Few athletes have gone through as much turmoil as point guard Donald Hand. Over the course of his Virginia career, the senior from Paterson, N.J., played for two different coaches, watched the player he was brought in with depart and filled several roles for the men's basketball team. Nonetheless, Hand is one of the most frequently criticized players on the team.
Despite what fickle media and fans have to say, Hand's star has brightened since he arrived in Charlottesville four years ago. He progressed from an undersized recruiting afterthought to a freshman starter, and then to the quarterback of a top 15 team. Hand is also Virginia's only three-time captain.
"I think I'm a more developed player," he said. "I'm better than I was in the past. I can kill people in two ways, when I score or when I pass the ball."
When Hand arrived at Virginia with fellow point guard Chezley Watson, he immediately was named as the successor to the Cavaliers' departed star, Harold Deane. He was a freshman on a team dominated by a pair of All-ACC seniors, Norman Nolan and Curtis Staples. But when coach Jeff Jones retired following that season, Pete Gillen brought a new up-tempo game that allowed the lightning-quick Hand to flourish. Hand led the Cavaliers in scoring as a sophomore captain with 17.1 points per game, and he garnered an honorable mention to the All-ACC team for his efforts.
Last year, Hand struggled with his role as a highly touted recruiting class arrived to share the wealth. He assumed two roles last season: At times he was a pure point guard, and at others he was the player who scored because no one else could. He finished second on the team in scoring at 15 points per game and added 4.3 assists per game. Hand's improved play earned him second-team All-ACC selection.
Despite his performance in the 1999-2000 season, Hand entered this season with many questions hanging over his head. Could he become a true point guard and spread the ball around to his teammates? Could he recover the shooting touch that he had struggled with at the end of last season? After Majestic Mapp was injured last August, Hand was Virginia's only point guard. For better or worse, he would play a lot of minutes.
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He answered the call. Hand has continued to score, putting up 12.7 points per game. He notches 6.07 assists per game, third best in the ACC. But the numbers most important to Hand are the team's No. 12 ranking and 20-7 record (9-7 ACC).
Much of the team's success can be attributed to Hand's acceptance of his role as distributor and his development over his career.
"I think it made me a better player," Hand said of his ever-changing role on the team. "Some people are scared to take on that role, being a scorer. You get a lot of criticism at the point guard position when you're not winning and you're a scorer. It was a process of developing into the player that I am."
Hand's teammates, especially the ones who were around for the lean years of Virginia basketball, appreciate the job that he has done and his maturation as a player.
"He's grown up a lot," junior forward Adam Hall said. "He's looking to pass. He knows we've got guys who can really score. He knows he can make us a better team overall, and he believes in that"
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