He was (1) THE Greatest Broughton Cap since “Pistol Pete”…. and (2) The subject of as intense a Tobacco Road recruiting battle back in 2001 as we’ve seen since Phil Ford and Jerry Stackhouse…. until Brandon Ingram came along last year.
Shavlik (“Shav”) chose Duke over his grandfather’s NC State and was a good solid contributor to K’s teams from 2002-05. He never caused anyone around Cameron to forget Gminski, Ferry or Laettner; but he mighta caused a few to forget Hack Tyson and Terry Chili.
Like Chuck Nevitt, Eric Montross and, maybe we add Tyler Hansbrough, before him; Shavlik went on to “The Association” where big, tall white guys who are “good solid teammates” can make a darn good living for 10 or so years, if they avoid career-ending injuries. Shav did and did and is now “twilighting”….. playing in China.
Not a bad life at all. Assuming he has put $$$ away for the day he “used to be Shavlik Randolph” this story should “live happily ever after”. We hope so …..
Two articles (one from Oct 2015) about “Whatever Happened to Shavlik Randolph”….. ENJOY!
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http://www.waltermagazine.com/shavlik-randolph-resilience-determination-staying-power/
Resilience, determination, staying power
by Settle Monroe
photographs by Justin Cook
October 2015
When 6-foot-10-inch, 240-pound Shavlik Randolph lumbers into a Raleigh Starbucks, all eyes in the cafe look up. And up. And up. Standing customers step aside to make room for him, and those in line turn around as if to ask permission to go before him. The barista can’t help but stare with a dropped jaw as he leans over the counter to place his order.
But as soon as the 10-year NBA veteran nods in a friend’s direction, flashes his wide, schoolboy grin and says with a familiar southern spin, “I’ll have what she’s having,” we all exhale. We quickly forget about all the eyes on him, and wonder if he ever noticed them at all.
Shavlik, or Shav as he is often called, is used to having eyes fixed on him. Anyone in Raleigh who followed high school basketball in the early 2000s remembers Randolph. His stats and stories from Broughton High School constantly filled the sports section of the newspaper. His ability to drain a three-point shot on one play and drive to the basket for a power-dunk on the next kept Broughton’s Holliday Gymnasium packed with excited sports fans from across the state and eager college coaches from across the country. Today, as a 31-year-old seasoned professional, it is his resilience, determination, and staying power in an unforgiving sport that define his legacy.
To folks who know Shav, it wasn’t ever his game-time accomplishments that most impressed them. It was his work off the court, his Marine-like drive during workouts and practices that set him apart. Shavlik recalls jumping rope in his driveway with weights on his ankles after practice before returning to the gym to get in more shots before bed. “His workouts are legendary,” says longtime friend and former teammate William Kane. “I’ve never met anyone who had such a vision for what he wanted and then took the steps necessary to accomplish that vision.”
Shavlik’s mother, Kim Randolph, echoes Kane. “What was unique about Shavlik is that he loved to practice. He enjoyed the thrill of getting better.” Kim Randolph tells of Shavlik returning to the Broughton gym after dinner, where the night custodian would leave the light on for him. On many occasions, the custodian would stand in front of Shav, holding up a broom to play defense as Shavlik shot over the broom. Randolph remembers, “From the time he was in the second grade, Shavlik said that he was going to play in the NBA and that he wanted to be a professional basketball player.”
That work ethic and intense drive – coupled with his monstrous frame and stellar bloodline (his grandfather, Ronnie Shavlik, was an All-American at N.C. State in the 1950s) – led Shav to break scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots records at Broughton, even surpassing “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s single-game scoring record by scoring 50 points in a game. That determination and focus is also what drove him to play at Duke University from 2002-2005. And it is what ultimately carried him to achieve his childhood dream of playing in the NBA, when in 2005 he signed his first professional contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
READ MORE….
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http://www.itbinsider.com/exclusive-shavlik-randolph-in-china/
An Insider Look at Shavlik Randolph In China
in ITBNN .meta-category by William Needham Finley IV
Today we are #blessed to bring you an exclusive insider look at ITB legend Shavlik Randolph, who is currently playing professional basketball in the Chinese Basketball Association. Shav needs no introduction, but you should all go check out Settle Monroe’s article in Walter Magazine from last fall for an in-depth look at his story.
Cory Ferrier recently traveled to China to be embedded with the Liaoning Flying Leopards as they try to close out their regular season on a 17 game win streak. Here’s his ITB Insider look at traveling with the team, life in China, and Shav’s dominance of the CBA.
I flew out of San Francisco on a Wednesday and was scheduled to land in Beijing by Thursday. It only made sense to pass the time by watching Pistol Pete documentaries and a replay of the 2012 U.S. Open during the 12 hour flight. Six hours into the flight I was feeling good and energized on my ITB high. Then hour 8 hit and I felt like Matt Damon on Mars with no end in sight. I actually tried to calculate the velocity at which I would hit the ocean if I were to jump out of the plane. A brief moment of turbulence was a jolting reminder of why I was here, to watch an ITB legend play his last regular season game of the year in China.
I land in Beijing and wait for a quick puddle jumper to Shav’s city of Shenyang, where he plays for the Liaoning Flying Leopards. I’m expecting to see billboards and skyscrapers with his silhouette when I land, anything else would be a travesty.
It should come as no shock that Shavlik Randolph has been dominating the Chinese basketball scene. Currently, his team is in first place, riding a 16 game winning streak. He’s not playing against average Chinese people, who I tower over at the airport as I write this. No, he’s playing against NBA talent. China has become THE destination for NBA stars that want a short season, playing time, and ITB money.
Now, you and I are not surprised. We were privileged to see his greatness first hand. You could taste the demoralizing tears running down the cheeks of his opponents. You could smell the fear. I wanted to see that first hand again, tears running down the cheeks of abnormally large domestic Chinese guys and some NBA talent.
READ MORE…..
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