Ex-Cav Nolan goes back to school

He was a city kid, a McDonalds’ All-American who came to Virginia and put up huge numbers in the ACC.

In his final year, he could practically taste the chartered planes, five-star hotels and multi-million dollar contracts of the NBA. So much so that he stopped going to class, quit caring about his education and didn’t come away with his college degree.

When the NBA Draft rolled along a few months later, he wasn’t selected. The next thing he knew he was playing professionally — in another country.

Norman Nolan meet Sylven Landesberg. Sylven Landesberg meet Norman Nolan.

Yeah, you might say that the former Virginia players have had a few career parallels.

Landesberg, the New York City native who played at UVa for two seasons before an abrupt departure this past spring, signed with a pro team in Israel last week.

Nolan’s last season as a Wahoo was the 1997-98 campaign. He’s spent the last dozen years playing all over the world.

Nolan, though, says there is one big difference between his plight and Landesberg’s.

"I didn’t have the chance to come back and keep improving," said Nolan, who played four years at Virginia, but was 25 credits short of a diploma when he departed. "My chances were now or never. His chance was to come back and learn under this new coaching system and better [himself] as a player."

This summer, Nolan has finally gotten around to fulfilling a promise he made to himself 12 years ago. The Baltimore native is back in Charlottesville, earning the final credits toward his sociology degree.

"It’s always been a goal," Nolan said. "It’s just been finding the time to do it and wanting to do it...

"The importance of getting a degree from the University of Virginia is top tier — it’s probably the best public university in the country. I didn’t want to come here and walk away with nothing."

Twelve years ago, education was the last thing on Nolan’s mind.

Nolan seemed like a surefire bet for the NBA. As a senior at Virginia, the power forward averaged over 20 points and eight rebounds. He was the first UVa player since Ralph Sampson to do so.

"In my opinion, he was the best big man in the league back then," said Virginia strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis, Nolan’s former teammate and roommate. "I don’t think there were too many people who could stop him from scoring and getting his rebounds. He was a force inside and had a deadly, turnaround jumper.

"It was a joke in practice for anybody that was guarding him. When he decided it was time, he was going to do whatever he wanted to do."

As a senior on a bad Virginia team, Nolan decided to turn all of his attention toward making the NBA. By his own admission, he stopped caring about school.

"I thought I could just do enough to get by, which wasn’t enough," he said. "I didn’t put forth a lot of effort.

"I definitely regret it."

Academically, the second semester of Nolan’s senior year was a complete waste. He either withdrew or had a failing grade in every class.

Curtis, who lived with Nolan that year, said he tried his best to steer his teammate in the right direction.

"I was a gnat in his ear the whole time, but he kind of shooed me away and went about his business of trying to do the basketball thing," Curtis recalled. "Sometimes when you’re trying to fulfill one dream, the other dream kind of falls by the wayside."

After going undrafted, Nolan played with the Indiana Pacers’ summer league team and subsequently earned an invitation to their training camp.

But that just happened to be the year of the NBA player lockout, which pushed the start of camps all the way to January.

When Nolan finally got his chance with Indiana, he played well, but because of several guaranteed contracts on the Pacers’ roster, he fell victim to the numbers game.

Upon his release, Indiana general manager Larry Bird was complimentary of Nolan’s game. Bird said that Nolan did a lot of things well, but he didn’t do one thing extremely well.

So Nolan — whom one scouting service on the internet had once called a "protypical NBA 4-man" — went on to play in the Continental Basketball Association. At the time, it was the NBA’s only minor league option.

Nolan quit after only three weeks, calling his time in the CBA the worst basketball experience of his life.

Soon after, he made the decision to play abroad. That summer, he played well in a league in Puerto Rico, which led to a deal with an Italian team.

In ensuing summers, Nolan spent time with the Pacers, Wizards and Pistons, but just couldn’t find the right fit.

 "When I was 26, I said, ‘That’s it,’" Nolan said. "I had given it four years and it got to the point where it was out of sight, out of mind.

"I was like, ‘I’m not going to be that extra guy in camp. I’m doing well [abroad]. I enjoy being over here.’ So I just decided to finish out my career over here as long as I could."

Nolan went on to play in Italy, Spain, France and Greece. Mainly, he’s played the last three years in Lebanon, Kuwait and Iran, winning the first championship of his career in Kuwait. There have also been brief stops in Venezuela and Argentina.

Nolan’s Kuwait experience was certainly an interesting one. In that league, teams were only permitted to have one American player on the court at any given time. "My role was a little diminished," Nolan said, "but it was still satisfying to win a championship. To finally win one after 11 years — I didn’t want to finish my career without winning something."

Curtis is surprised that Nolan, whom he has remained close friends with — they share the same birthday — never made the NBA.

"I wish we could have been better as a team for him," Curtis said, "because it probably would have given him the opportunity to have made it if we had more success. Those [college] numbers — on a team that wins — are undeniable.

"I kind of blame myself and my teammates for letting him down."

There’s no doubt Nolan didn’t have much help from his supporting cast in his final year. Virginia finished 11-19 (3-13 in the ACC) and head coach Jeff Jones was replaced at season’s end.

"I think he was hurt because even though he had a great senior year, we just weren’t very good," said Jones, now the coach at American University. "I think that had a negative effect, but the truth is, Norm could have made the NBA. I think he understood that he could try and do the NBA and be a fringe guy — or he could go over to Europe and make really good money and have a very successful career.

"I think he made the right decision. Being able to say that he played in the NBA might have sounded a little sexier, but in terms of choosing basketball as a career and not a hobby, he made the right decision and really did well."

Although Virginia didn’t have much success in his final three years, Nolan looks back on his career with great pride.

One of the highlight’s came when he and Curtis were freshmen and made the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Another came in his senior year when the Cavaliers, who had suffered bad home losses to the likes of Richmond and Liberty early in the season, went out with a bang, shocking Clemson in overtime in the second-to-last home game.

And it was during that final year when Nolan met his wife, Pinkie. She was working on her doctorate at UVa and tutoring athletes in her spare time.

It turned out that Pinkie was also from Baltimore and had actually remembered watching Nolan in an old high school game.

The rest was history.

The only bad thing about the union was Pinkie losing her tutoring gig.

"The first rule of thumb was no dating the athletes, but 15 years later we can say it was worth [breaking the rule]," said Nolan, laughing.

Nolan, who resides in Northern Virginia with Pinkie during his basketball offseason, is happy with how his post-UVa years have gone.

Playing overseas has been lucrative. The clubs there typically furnish players with apartments, cars and healthy salaries (with major tax breaks).

"I’ve had a successful career to maintain a good lifestyle up until this point," Nolan said, "but I’m still going to have to transition into something else after.

"It’s not like the NBA where you can just invest and retire off of it. The money’s been good and provided me with a great life, but the main reason I’m back in school is so I can transition into something different and look toward another career."

Nolan isn’t sure what that is yet, but when he tells his story, you certainly get the feeling that working with young people could be in the cards.

While attending classes this summer, Nolan has kept in shape by playing pick-up games with members of the Virginia team. He’s also spent considerable time with them off the court.

One of the topics he has harped on has been staying on top of your education.

"I talk to the guys and say, ‘If you have the opportunity to get it done, then get it done,’" Nolan said. "It’s not like we’re asking you to get straight A’s in everything, but put forth some effort. Pass your classes and get as much out of it as you can because I don’t recommend coming back 12 years later."

In March, when Landesberg elected to forgo his final two years of school, he surely could have benefitted from a chat with someone like Nolan.

"I don’t know Sylven personally," Nolan said, "[but] I completely disagree with his decision...

"I just think he sold himself short. I wish he would have stayed, just from the [standpoint] of growing as a man and getting himself the right opportunity. Not to knock Sylven, but I think that just young players in general — they get bad advice and listen to the wrong people. They get advice from people who they don’t know and are only looking out for themselves.

"He’ll be successful and he’ll make some money," Nolan continued, "but will he be as successful as he could have been? I don’t think so. But that’s just my personal opinion."

Nolan, who has crammed in about 16 credit hours this summer, is on target to graduate in December. All that is left is an independent study course.

"For him to put his head down and decide this was the time to get it done, I’m ecstatic," Curtis said. "I’m happy that he’s going to fulfill this dream of his.

"It’s funny because he talks about getting A’s and B’s and I used to always rub it in his face back in the day. Now he’s kind of rubbing it in mine."

Recently, Nolan attended Jones’ 50th birthday party and got to share his good news.

"I told him I was just really proud of him," Jones said. "He could have just very easily said, ‘Hey, that’s too hard.’ He’s made a lot of money playing professional basketball, but I know that Pinkie was really encouraging him to do so. I’m very happy for him.

"It’s taken him a while, but he’s made good on his promise to me, among others, that he would come back and get his degree."

Editors note: Be sure to check out Monday’s Daily Progress. Nolan gives an assessment of Virginia’s incoming freshmen.