IN LaSANDRA WINGATE'S household, nothing was safe from her son's sleight of hand. Whether it was a warm roll on er dinner plate or his sister's favorite toy, young Briante Weber always knew how to snag what he wanted. Especially candy. Time and again, when Wingate would try to reward his good behavior with a sweet from the candy jar, she'd realize he'd beaten her to it. Staring up at her with his tiny balled-up fist, he'd reveal his latest score with a burst of laughter. "Gotcha!" he'd boast in a high-pitched squeak.
"He always had quick hands," Wingate admits. "I told him, 'You need to use them for good.'" Turns out, that advice was spot-on.
Weber is now a sophomore guard at Virginia Commonwealth, and he has, with deference to Liam Neeson, a very particular set of skills that makes him exceptionally dangerous -- and a perfect fit -- at VCU. He is the best bandit in the nation, playing for a team that steals the ball more often than any
Out of necessity, that plan is unorthodox. VCU is not at the level of UNC, Kentucky or Kansas. The Rams don't recruit in the same circles, draw prime-time TV slots or produce as many pros as those powerhouses do. Yet over the past two seasons, they've been every bit as threatening in March, with a Final Four berth in 2011 and a Round of 32 appearance last season. This year could be more of the same, with a squad that cracked the USA Today coaches poll for the first time in the regular season and is a favorite to win the Atlantic 10 in its first season as a member.
How? Because of guys like Weber. And because of a coach who is both committed to playing an unusual style -- a relentless combination of full-court pressure, smothering half-court man-to-man and pace-pushing offense -- and unusually disciplined in adhering to core philosophies that enable his system to thrive. Smart has a keen awareness of which qualities matter at VCU and which don't, and that's what helps him unearth unconventional recruits who don't necessarily fit traditional basketball archetypes. After all, Smart's system not only discovered Weber, who had no other Division I offers as a high school senior; it has allowed the guard to thrive. Weber is now among the best sixth men in college hoops, a player whose spark off the bench is more like a nuclear blast. By capitalizing on hidden talents, Smart seems to have unwittingly created a blueprint for mid-majors to prosper.
FOUR YEARS AGO, Mike Rhoades was the head coach at Randolph-Macon, a D3 college just outside Richmond, Va. He was watching a high school game in Chesapeake, Va., when a skinny kid wearing a headband caught his eye. Briante Weber was all over the court, picking off passes, attacking the
"You noticed his quickness, his anticipation, his nose for the ball," Rhoades says. "But he was so darn skinny, and his skills weren't refined at all." Still, Rhoades was confident that Weber, then a junior, could fit in at Randolph-Macon and sent him a recruitment letter.
Fast-forward to 2010, the end of Weber's senior season at Great Bridge High. By then, Rhoades was an assistant at VCU and had largely forgotten about Weber. But when Rhoades showed up to a playoff doubleheader to scout a different prospect, he saw Weber, who had sprouted to 6'2", playing in the first game. He was nailing pull-up jumpers in the lane and, of course, stealing everything in sight. Rhoades envisioned those skills meshing with the Rams' pressure D.
That June, Weber attended VCU's elite camp, and Smart saw the same energy and athleticism Rhoades had, so he offered him a scholarship for the 2011-12 season. Weber remained painfully thin, with an elbow that leaked to the right on his jumper and a propensity to gamble too often on defense. But those things didn't bother Smart, largely due to a conversation he'd had a year earlier.
Right after Smart took the VCU job in 2009, he encountered Jeff Capel on the recruiting trail. Capel had been the Rams' coach from 2002 to 2006 and had successfully landed guard Eric Maynor, who went on to become arguably the best player in school history and a first-round NBA draft pick. How, Smart wanted to know, had Capel lured Maynor to VCU from his home in North Carolina, the heart of ACC country?
Capel pointed out three factors: First, Maynor was skinny. "I learned that's a bad reason not to take someone, because they're going to physically develop," Smart recounts. Second, Maynor couldn't shoot. "Well, that
That lesson has paid off with countless VCU players, including Weber, who played on the Boo Williams B-team. And Smart has expanded what he learned from Capel by adding an emphasis on fit.
Had Weber landed in a plodding, conservative system, he might never have seen the court. Had Treveon Graham, VCU's leading scorer, gone somewhere to be a conventional 6'5" shooting guard, he might not have become a matchup nightmare. For Smart, fit trumps talent, especially when few teams play the way his does and the gap between a top-100 prospect and an overlooked counterpart is often minuscule. Besides, finished products aren't going to VCU anyway. Elite programs gobble them up, so to find the right players -- his players -- Smart must make trade-offs. And height is often the first trait he'll cast aside.
Of VCU's top seven players, only forward Juvonte Reddic (6'9", 235) is taller than 6'5". But what the Rams lack in size, they make up for with speed. "I'm not as caught up in having the tallest guys," Smart says. "I'd rather have a guy with a high motor and the willingness to play our style."
That style, for the uninitiated, is called Havoc. At Smart's introductory news conference in April 2009, he began by claiming, "We are going to wreak havoc on our opponents' psyche and their plan of attack." True to his word, VCU basketball has become a montage of swarming double-teams and rapid-fire threes played at breakneck speed. But for Havoc to work, it requires players precisely like Weber. In fact, says assistant Will Wade, "Bri is Havoc personified."
FROM THE BULLETIN BOARD behind his desk, Smart removes two laminated sheets of paper. One has a diagram shaped like home plate that lists attributes: physical traits like quickness and wingspan; intangibles like toughness and basketball IQ; and off-court qualities ranging from character to academics. This is VCU's student-athlete profile, a document Smart created and his staff adheres to like a recruiting bible. The other is a printout listing five "core values": appreciation, enthusiasm, competitiveness, unselfishness and accountability. "It's one thing to know it and hear it on a recruiting visit," Smart says. "It's another thing to live it." That comes naturally to Weber. Aside from his physical gifts -- a 48-inch vertical, exceptional quickness and a 6-foot-6-inch wingspan -- Weber is the epitome of Smart's second core value. "He is the most energetic person I've ever been around in my life," Smart says. Watch Weber for any stretch of time and he seems like a textbook case of hyperactivity. He talks incessantly, often while dancing or clapping. Weber admits, "I wouldn't be a very good monk." But he is a superlative ball hawk thanks in part to that enthusiasm. When guarding the ball, Weber is a nuisance, disruptive with his active limbs and constant chatter. Locking into his man, Weber begins counting dribbles, searching for a rhythm from one bounce to the next. If the ballhandler maintains a steady pace, Weber will treat him like his mom's candy jar; if the guard is wise enough to vary his speed, Weber can still key on other tendencies. For a righthanded player, the natural instinct is to execute a left-to-right crossover. He sits on that move, waiting to pounce while applying maximum pressure, looking to force a five-second violation. Off the ball, Weber likens his role in VCU's press to that of a defensive back. He reads the passer, then relies on his quickness and length to beat the ball to a spot. If the other team makes it over midcourt, Weber still lurks in the passing lanes, ready to turn a mistake into a layup at the other end. Lately, though, Weber has had to dial back his aggressiveness. "Usually my mindset is to take it from him," he says. "Now it's discipline." The word has been drilled into his head by Smart, his toughest critic. For all of Weber's ability to force miscues, he's also prone to his share of mistakes. Too often he gambles when he should stay between his man and the basket. Smart admits that if the team needs one stop, he'll put senior point guard Darius Theus -- Weber's roommate and de facto big brother -- on the other team's best player. For now. "If he keeps gaining discipline on the defensive end, I think [Weber] could be one of the better defenders in the country," Smart says. Yet he is just a sophomore; he is learning. And growing. Right now Weber is content to feed Graham, Reddic and Troy Daniels, the team's top scorers. He's happy learning the intricacies of point guard play from Theus. But his Rondo-esque performance in December starting in place of an injured Theus against rival Old Dominion -- 8 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds and 5 steals -- provides a glimpse of much more to come. "Bri can be great," Daniels says. But that part is up to Weber. If he falls in love with working on his offensive game, the coaches say, his potential is vast. In fact, it's hard to avoid picturing Maynor when envisioning a fully formed Weber -- complete with an NBA jersey. Even while the guard attempts to transition from specialist to all-around star, Smart already has eyes on the next Briante Weber. Make no mistake: He'll keep rounding up unheralded, overlooked kids who will punish people for underestimating them. And together, they will deliver their signature message come March: Gotcha. Follow The Mag on Twitter (@ESPNmag) and like us on Facebook.