, while Kim Gallagher won silver in 1984 and bronze in 1988. The last Olympics in 2008 saw Pamela Jelimo of Kenya take the gold with a daunting time of 1:54:87. Needless to say, Alysia will have her work cut out for her when she arrives in London. “My whole mentality is to be brave and have heart and I have no control over what goes on when my heart is out there on the line. I’m prepared to run a really, really fast time. Those girls on the Olympic stage are not running slow,” says Montano.

Of course, there is a reason why Jelimo isn’t already wearing a London-issued gold medal around her neck; she still needs to show up to the track and cross the finish line first. An unexpected fall, inclement weather, an unusual pace, nothing is a foregone conclusion when runners take their marks for the gold medal race of the 800 meters.

In years past, the likes of Florence Griffith-Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee have captured the hearts and minds of the average American sports fan. Unlike some of her most celebrated predecessors, Alysia Montano will only be running one event in London and she certainly won’t be the favorite. But, with her penchant for beating long odds in dramatic fashion, don’t be surprised if one way or another she winds up tumbling across the finish line in a fit of glory.

Where it all started… Alysia’s photo finish to knock off Hazel Clark back in 2007 (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

"Giving New Meaning to the Phrase 'Locked in at the Plate'" - Baseball inside San Quentin Prison

The sun creeps up over the walls of San Quentin Prison

The sun creeps up over the walls of San Quentin Prison

By Connor Buestad | connorbuestad@gmail.com 

Sure I had my fears. Who wouldn’t? At San Quentin California State Penitentiary, you name it and they’ve done it. Murder, rape, armed robbery, the list goes on, and it isn’t pretty. Some are on death row, others are simply there for life, a few are expecting to get back out on the “outside” as they call it, sooner than later.

I arrived at the prison’s visitor’s parking lot early on a Saturday morning. Look left, and I can see the north end of the San Francisco Bay in all its glory, morning light glistening off sailboats and the Tiburon ferry. Look right, and I’m confronted with a cluster of barbed wire, bars and high walls. Two worlds, so close yet so far away.

As it came time to enter, discussion ensued among teammates about what was to be allowed into the prison. I had never been, but I assumed prison security would be tight. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Aside from peering into my bag and lazily sweeping a metal detector in front of me, the guards let me in scot free. Compare this process to that of boarding a pedestrian flight to Seattle on SWA and it’s almost laughable. Put it this way, if I wanted to bring in a Costco sized tube of Crest, no one was stopping me.

A brief trek though the Maximum Security wing of the prison, home to the infamous Scott Peterson, led us to the “yard”. Down a ramp, around a corner, and there I was in the heart of the “Q”. My first impression was, yes, this really does seem like the movies. Eliminate the new hospital that was recently built, and I could of sworn I was in Shawshank. (Red and Andy Dufrense had to be around here somewhere, I thought.) One of the first things I noticed was a large clock overlooking the yard. Ironically, it was broken. Perhaps time really did stand still in this place.

As we set down our gear and trotted out to warm up, I was amazed by how active and engaged everyone was. Sure, a few prisoners chose to spend their Saturday morning lounging with fellow prison buddies, but they were the minority. Instead, it seemed as if most prisoners were wrapped up in their own world, doing their best to get the most out of their free time outdoors. Prisoners were participating in running, boxing, horeshoes, pingpong, chess, guitar, pushups, basketball, and tennis, just to name a few. There was even a religious ceremony of sorts going on in deep right-center field, complete with a mini-bonfire and a small hut. What should have been time spent loosening up for the game, ended up being a field study for Sociology 101.

Mount Tamalpais serves as a constant reminder of life on the outside

Mount Tamalpais serves as a constant reminder of life on the outside

As with any baseball game, there is copious amounts of banter that takes place between the two competing teams. Playing shortstop, I was afforded a brief two-minute conversation with any San Quentin Giant who reached 2nd base. Topics breached included Pablo Sandoval’s recent slump, favorite Bay Area radio stations, and how much a Snickers costs on the street as compared to in the slammer. What struck me most, however, was the sincere “thank you’s” I received for coming inside their world to play. On three different occasions, a prisoner looked me dead in the eye and said, “thank you very much for coming, I appreciate it.” You can say what you want about the prison system in this country, but this type of compassion told me something is working.

During the course of the game we had our share of brief interruptions. One of which was called “yard down”. This occurs when there is some sort of disturbance or security issue somewhere within the prison walls. Midway through the 6th inning, I took a knee with the other 200 some-odd convicts, hoping the delay would be short lived so we could get back to the game. Two minutes later we were back at it.

I was interrupted for a second time by the prison basketball game that was taking place adjacent to our baseball game. This too was a game between a team from the outside versus the San Quentin Warriors. The interruption I speak of? Well, just an emphatic fastbreak dunk which set off a rowdy scene among the crowd of prisoners, presumably gambling on this, the “game of the week.”

The longer I spent inside these prison walls, the more I was impressed by the demeanor of its inhabitants. I went in expecting a rowdy bunch of criminals, but I instead found a calm, subdued group of individuals immersed in their activity of choice. Call me crazy, but it seemed like the prisoners were living a life of simplicity and routine that some readily enjoyed. Surely, there are horror stories that even the most loquacious prison guard would never confide in me, but the mood inside San Quentin on this Saturday could best be described as pleasant.

The San Quentin Giants ended up losing on this day. Surrendering a 4 run lead to fall by the score of 14-12. Shoddy pitching and errors on defense lead to the Giants demise, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of hustle. Following the game, the players manicured the field with water and rakes as if it was their brand new Corvette, a microcosm of the pride each player took in playing for their prison. Finally, both teams congregated on the pitcher’s mound for a brief prayer, lead by a veteran San Quentin outfielder. The topic of the prayer was religion, but the theme was undoubtedly hope. To quote Andy’s letter to Red in The Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Amen.

Maybe the Field of Dreams isn't in Iowa after all?

Maybe the Field of Dreams isn't in Iowa after all?


Tinseltown converges on Oak-Town: Behind the scenes of Brad Pitt’s movie, “Moneyball”

TURNS OUT MOVIE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO SIT IN FUNKY CHAIRS LIKE THESE

TURNS OUT MOVIE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO SIT IN FUNKY CHAIRS LIKE THESE

By Connor Buestad | connorbuestad@gmail.com

Andy Warhol once said that in the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes. To me, this idea sounds plausible enough. The kicker is figuring out when, where and how this 15 minutes of famousness is going to come to fruition. Fortunately, the dream machine that is Hollywood movies has recently arrived in Oakland, ready to hand out “15 Minutes” by the truckload.

“Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game” was a book written my Michael Lewis back in 2003. The book is about baseball, but appeals to a fairly broad audience. It chronicles the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, Billy Beane, and his quest to turn the 2002 version of the A’s into a contender, despite being strapped with a tiny payroll and limited resources. Today, this book is being adapted into a big league Hollywood film, with the infamous Brad Pitt portraying Beane, Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing A’s manager Art Howe, and Jonah Hill acting as Beane’s front office assistant, Paul DePodesta. For one night in August, I was there myself, chronicling Oakland’s attempt at housing the big wigs of the movie industry and also doing a bit of acting myself (spoiler alert).

For those of you that have spent any more than five minutes with me knows one thing right off the bat (pun intended), my acting chops are nothing to write home about. I wish I was being self deprecating when I told you my skills as an actor were worse than poor, but in reality I’m just telling you the truth. After recently working in a New York City restaurant for 8 months, it became painfully clear that I shouldn’t bother heading off on any auditions with my co-workers. A hundred bucks for a headshot? Out of the question. Nonetheless, working with so many aspiring actors and actresses had a way of heightening my interest and sensitivity of what it takes to make it in the entertainment business. After spending a night on the set of “Moneyball” my suspicions proved correct: nothing comes easy, and there is certainly no rest for the weary.

When I showed up to “work” at the Oakland Coliseum, it was a little after 4pm on Wednesday, August 4th. Per my instructions, I strolled happily down into the A’s players’ parking lot, just as the real team was driving off following their victory over the Kansas City Royals that day. Sorting through a sea of Range Rovers and Beamers, I made my way into the Oakland Raiders locker room, where I was to meet the rest of the pseudo 2002 Minnesota Twins. Arriving a bit late, my locker was one of the few in the room not yet occupied. Minutes later, I was dressed in my full Twins uniform, ready to spend the night in character as former major leaguer Corey Koskie, cheesy goatee and all.

Our first order of business as actors for the night was to go retrieve some food from beyond the center field wall. There were rumors that a long night lay ahead of us, so eating was highly encouraged. At this point though, I was too jazzed to sit still and eat in a lonely room in the bowels of the stadium, I had to see what this movie business was all about.

Slowly but surely, the movie production crew began to come out of the woodwork and start setting up camera equipment out on the filed. If this group had one thing in common, it was that they all looked as though they had just woken up, restless from the night before, a cup of Joe never far from one’s lips. To me, the look of the behind-the-scenes production crew could best be described as “anti-Hollywood”. Long hair, tattoos, no-name clothing, the whole nine. It was almost as if the crew’s collective style was a non verbal f-you to theUS Weekly, celebrity crazed world of movies.

THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE MOVIE BUSINESS

THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE MOVIE BUSINESS

After a little while I noticed some of the actors themselves begin to trickle onto the set. The first one I noticed was Royce Clayton, the handsome shortstop formerly of the San Francisco Giants who cut out a nice baseball career for himself, spanning almost 20 years. Clayton was here to portray Miguel Tejada in the film, and judging by his designer jeans and accompanying strut, Clayton certainly had that Hollywood swagger to him. As I sat and observed, I thought to myself, “tonight has the potential to be pretty darn interesting.” Of course, I had been on the field for about an hour by now, with no sign of Brangelina. As discouraged as I may have been at this point, I needed to forge on; I had some acting to do after all.

The first scene we shot was of then Twins player Doug Mientkiewicz (pronounced /mɪntˈkeɪvɪtʃ/ mint-KAY-vich[1]  getting picked-off first base. Then A’s player Scott Hatteberg was the first baseman applying the tag in this scene and his character was being played by actor Chris Pratt. Pratt, who played “Che” on the hit show “the O.C.” is a spitting image of Hatteberg. Unfortunately, he lacks any sort of rudimentary baseball skills. Thus, this relatively straight forward scene took about an hour longer than expected, as Pratt tried to grasp the whole idea of catching the ball and tagging out the runner in one fluid motion.

By this time in the evening, the “fans” had migrated into the stadium and taken their seats in line with the view of the camera. One such fan was my buddy Mark Bennett (@markadambennett) who took the liberty to get the extras in the crowd loosened up by heckling me and the rest of the Twins. This heckling, lubricated by some smuggled adult beverages, kept the mood light and as realistic as this “playoff game” could get. As Mark later mentioned through his twitter feed, the whole situation was a bit ironic; fake fans, heckling fake players, at a fake game. So it goes in show business I guess.

Soon enough, this pick-off scene was wrapped up and us Twins were herded like sheep back into the Raiders’ not-so-fancy locker room where we were instructed to hurry up and wait, indefinitely. Being the dedicated Bay Area Surf n’ Sport journalist that I am, I decided it would be best for me to stay behind and continue chronicling the business out on the field. Luckily I was rewarded for this…

“Wait. Is that him? No, it can’t be. No, hold on here. Holy shit, that dude who just walked into the dugout is definitely BRAD effing PITT!”

Naturally, I went straight to my iPhone. Photos, texts, tweets… I had to let the world know I was hanging on the set with Brad. This was a bad idea, I soon discovered, as a security guard almost silently ripped my head off as he whispered, “put that away or you’re gone.” Even current A’s center fielder Coco Crisp, who happened to be hanging around after his game that day, was ushered out of his own dugout to make room for Mr. Pitt. Hollywood really does wait for no man.

Over the next hour, I sat a safe distance away from security as Pitt acted out a scene where he portrays a frustrated Billy Beane venting in the A’s dugout. I noticed one overzealous teenage girl in the second deck squeal a shout of approval; she was promptly sent packing and asked not to return. Apparently Brad Pitt doesn’t like to be distracted at work. Fair enough, I suppose.

It wasn’t long before the novelty of seeing Pitt in the flesh was wearing off, and by this time, he was gone altogether. In an industry where everyone seems to work 13 hour days, Pitt was the exception as he disappeared from the set after about 2 hours of labor. (He must be really good at remembering his lines).

I wish I had a cool story to tell about chatting it up with Angelina. You know, just shooting the breeze about her kids’ summer camp plans, or what happened between her and Billy Bob Thornton, but this never came to be. Nor did Jonah Hill come by and tell dirty jokes and eat lots of candy bars. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

By around 9pm, it was time for my Twins team and the opposing A’s to retake the field and shoot a scene from the 2002 American League Division Playoff Series. Mind you, I had been here since 4pm and had done virtually nothing but stand around, so my expectations of what was to come weren’t very high at this point. That was until one of the directors came over to me and said, “Change of plans, we’re gonna have the third baseman catch the final out now. You’re Corey Koskie, right?” “God damn right I’m Corey Koskie,” I responded, bewildered by what was going on and what was to come.

In reality, Twins second basemen Denny Hocking caught the final out in 2002 that ended the A’s season. This is of note because Hocking broke his middle finger in the postgame dogpile and was forced to miss the rest of the playoffs that year. Despite all this, I guess the lighting was better at third base. And in movies, I’ve learned it’s all about lighting. And on this fateful Wednesday night in Oakland, I must say the lighting looked pretty darn good over at third.

So, here I was, out on this sacred piece of real estate made most famous byCarney Lansford, doing my best to nail one of the final scenes in a Brad Pitt movie. As I trotted out my position, I half expected the pseudo public address announcer to start bumping the Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime.”

“You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?”

Truth is, I had no idea how I got here, but there was no time to ponder this question. The sun was scheduled to rise at 6:14am and this deadline was not flexible.

My job for the next 6 hours was as follows: mime a catch of a pop fly, then celebrate like mad with my 24 other teammates who were running at me full speed from the dugout and the other 8 positions on the field. How hard could it be?

Turns out this can be pretty time consuming. The movie crew had to build a makeshift track for the camera to roll along, cameras had to be brought in from all angles, the director had to take a break to eat his mac n’ cheesse, etcetera, etcetera. The number of takes it took to film this one scene seemed endless. The fake 2002 Minnesota Twins must of celebrated our victory over the fake 2002 Oakland A’s upwards of 20 times through the course of the night. Sure, there was complementary Peet’s coffee available at my beck and call (I made friends with one of the Grips), but doing just about anything after 3 o’ clock in the morning can get pretty tedious.

I may have been tired, but as the hours wore on, and the takes added up, I began to realize how interesting it was to see filmmakers do their thing. Going into it, I fully assumed things would be run on a rigid script, exactly as planned. From what I saw, though, this did not seem to be the case at all. Granted no one asked me of my opinion, but after every two or three takes, the director and his confidants would huddle up and bounce ideas off each other and figure out what would look the best on screen. Should we move this camera here? Should we turn the north light tower off? Should he catch it standing still, or on the run? What can our special effects guys pull off and what is too much?

These brainstorming sessions really left an impression on me and shed light on why standing on a cold baseball field at 4am could be so much fun. It may have taken 12 hours to get to this stage, but there came a point where these filmmakers were truly in their element, and it was awesome to see their creative juices flowing at full speed.

Now, I wish I could end this story with some unexpected twist, but you can’t change history and the Twins will forever beat the A’s 5-4 on October 6th, 2002. By 5am, the directors had seen enough. The catch and the celebration were securely on film and the sun was set to come up in just over an hour. It was finally time to go home. The director was headed to his hotel, the production crew was packing up, and my acting career was ending just as quick as it had begun. As I climbed into my cold dark car in parking lot “A” of the Coliseum, I could only help but think, “I wish there were some cornfields around, because if there were, I’d walk right through.”

“Is this heaven?” I thought, looking back at The Coliseum. “No, it’s Oakland.”

"KOSKIE, YOU ARE A BRUTAL ACTOR, BRO."

"KOSKIE, YOU ARE A BRUTAL ACTOR, BRO."

St. Mary’s Matthew Dellavedova: In the Midst of a Basketball Odyssey

Driving on Robert Sacre in the WCC title tilt in Vegas (photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Driving on Robert Sacre in the WCC title tilt in Vegas (photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

By Connor Buestad | Connor@Section925.com

In order to trace the steps of St. Mary’s College point guard Matthew Dellavedova, one must fly all the way to the southeast edge of Australia to Melbourne, then trek a hundred miles northwest to a city called Maryborough. There, you’ll find an unassuming town that prides itself on having an historic train station and a competitive Aussie Rules football team. This, as it turns out, is the corner of the globe where “Delly” first fell in love with the game of basketball. A game that is now taking him on a trip to places he could have only dreamed of as a youngster growing up down under.

It goes without saying that Dellavedova grew up far removed from the competitive playgrounds of US cities where the NBA’s future stars typically cultivate their games. He was just as far removed from the brightly-lit gymnasiums where suburban ballplayers attend summer hoop camps and AAU tournaments. Matthew Dellavedova grew up off the grid of competitive basketball. Fortunately for Matt, basketball turns out to be a game that requires very little infrastructure, so long as one has a penchant for putting the ball through a hoop. If we learned anything from Larry Bird a.ka. “The Hick From French Lick”, a dirt driveway with a shoddy hoop in the front yard can supply all the tools one needs to make it as a basketball player.

It was at the tender age of 16 when the lure of fierce competition, state of the art facilities and worldwide exposure led Dellavedova to the Australian Institute of Sport. Built in 1981 in an effort to improve Australia’s Olympic team, AIS has slowly evolved into a place where the best young sports stars of Australia go to hone their skills and market themselves as great athletes to a multi-national audience. During his time at AIS, Dellavedova began to set his sights on coming to America and following in the footsteps of the likes of Adam Caporn, Daniel Kickert and Patty Mills.

As Dellavedova began to wind down his youth career, his relatively modest tool-kit of height and athleticism left Matt with a limited number of Division 1 scholarship offers. “I only went on two visits,” explained Dellavedova. “I went to the University of the Pacific and then to Saint Mary’s. I ended up really liking the people and the atmosphere here at SMC, so I decided to come.” And with that, the 18 year old from rural Australia showed up in Moraga, California, equipped with an unorthodox jump-shot and “deceptive” athleticism. He was in theory joining Saint Mary’s to replace perhaps the best point guard the college had ever seen in Patty Mills, but no one would have blamed him if he didn’t come close to achieving such a tall task.

Instead, Dellavedova burst onto the scene as a freshman during the 2009-2010 season to help lead St. Mary’s to their greatest basketball season of all time. Dellavedova made the WCC All-Freshman team, scoring in double figures and leading the league in minutes played per game. On a team led by guard Mickey McConnell and forward Omar “Broadway O” Samhan, Dellavedova surprised everyone by how quickly he assimilated himself to major D1 college basketball. Using a formula of two parts grit and one part talent, Dellavedova hounded opposing point guards on the defensive end, looking more like a weathered boxer in the twelfth round than a basketball player in the fourth quarter.

When asked about SMC’s run into the sweet 16 during his freshman year, Dellavedova tends to play it down, as he does with most things he talks about. There is no question Dellavedova prefers to simplify things and keep his basketball career in perspective. In other words, Matthew Dellavedova refuses to believe the hype.

To be sure, there was no shortage of hype when St. Mary’s took the court versus second seeded Villanova for a chance to advance to the sweet 16. While Samhan stole the headlines, it was Matthew Dellavedova who quietly added 14 points while keeping Villanova’s dynamic guard duo in check for all 40 minutes. If ever there was a game that put St. Mary’s on the map, it was their Cinderella victory over Villanova. “I remember it all going by very fast,” said Dellavedova. “I was just focused on the games and really had no idea how big the tournament was to all the fans throughout America. When it was all over, I finally had time to appreciate how big of a win that was for the St. Mary’s community.”

Following a sophomore year in which the Gaels narrowly missed the field of 64, Dellavedova took over the reins as the undisputed team leader for his junior season. With the graduation of point guard Mickey McConnell, it was finally Dellavedova’s team, and he certainly knew what to do with it. After Gonzaga’s decade reign over the WCC, Delly and company were finally able to dethrone the Zags and win both the WCC regular season and tournament championships in the same season.

In what was a thrilling conference tournament final in Las Vegas, Dellavedova found himself locked in a pick-and-roll chess match with 7-foot Gonzaga forward Robert Sacre. “Sacre kept guarding me at the top of the key, because when we screened, they would switch defenders on us,” explained Dellavedova. Fortunately, Delly’s love for the art of the running floater proved to be a pivotal asset down the stretch. Delly repeatedly grinded his way into the lane, somehow always finding a way past Gonzaga’s athletic defenders. St. Mary’s looked to have the contest secured, when the Zags’ Elias Harris’ last second prayer from the top of the key was answered, sending the game into overtime where the Gaels narrowly eked out a historic victory.

Guarding Tony Parker in international play (photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Europe)

Guarding Tony Parker in international play (photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Europe)

Perhaps it was fitting that when I got a chance to chat with Matthew Dellavedova, he arrived at the interview wearing his St. Mary’s practice gear, still sweating, fresh off a Tuesday morning workout. It was mid-April and the sun was shining bright on SMC’s sprawling countryside campus. Needless to say, it was a perfect time for Dellavedova to be out enjoying himself. If ever there was an “offseason” for Matthew Dellavedova, this would be it. Instead, St. Mary’s feisty point guard showed virtually no signs of sun exposure, a gym rat in the truest sense of the word. Beside getting out to Bianca’s Deli at the intersection of Moraga Road and Moraga Way for his regular Grilled Chicken and Jack (add Avocado), Dellavedova is most comfortable staying dedicated to the gym, and it shows.

Dellavedova’s commitment to constant improvement now has him set to cross paths with basketball’s greatest collection of current talent, the 2012 edition of the USA Dream Team. Dellavedova recently earned a spot on Australia’s national team, known as the Boomers. He will get to play alongside SMC alumnus and current NBA guard Patty Mills, as well as the Golden State Warriors’ new aquisition, Andrew Bogut. With the London Olympics starting in late July, Dellavedova is now preparing to square off against the likes of Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. When asked about his thoughts on playing against such extraordinary talent, Dellavedova responds in his signature low-key manner, “It will be good to test my skills against the best.”

There is no question that Dellavedova has leveraged his international basketball opportunities as a means to improve his play as a Gael. Last summer he got to play against France’s Tony Parker, and at the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championships Dellavedova was able to go up against the Spanish national team, in Spain. Facing a raucous home court advantage for the Spaniards, Dellavedova ran up and down the floor with Spanish legends in the making: Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Ricky Rubio. Games like these go a long way in explaining why Delly plays with such a high level of poise in the WCC. A road game at Gonzaga versus Kevin Pangos doesn’t exactly intimidate a player who is used to matching up with Ricky Rubio in front of his home country crowd.

Go to any St. Mary’s game at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga and it doesn’t take long to notice how important Australian basketball is to the Gaels, and vice-versa. Year after year, SMC opens up their campus to basketball stars in the making, looking for a place to call home and a platform to pursue their dreams. Aussie flags and chants are common at McKeon, and St. Mary’s games are closely covered back in Australia.

Come late July, St. Mary’s students and alums will undoubtedly tune in to follow their adopted native son, Matthew Dellavedova. Who knows how he will perform under the bright lights of the Olympics, stuck with the task of guarding Chris Paul, Kobe, or even LeBron. However, one thing Dellavedova has proven thus far in his distinguished career, he won’t be overwhelmed by the situation.

For 30 minutes I talked to Matthew Dellavedova, and for 30 minutes I tried to uncover some insight on what it’s like to take St. Mary’s to the sweet 16 as a freshman, or win the West Coast Conference title in overtime, or guard Ricky Rubio on his home soil of Spain. But, no matter how far I dug, the more I became content with the fact that Dellavedova really doesn’t believe the hype. The intrinsic satisfaction of seeking out and playing against the best basketball players in the world is what seems to drive Dellavedova to continue to strive and improve. Luckily for Moraga, they get one more year to call him their own.