During the waning days of summer, some university students flock to the beaches for a few final days of fun and relaxation. Others head home to bid family and friends farewell before embarking on the trip back to school.
Roger Mason Jr., however, was over 6,000 miles away from Charlottesville, getting ready to hit the boards rather than the books. On Aug. 15, Virginia's junior guard earned one of 12 coveted spots on the USA Basketball World University Games team and was preparing to travel to Beijing, China, to begin competition.
"Since I was young, I saw the Dream Team with Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, and it puts the fact that you're going to represent your country on a pedestal," Mason said. "When I had the opportunity to do that, I was really happy."
Mason did not merely make the team; he was in the starting small forward in the eight games the team played. Although Mason usually plays guard for coach Pete Gillen at Virginia, team USA coach Jerry Dunn felt that Mason fit better as a small forward on the team.
"He gave us size and athleticism on the wing," Dunn said.
Despite playing in a foreign position in a foreign country, Mason excelled nonetheless. He averaged 13 points per game with back-to-back 20-point performances against Brazil on Aug. 26 and Great Britain on Aug. 27. Playing at the small forward position also gave Mason the opportunity to exhibit his rebounding prowess, a skill rarely needed at the guard position. He averaged 4.8 rebounds per game against opponents that towered over his 6-foot-5 frame.
"I was checking guys who were over 6-8 that were bigger than me," Mason said. "I know I can check guys my height and a little smaller, but I think it helped toughen me up."
Team USA breezed through the preliminary round that began on Aug. 22 with convincing wins over Iran, 112-50, Russia, 118-56, Turkey, 113-90, Brazil, 99-67, and Great Britain, 91-62. After consecutive sub-100-point performances against Brazil and Great Britain, Team USA appeared to rediscover itself offensively in its Aug. 27 quarterfinal win over Korea, 128-97.
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But Team USA's semifinal game against the hometown Chinese team that featured two NBA-caliber seven-footers in Zhi Zhi Wang and Yao Ming proved to be heartbreaking. A desperate Team USA comeback from an 11-point deficit with only four minutes left to play fell short as China advanced to the gold medal game with an 83-82 victory.
"It wasn't enjoyable losing by one point," Mason said. "That's the biggest disappointment."
Mason was most impressed with the mobility that 7-foot-5 Ming and 7-foot-1 Wang showed during the game.
"When you play against somebody 7-5 and can move a little bit, it makes a difference," Mason said. Wang is "more of a guard type. So they were really big in size. Its good to play against people with size."
Team USA did leave China with the bronze medal after defeating Germany, 80-78, on Aug. 31. Yugoslavia won the gold with a 101-61 win over China, which captured the silver medal.
But Mason's trip was not all about basketball. The team did some sightseeing, which included a trip to the Great Wall. According to Mason, Chinese people regularly asked to have pictures taken with him because they were unaccustomed to seeing people as tall as he was.
"They love basketball over there, first of all, so that was real cool," Mason said. "They wanted to take pictures with you because it's not often that they see tall guys like us. It was good signing autographs and just being around and interacting with them."
Mason, however, was not as big a fan of the genuine Chinese food.
"I think we're spoiled by American Chinese food," Mason said. "I love American Chinese food. It's probably my favorite type of food. When you go to China, it's not your regular General Tsao's and Egg Foo Yung. It's a little different. But it was nice to see a different culture and experience a different type of living."
Although he enjoyed his stay in China, Mason is happy to be back in America and said that he cannot wait until the 2001-2002 basketball season begins. After playing on a team that featured Maryland standouts and Final Four participants Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon, Mason is eager to show up his Team USA teammates and hungry for another shot at the Final Four.
"When you lose in the first round of the tournament and you go to China with a Final Four participant, it kind of gets annoying hearing them talk about it," Mason said.
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