Cam Curry provides heart, character for men’s basketball

The word “CREST” lies in big, block print on the backs of the Boston University men’s basketball team’s warm-up shirts. An acronym, it’s meant to reinforce the core values BU coach Joe Jones set for his team: communication, respect, enthusiasm, selflessness and toughness. Although, if anyone needs a refresher, all they’d have to do is look at junior guard Cam Curry.

Ever since he arrived on Commonwealth Avenue nearly two-and-a-half years ago, the walk-on has served as the heart and soul of the BU basketball program, inspiring the team on and off the court.

“He’s got unbelievable character,” Jones said. “He’s an absolute joy to be around every day. He’s got great energy, great spirit. He’s honest. He’s hardworking. I absolutely love Cam Curry.”

That spirit became clear to Jones the minute he saw him play. In the spring of Curry’s senior year at Chino Hills High School, his travel team coach Keith Howard called Jones to tell him about the scrappy 5-foot-9 floor general. After watching highlight tapes, Jones thought Curry’s skill-set and basketball IQ might make him a good fit at BU, so he invited him to Boston to train with the team.

There, Jones and the Terrier coaching staff caught a glimpse of Curry’s hustle and composure on the ball. Equally as eye-catching as Curry’s on-court abilities, though, was his character.

“[Howard] talked about the type of person that Cam was and that was easy to see when we sat down and spoke to him,” Jones said. “I felt very good about him as a person the first time I met him.”

It didn’t take long for Jones to extend a roster spot to Curry, who immediately blended in with the team, to whom he refers as his brothers.

But now, headed into his third season in the scarlet and white, Curry and his spirit will be needed more than ever to compensate for the team’s various hurdles as the campaign approaches. Early injuries to junior guard Cedric Hankerson, sophomore guard Cheddi Mosely, an indefinite game-suspension to junior guard Eric Fanning and the team’s move from Agganis Arena to Case Gym due to lack of fan support all plague the Terriers’ preseason. Curry isn’t too worried, though.

“Personally, I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win,” he said. “Whether that’s playing [or] pushing everybody in practice. Basically, being the energy off the bench or the energy from the bench and cheering everybody on. I’m the biggest cheerleader if I’m not playing.”

That was the case back in his freshman campaign. Seasoned guards like Maurice Watson Jr. and D.J. Irving took center stage for the Terriers, meaning much of Curry’s contributions in the 2013-14 season came from courtside. With Curry energizing the bench, his team captured the Patriot League regular-season title and came within one game of an NCAA Tournament berth.

After BU lost over one-third of its offensive production in the spring, the 2014-15 campaign was set to be a season of self-discovery for a young and inexperienced Terrier squad. This provided the opportunity for Curry to step up to the challenge.

“The coaches have always told me to be ready,” he said. “They always told me to work hard because you never know what could happen.”

What did happen was the Terriers needed Curry. They needed the patience, the energy and the understanding of the game’s nuances that Jones first noticed in those tapes.

“For us, we needed to have some guys on the floor that really understood what we were trying to do,” Jones said. “He really helped in that way. … He’s a guy that we can rely on.”

After steadily earning more and more playing time during the first month of the season, Curry got the news that he had worked so tirelessly to hear — he would be starting a Division I basketball game against Quinnipiac University.

“You always dream about starting in a college basketball game,” Curry said. “When I heard that I was going to start the next day, I told my parents. I told my sister. I told everybody.”

The Terriers won the game, and Curry continued to be a major on-court facilitator. Turning his size disadvantage into motivation with heart and grit, Curry tallied a career-high seven points and three steals against the Wentworth Institute of Technology on Dec. 29. As it turned out, that sideline energy translated pretty well onto the court.

“I like to be that little feisty guy that nobody likes to play against,” Curry said. “The hustle guy.”

Even as he spent more time on the court, though, Curry maintained his role as team’s lifeblood when on the bench. On the road against Lafayette College Feb. 9, when junior center Blaise Mbargorba threw down a vicious dunk in a 14-point win, Curry sprung off the bench and leapt no less than three feet into the air.

“He just does the right thing every day,” said senior guard John Papale, who lives with Curry. “He works hard in the weight room. He works hard on the court. He’s a great student. He’s someone that I admire and look up to and I think all the other guys look up to him, too. He’s a great leader.”

At the season’s end, after making appearances in 20 games, Curry received the team’s highest honor — the Reggie Stewart Award, for “best exemplifying the traits of BU basketball.” Jones called the decision a no-brainer.

“It was a great honor just knowing that the coaches thought that I exemplified BU basketball to that highest level on the team,” Curry said. “And to have the players backing me up and saying that I deserved that award, it felt so rewarding.”

Those exemplary traits are the same he carries with him, both figuratively and in print, every time he goes to practice. His camaraderie with and respect for his teammates, along with his selflessness and toughness in the face of success and failure, while familiar to him since birth — his dad rose from a tough beginning to become a Stanford University and Harvard University-educated doctor — are still hallmarks of the culture Jones wants to establish at BU.

So, as the Terriers embark on their 2015-16 campaign, Jones will look to Curry as a constant reminder of the program he is trying to build, and in ways already has.

“Any time you have guys that are doing it the right way, they are a point of reference that you can point out to for other guys to show them how it’s done,” Jones said. “People have to see it and feel it and he gives you a chance to have people see how it’s done the right way. They can see how it’s done the right way … To have a guy like that that does that is uplifting. It makes everything better for your team.”