He’s played just two regular-season games, but freshman guard Sylven Landesberg — “Learning Center,” as some have dubbed him — is already way ahead of the curve.
As Virginia prepares to take on Radford tonight at John Paul Jones Arena, it has a common denominator in each of its close wins to open the season: Landesberg was the leading Virginia scorer. The freshman put up 28 points to open the season in a 107-97 win against VMI and 21 points Wednesday in a 77-75 victory against South Florida.
There has been plenty of hype for the freshman from New York City since the preseason, but even Virginia coach Dave Leitao did not expect Landesberg to perform so well this soon.
“Obviously, to be able to deliver in the first two games is a bit surprising,” Leitao said. “Hopefully it’s establishing himself as a good player on this team.”
His teammates, however, seemed to think Landesberg’s production was more predictable.
“We saw him in high school, and just in pickup games you could see that he can bring a lot to the table,” junior forward Jamil Tucker said. “We’re not surprised at all — we’re happy that he’s bringing it in the game.”
Perhaps most impressively, Landesberg’s points have not come easily. He has knocked down the open three and has used his strength to get cheap baskets, for sure, but it is his uncanny ability to get to the hole in traffic that separates him from most freshmen in their first games.
“I just attack the rim,” Landesberg said. “Good things always happen from that.”
Landesberg also credits his ability to get to the basket and finish with contact to pickup games in the parks of New York City. The Big Apple is clearly not lacking in tough-minded players, and Landesberg appears to be of that mold.
“He’s got a very good mind for the game and a very good competitive spirit,” Leitao said. “Most good players that grow up in New York City have that by reputation, and his reputation happens to be true.”
It also helps that while Landesberg is not outwardly cocky, he does not doubt himself.
“I’m a confident person; I always have confidence in myself,” Landesberg said. “There were some pregame jitters, but that came out after the Shepherd game — the exhibition — and after that they were all gone.”
It appears that if Landesberg kept playing this well, he would get the chance to enter the everyday starting lineup; whether that will happen tonight against Radford, however, is still a question. Landesberg started against VMI only because of the small lineup that the Keydets offered; with a more standard lineup against South Florida Wednesday, however, Landesberg came off the bench.
Landesberg still was second on the team in minutes against South Florida with 31, and that’s all that matters to him.
“As long as I’m on the court, I’m happy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m coming off the bench or I’m starting as long as I’m getting playing time.”
Regardless of Landesberg’s spot in the rotation, he will have another chance to shine tonight against yet another mid-major that could give Virginia a run for its money, similar to what VMI did Sunday. Though the Highlanders are coming off a 2007-08 season in which they went 10-20 (5-9 Big South) — including 2-15 on the road — Radford was picked to finish second in the Big South in the preseason, five spots ahead of fellow Big South team VMI that gave Virginia all it could handle. The Highlanders — coached by Brad Greenberg, brother of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg — feature a 6-foot-8 stat sheet stuffer in preseason All-Big South pick junior forward Joey Lynch-Flohr and have a high-scoring, experienced group of guards in senior Kenny Thomas, senior Martell McDuffy and junior Amir Johnson, who return as the three leading scorers from last season.
With one of the biggest road trips of the season looming Thanksgiving weekend to Syracuse Nov. 28 followed by the Cavaliers’ longest trek of the year to visit coach Tubby Smith and Minnesota, Virginia cannot afford to lose at home to mid-majors like Radford.
“We wanted to get off to a fast start, and we’re 2-0,” Leitao said. “We’ve got some very difficult games ahead that we’ve got to be ready for, so you don’t want to give away home games at this point in the season.”
In other words, Virginia is undefeated, but it has a long season ahead.
The same goes for the stunningly rapid development thus far of Landesberg.
“I’m not that successful, it’s only my second game,” Landesberg said. “Ask me that a little later on in the season.”
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