Horvath Writing A New Chapter

Nov. 18, 2002

Courtesy of Blue Devil Weekly, By John Roth

English major and aspiring writer Nick Horvath spent part of his summer vacation working on a couple of short stories while he was back home in Minnesota.

But as the 2002-03 college basketball season tips off this week, Horvath is more focused on writing a sports story than his other literary works. The first three chapters of his personal Duke basketball narrative contained a major plot flaw - his own inability to avoid foot and ankle maladies, which significantly impacted his role in the story of Duke's last three ACC titles and the 2001 NCAA crown.

But Horvath says he feels healthy again as his fourth year begins - healthy enough for his character to take on a more prominent role in the various plot twists and turns that await the Blue Devils over the next few months.

"It's been frustrating, but I feel like from all those things you grow, especially mentally and maturity-wise," Horvath says. "I've gone through a lot of things that a lot of other players haven't. I've been through the lowest of the low, and hopefully I'll get to the high points now."

Though it's his fourth season, Horvath is listed as a junior on the roster because of a medical hardship year he was awarded by the NCAA when his injuries kept him out of all but six games in 2001. He says he's excited about having two years of eligibility left and what he can do with them.

"I really want to be a team leader and help the young guys out," he says. "I think I can really be vocal out on the court and do all the intangibles. I know the defense, I know the offense, I know all the plays, I know where everyone should be at which time. I basically know what to do when I'm out there, so I think I can help, especially the young big guys."

Horvath prepared for the season by spending most of his summer at home. In addition to writing short stories, the 6-foot-10 Minnesotan did some hiking on land his parents own at Lake Superior. He also worked on his game, but without stressing his body to the point of further injury. New orthotics for his shoes didn't hurt.

This fall, by all accounts, he's been one of the steadiest Blue Devils. He's practiced well, played hard in London and has gotten through a few early physical challenges. The day before the Blue-White scrimmage he came down with severe bronchitis, and in the first half of the opening exhibition game with Team Nike he rolled his ankle.

But he was the first guy off the bench in the exhibition with EA Sports and played 19 minutes, showing he's ready to go as the season lifts this Saturday against Army.

"Nick is an amazing player," says freshman Shavlik Randolph. "He hasn't been able to show how good he is (in the past) because of his injuries. But this year he's healthy and I think you'll see how good he really is."

Horvath offered a glimpse of that during the exhibition games. He played just six minutes in the first half of the Nike game and poured in 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. That included a 3-of-3 night from three-point range, before he took the second half off after his ankle sprain tightened up during halftime. Then against EA Sports he hit 3-of-3 from the floor for nine points and eight rebounds.

Horvath was especially pleased to see his three-pointers falling. He hit more threes in the two exhibition games (4) than in the last two seasons, when in spot duty he connected on just 3-of-33 attempts. "I'm back to how I used to feel all the time," says the sharpshooter who won the three-point contest at Bob Gibbons' all-star game for ACC and SEC recruits following his senior high school season.

Exerting leadership is just as important as hitting shots for Horvath, especially on a team with six freshmen. That's why he came back to campus for Duke's summer camp in July when the freshmen were arriving, and why he tried to maintain more of a dialogue with coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff even while he was at home.

"I just tried to make sure I was more involved," he explains. "A lot of those things are just mental, being more mature and ready to move into more of a leadership role."

"Nick has helped the transition for me from high school to college so well," says Randolph. "He knows what's going on and he'll always explain it to us. He knows the system. And we've grown to be really good friends off the court."

With Randolph, Shelden Williams and Michael Thompson joining him and Casey Sanders in a new-look frontcourt, Horvath anticipates a powerful, versatile inside attack this season.

"We can come at people in waves this year," he says. "We can run their big people, they get a little tired and we can come in with two fresh sets of legs and run 'em again. I think we're going to have much more of an inside presence this year. We're ready to dominate inside. It's not going to be a weakness, it's going to be a strength.

"We have inside-outside with me and Shav being able to shoot from the outside. If they collapse (on the inside), we can shoot. If they come out on us, it's one-on-one in the post. So it really sets it up for both ways. "This team is going to be a lot like the team the year we won it. We have a big inside-outside threat. You can't really leave anyone open because they're likely to knock it down."

As a fourth-year player who's excelled academically, Horvath will have enough credits to graduate by the end of this semester. But he won't, because he still has courses to take to fulfill his double major in English and physics. So that will be one of his focal points the rest of this year and next - some independent study writing courses to go along with a sports story in need of a happy ending.