DATE: Thursday, July 10, 1997               TAG: 9707100689

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 
SOURCE: Tom Robinson 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

THE NUGGETS STRUCK GOLD ON AND OFF THE HARDWOOD

CHESAPEAKE

One hundred and seventy-five boys and girls, basketball campers sitting on the gym floor at Oscar Smith High School, raised the chant to usher off their guest lecturer.

``Nug-gets, Nug-gets, Nug-gets'' they seemed to say, in honor of Bryant Stith, the ex-University of Virginia star and captain of the NBA's Denver Nuggets.

``They're not saying `Nuggets,' '' whispered Eddie Webb, who helps run his father Paul's camp. ``They're saying, `Dunk it. Dunk it.' ''

Oh. Yeah. This is the '90s. Stith had just shared 20 minutes' worth of his finest instruction on jump shooting, but he wasn't going to get off like that without rattling a few backboards.

Never one for excuses, Stith nonetheless pointed to his left foot, still recovering from March surgery to remove two bone spurs, and graciously promised to dunk for the kids another time.

There will be another time, too. Stith summers with his parents at the Brunswick County house he grew up in - a house for himself, his wife and their two young boys will be built nearby next year - and is a regular guest at Webb's camps, which he attended as a kid.

And if his mended foot has anything to do with it, it will be a much more satisfied Stith who returns from the next round of NBA wars.

``You have to be very strong to explain game after game how, when expectations were so good, things turned out so bad,'' said Stith, a shooting guard who averaged a career-high 14.9 points for a team whose 21-61 record was second-worst in franchise history.

Over Denver's tedious, injury-racked season, Stith, 26, got the strong, silently suffering leader part down a little too pat. Grant Hill included, you have to dig for an NBA player of greater character, commitment to the game or loyalty to his team - Stith turned down Atlanta and Miami last year as a free agent - than this five-year veteran.

Even if his media-guide bio didn't say it, you could guess that Julius Erving is Stith's favorite all-time athlete, not to mention a role model.

It's all part of why Stith enjoys a lofty reputation in Denver, was named captain before only his third season, and is one of just two Nuggets - LaPhonso Ellis is the other - remaining from the '92 team.

He and Ellis survived Denver's latest house-cleaning - Mark Jackson and Ervin Johnson, among others, out; rookies Danny Fortson and Tony Battie in - orchestrated by its new vice president of basketball operations Allan Bristow, a Virginia Tech man.

Strange, the serendipity of it all. If the Nuggets are to regain legitimacy, and sweeten their city's sour opinion of them, they will do so via the leadership of two of the best college players our Commonwealth has seen.

With 2,516 points at U.Va., Stith is the state's all-time Division I scorer. Bristow recently entered the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. They are good guys, but it's going to take more than personality to make these Nuggets keepers.

``Allan told me Bryant's going to be their anchor,'' Eddie Webb said. ``He's the type of person you've got to have.''

If he shoots better, Stith could become a veritable tow line, pulling the Nuggets to better days. He has hit only 41.6 percent from the floor the past two seasons - Stith's career best is 47.2 percent in '94-95.

That's one of the things he is working on, ``trying to make that next echelon of off-guards,'' Stith said, smiling.

It's no slam dunk, but you've got to think he'll do it if he continues to lead with his heart.

``It's very important that players look inside themselves,'' Stith said. ``That's where it starts.''

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