Duane Causwell

The setting was the aging J. Leon Codd Memorial Gymnasium at Woodrow Wilson High School, just a tunnel ride away from downtown Norfolk and the shipyards that dot the coast of the Tidewater area. The court was only 84 feet long and the bleachers, which were almost full, created a claustrophobic atmosphere for the players involved in the 38th annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. Some were familiar names, such as Duke forward Robert Brickey and Connecticut guard Tate George, seniors from NCAA Tournament teams hoping to increase their stock in the NBA draft.

Former Temple star Duane Causwell was traded by the Sacramento Kings yesterday, while another player wondered if he, too, would be dealt. Causwell, the former Temple center, was chosen 18th overall by the Kings in the 1990 draft. The Kings sent Causwell to Detroit for center Olden Polynice, who will become a restricted free agent after this season, and extraneous second-round choices in each of the next three drafts. Sacramento also got forward David Wood in the deal. Causwell missed 38 games this season with a stress fracture of his left foot.

Duane Causwell, who had been dismissed from Temple for academic reasons a day earlier, yesterday enrolled in the Community College of Philadelphia after his appeal to the university had been denied, Temple coach John Chaney said. The 7-foot center and his parents met yesterday with Temple President Peter J. Liacouras and representatives from the College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Chaney said last night that Liacouras told him the appeal had been denied.

The first two years in the NBA were Duane Causwell's gamble. If the 7-foot center could come out of nowhere to become a force at Temple, perhaps he could effectively take his shot-blocking and defensive skills to the next level. Done. Causwell was vacationing in Jamaica last week when Advantage International, the Washington, D.C.-area firm that represents him, finalized his new contract with the Sacramento Kings, netting him in excess of $7 million over the next five seasons.

Lionel Simmons' days as a big-minutes starter for the Sacramento Kings could be over. Which, in his seventh season in the NBA, should not come as a total shock. The former La Salle star, currently on the injured list after Dec. 20 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, shares team seniority with backup center Duane Causwell, the former Temple star. Simmons, the team's Sacramento-era career leader in games, rebounds, steals and double-doubles, is also one of just eight players in franchise history to accumulate more than 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.

Lionel Simmons and Duane Causwell went west young men. And they arrived rich ones. Simmons, the all-American from La Salle, made Sacramento Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill's "New Kids on the Block" a complete quartet yesterday when he agreed in principle to a five-year contract - reportedly worth $7 million - after arriving in Sacramento earlier in the day. Simmons and Temple's Causwell form half of the Kings' haul of four first- round draft...

By halftime of Sunday's deciding Game 5 between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks, Miami's Mark Strickland had seen not one second of action. Not against senior citizens Buck Williams, who is 38, and Terry Cummings, who is 37. Not against slow-footed Charles Oakley. And not during a critical juncture in which the Heat could have avoided a 20-point deficit - and a first-round exit from the NBA playoffs - by inserting a player with energy and fresh legs. "I guess it was matchup problems," Strickland said after Miami's 98-81 loss.

He arrived at Temple with the approximate wingspan of a B-17 bomber, and now Duane Causwell appears to be lifting his game to another altitude. Causwell, a 6-foot-11 sophomore center, played near the rafters again yesterday - on offense and defense - as the Owls smashed Duquesne, 98-55, in an Atlantic 10 Conference mismatch at McGonigle Hall. As Temple (12-2 conference, 14-8 overall) breezed to its third straight triumph and fifth victory in its last six games, Causwell poured in 17 points, snatched 14 rebounds, blocked seven shots, came up with four steals and even found time to add three assists to his impressive statistical line.

Jerry Reynolds says it wasn't until about a week before last June's NBA draft that the Sacramento Kings began thinking about Duane Causwell. But once the Kings made the deals with Utah and Dallas that brought them three additional first-round picks, they began to examine the potential of the 7-foot center from Temple. And after La Salle forward Lionel Simmons (No. 7) and Texas guard Travis Mays (No. 14), that was who they took. "He's doing well, probably more than we expected him to do in his first season," said Reynolds, the Kings' director of player personnel.

Duane Causwell, the 7-foot Temple center who is expected to be a high NBA draft choice this summer, was dismissed from school yesterday for academic reasons. Temple athletic director Charles Theokas said Causwell's cumulative average failed to satisfy the minimum grade-point requirement in the College of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Grades for Temple's fall term came out last week. Sources close to the situation said Causwell had been on academic probation.

Tall men circled the dim tables at the Philadelphia Platinum Grill on Saturday afternoon. Some of their backs were hunched forward, some of their hair was white, some of their eyes bespectacled. All of them - once fit and fast on a basketball court - are now past their prime. To get to the restaurant, located on Crittenden Street, some of the men flew from their homes in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Some of them just drove from Chester County. All of them came to honor John Chaney, two-time national coach of the year, 2001 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, mentor.

By halftime of Sunday's deciding Game 5 between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks, Miami's Mark Strickland had seen not one second of action. Not against senior citizens Buck Williams, who is 38, and Terry Cummings, who is 37. Not against slow-footed Charles Oakley. And not during a critical juncture in which the Heat could have avoided a 20-point deficit - and a first-round exit from the NBA playoffs - by inserting a player with energy and fresh legs. "I guess it was matchup problems," Strickland said after Miami's 98-81 loss.

Lionel Simmons' days as a big-minutes starter for the Sacramento Kings could be over. Which, in his seventh season in the NBA, should not come as a total shock. The former La Salle star, currently on the injured list after Dec. 20 arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, shares team seniority with backup center Duane Causwell, the former Temple star. Simmons, the team's Sacramento-era career leader in games, rebounds, steals and double-doubles, is also one of just eight players in franchise history to accumulate more than 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.

Duane Causwell had just purchased a $500,000 home in the upscale Las Lagos development in the Sacramento suburbs. He can only hope it's a seller's market. The Sacramento Kings, desperate for rebounding and aggressive big men, sent the former Temple center and three second-round draft choices to the Detroit Pistons for center Olden Polynice and forward David Wood. Lionel Simmons, the Kings' starting forward from La Salle, can only wonder whether he's on the market, too. "I've got some things together at my place, just in case," Simmons said before a 94-92 overtime win over the Sixers last night.

The 76ers' loss last night to the Sacramento Kings was beyond bad and beyond devastating. It was into the realm of the historic as the Sixers tied their record for most points given up in a game and suffered the worst defeat in franchise history. The Kings, playing on a hot roll but certainly not a team in a class with the other opponents on this road trip, destroyed the Sixers, 154-98. After competing against Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah and winning one out of three, the Sixers fell completely apart last night.

Tim Perry had this funny thing he liked to do. Every year when playoff time came around and the Phoenix Suns were getting ready for the most important games of the season, he would make a few phone calls. He would call Lionel Simmons of the Sacramento Kings, the former La Salle forward against whom he played one season in college and in countless summer games. And he would call Duane Causwell, also of Sacramento, who was his roommate at Temple. "Hey, how are you doing?" Perry would say innocently.

The first two years in the NBA were Duane Causwell's gamble. If the 7-foot center could come out of nowhere to become a force at Temple, perhaps he could effectively take his shot-blocking and defensive skills to the next level. Done. Causwell was vacationing in Jamaica last week when Advantage International, the Washington, D.C.-area firm that represents him, finalized his new contract with the Sacramento Kings, netting him in excess of $7 million over the next five seasons.

Jerry Reynolds says it wasn't until about a week before last June's NBA draft that the Sacramento Kings began thinking about Duane Causwell. But once the Kings made the deals with Utah and Dallas that brought them three additional first-round picks, they began to examine the potential of the 7-foot center from Temple. And after La Salle forward Lionel Simmons (No. 7) and Texas guard Travis Mays (No. 14), that was who they took. "He's doing well, probably more than we expected him to do in his first season," said Reynolds, the Kings' director of player personnel.

Lionel Simmons and Duane Causwell went west young men. And they arrived rich ones. Simmons, the all-American from La Salle, made Sacramento Kings owner Gregg Lukenbill's "New Kids on the Block" a complete quartet yesterday when he agreed in principle to a five-year contract - reportedly worth $7 million - after arriving in Sacramento earlier in the day. Simmons and Temple's Causwell form half of the Kings' haul of four first- round draft...