THE RICE IS RIGHT: Durand Scott, who won ACC Defensive Player of the Year this season as a senior for Miami, is the last product of Rice High to have a shot at the NBA. (
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Between Danny Green’s record-setting NBA Finals performance and Lance Stephenson’s breakout postseason, this spring has been a coming-out party for local products.
Durand Scott, the former Rice star and University of Miami standout, has monitored the two New Yorkers closely, despite his busy schedule of workouts. He hopes to follow in their footsteps from draft afterthoughts to NBA mainstays.
“I’m proud of them and I’m going to try to follow the same yellow brick road they did,” the Bronx native said. “Hopefully it will be as great for me as it was for them.”
Stephenson, a standout at Brooklyn’s Lincoln High, burst onto the scene during this year’s playoffs in his third season with the Pacers. Green, from North Babylon, won an NCAA championship with North Carolina and lit up the Heat through the first five games of this year’s Finals. Like them, Scott has won wherever he has gone.
At Rice High School, the famed powerhouse program that closed for financial reasons three years ago, he was the driving force behind a state title his senior year. Scott led the Bronx-based Gauchos AAU program to numerous national tournament crowns. And at Miami, he was a key cog in the program’s record-setting season and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-5 guard said he hopes hopes to get the same opportunity at the next level, whether he is selected — Scott is projected as a mid- to late-second-round pick by some — or signed after as an undrafted free agent.
“It would mean a lot to me [to get drafted], to my family, everybody’s who’s been supporting me,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, I’m still a positive person. That obstacle will not stop me from accomplishing my dreams.”
He has worked out for a handful of teams — such as the Nets, Mavericks, Lakers, Spurs and Suns. He attended the Portsmouth Invitational, where he was an all-tournament selection.
“He reminds of a Jimmy Butler, Wes Matthews-type, a versatile guy who does a lot of things,” NBA director of scouting Ryan Blake said. “If he doesn’t get drafted, his agent’s going to be picking up the phone right after the 60th pick, [listening to] teams wanting him to come [play] for their summer league team.”
“He’s an NBA player — no question in my mind,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said.
Unlike several of the city’s elite basketball prospects, Scott wasn’t a see-me star. He didn’t have a nickname, wasn’t highly ranked and lacked much flash to his game.
He always quietly went about his business, content to take a backseat to current Bobcats point guard Kemba Walker while at Rice. He was just as happy to lock down the best player on the opposition as he was to put up 30 points. His senior year he became the go-to guy when he led Rice — in its final year before closure — to a state title, dominating Stephenson, the far more hyped prospect, in the state semifinals.
“He always wanted to play against the best player,” said Dwayne Mitchell, his coach at Rice at the time.
Scott brought that same selfless and intense attitude to Miami, where he was a four-year contributor, but seldom a headline-grabber. This winter, as the Hurricanes were ranked as high as No. 2 for the first time in school history and won their first ACC regular-season and postseason titles, sophomore Shane Larkin, the son of former Reds superstar shortstop Barry Larkin, was the player everyone identified with the program, even though by the time Larkin arrived the foundation already was established.
Every step of the way, Scott has been overshadowed by a bigger star, though he doesn’t see it that way. He said it has been a privilege to play with guys such as Walker, Doron Lamb and Larkin, because it has put him in position to win more games and become a better player.
That always has been his modus operandi. He has attacked workouts the same way, wanting to perform well and show the scouts and general managers and coaches what he brings to the table.
“I just play hard, leave it all out on the floor,” he said. “I’m not afraid of a challenge.”
He picked up those winning fundamentals at Rice. He still has plenty of Raiders gear, yellow-and-green sneakers, shirts and shorts. It has been four years since he led the closed school to a state title, but it still is a source of pride. He hopes to become the seventh Raider to reach the NBA.
“I’m the last of the breed,” Scott said. “You want to continue the legacy, knowing the school is down. Hopefully, one day, it will rise again. For now, we’re trying to uphold its name.”
There is a chance, maybe even next season, there will be a Rice reunion in an NBA arena — Scott facing Walker, his good friend who has helped him during the draft process.
“It would be something to talk about, brag about, laugh about,” Scott said. “Hopefully, that day can come, and I would be looking forward to it.”
zbraziller@nypost.com