Land finally back to earth with Bearcats

[Michael Ryan]

This is unavailable on-line, so I'm posting it here.
It was on page one of the Sports section of the Chattanooga Times Free
Press this morning


"Land finally back to earth with Bearcats"
By David Uchiyama, Staff Writer 
Chattanooga Times Free Press

University of Cincinnati senior forward Eugene Land is making one of the
greatest comebacks in college basketball this season.   He's played in
seven games for a total of 50 minutes. That's more time in the last six
weeks than in the previous three years.    The last time he played
significant minutes for Cincinnati, the Bearcats were upset by Temple in
the 1999 NCAA tournament.  "That was nearly three years ago," Land said.
"I've done a lot of growing since then."

   The Bearcats will host the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at
8 p.m. Thursday in the Shoemaker Center. It will be another opportunity
for Land to show how he's matured.   He was dismissed from the team
after an arrest on shoplifting charges in the fall quarter of the
1999-2000 school year. He returned to practice for the winter quarter
but redshirted the season while future NBA first-round pick Kenyon
Martin led Cincinnati to a 29-4 record.
   The following summer he survived a car accident but needed complete
reconstructive surgery on his right knee.   Then he dropped out of
school. "My girlfriend got pregnant and it was a rough time for me,"
Land said. "I had a lot of other problems with my family at the time."

   Land spent the next two years away from basketball and far from the
university. He looked after his girlfriend, Amy Lundstrom, and has
watched his son Maxwell grow from newborn to 17 months old.  "It's been
great watching him grow from nothing to rolling over, to pulling himself
up, to walking, then running," Land said. "He's been saying 'Da-Da' for
about two weeks now. It's amazing."
   It's somewhat amazing that Land returned to coach Bob Huggins' team.
Land got an itch this past summer to play basketball again, so he called
former Bearcat Donald Little and asked when he could play at the next
open gym.
   Later that day he was running, jumping and blocking shots like he did
three years ago. "I played pretty good that day," Land said. "The
trainer asked me what I was doing, then he called (assistant coach Dan)
Peters, who called Huggs. We got everything squared away and I was back
taking makeup classes the next Monday."  Now Land says he's on track to
graduate with a degree in social sciences in 2004. "I'm not that young
guy looking for the party anymore," Land said. "I wouldn't be caught
dead doing anything of that sort again.   "I'm more dedicated to my
studies and my team, and I want to get some results from all this work."

   Huggins said he is glad to have Land back even though he averages
just two points per game.  "Eugene has taken care of his business and he
deserves another chance," Huggins said. "The young guys see how much the
guy tries every day. He adds courage to our team."

Copyright C 2003, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Inc. All rights
reserved.


Mike Ryan