COLLEGE HOOPS Stanton is big scorer, good kid at Ursinus

He leads the NCAA with a 32.4-point average, and also is multi-talented.
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Almost everything at Ursinus College is small:
The 1,370-student enrollment, the dorms and dining halls, and the campus itself looks like a miniature model of a Division I school. Even the basketball coach's surname is Small.
There are a couple of things about Ursinus that aren't small, however: Dennis Stanton's scoring average and his heart.
Stanton, a senior shooting guard on the Division III Bears' basketball team, is nearing the end of a stellar season.
He leads the NCAA with 32.4 points per game. He has scored over 30 points 15 times, including a 55-point effort against Franklin & amp; Marshall on Feb. 7. Four times he has been named the Centennial Conference player of the week. He's already shattered the conference records for points in a season and 3-pointers in a career.
And that's only half of his story.
A great kid
"He's an amazing kid," coach Kevin Small said Thursday, one day after Stanton scored 45 points in a road win over Haverford College. "It's unusual in that he's one of the best players I've ever coached and he's totally unaffected. He's the most humble kid I've ever met. I love him."
The list of Stanton's on-court accolades -- participant in last summer's Arafura Games in Australia, preseason All-American, three-time ECAC Mid-Atlantic player of the week, Jostens Trophy nominee -- is impressive enough. Add in his academic and extracurricular accomplishments and it becomes overwhelming.
He carries a 3.65 GPA. He's an academic All-America finalist. He visited children in the hospital over the holidays. And he has helped build houses for the homeless as a member of Habitat for Humanity. Not bad for a college student whose day begins at Mass and usually ends in the school library.
"I think it's important you find something to motivate yourself because, otherwise, it's tough," Stanton said. "Especially when the results aren't coming. I'm playing basketball and I've never had more fun."
Good shooter
Stanton doesn't look like a scorer. His 6-2, lean frame and unkempt hair don't exactly strike fear into opposing teams' minds. No, his shot does that.
During Thursday's film session, held in tight quarters inside the Bears' locker room, Small rewinds one particular play from an early season win over Johns Hopkins. Stanton receives a pass, jukes the defender, backs up and fires an off-balance 3-pointer. The ball clangs off the rim and bounces straight up in the air before dropping through the hoop. Two possessions later, he comes off a screen and knocks down a turnaround 3.
"Wow. Whew. Oh, man," the players grumble.
They saw it live, have seen it played back numerous times on tape. Still, they cannot believe it.
This is what it's like to play alongside Dennis Stanton the perfectionist.
"He'll shoot and he'll make 18 out of 20 from 3-point range just shooting around and he'll be mad about the two he missed," teammate and roommate Teddy Piotrowicz said. "He remembers every shot he takes during the game and the shots he missed that he should have made. He'll lose sleep over them."
Much improved
Stanton, the consummate team player according to his teammates, lost a lot of sleep last summer after missing a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the Bears' 77-75 second-round NCAA Tournament loss at Scranton. Thousands of free-throw and 3-point attempts later, he returned a much-improved, if not possessed player.
His scoring average has jumped 13 points since last season and he is hitting 39 percent of his 3-point attempts and 85 percent of his foul shots.
"I talk so much about him with everybody," assistant coach Joe Rulewich said. "I talk about all the different things he does well: his work ethic and how relentless he is. And then, 10 minutes later, I see him in the gym and it's confirmed. He's unreal."