A Sun rises in the west

During his senior year at Virginia, Sean Singletary’s teammates included a walk-on transfer, an enigmatic swingman, a 26 percent foul shooter and a crazy Lithuanian.

Oh, how times have changed.

Singletary’s current teammates are Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire and Grant Hill, just to name a few.

Singletary, a rookie for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, is soaking in everything that he can from the group that includes at least two future Hall of Famers.

“I spend most of my time with Amare, but I’m real cool with Shaq,” Singletary said during a recent phone interview. “Amare’s my best friend on the team, and Grant is like a mentor, so that’s been some good company heading into the league.”

Singletary was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of June’s NBA Draft, but traded soon after — along with Ron Artest and fellow draft pick Patrick Ewing, Jr. — to the Houston Rockets in a salary cap-related move. The trade netted the Kings Bobby Jackson, Donte Green and a first-round pick. From Houston, Singletary was then dealt to the Suns for former Maryland guard D.J. Strawberry.

Now, in the Valley of the Sun, the three-time first-team All-ACC guard seems to have found a home.

Singletary accomplished his first goal coming out of training camp — to make the team. After not seeing much playing time in the early portion of the season and serving as third-string point guard behind Goran Dragic, Singletary appears to have accomplished his second goal — to actually be a contributor.

In the last few games, Singletary has overtaken Dragic in coach Terry Porter’s rotation.

When Nash was unable to play because of a thigh injury on Nov. 28 against the Miami Heat, Singletary got his first career start.

“Surprisingly, it’s not as hard as one would think,” said Singletary, when asked what his biggest adjustment has been to the pro game, “because I’m pretty much just running the team, scoring when I have the opportunity and just getting guys the ball in the right spots.

“I don’t have to do everything.”

Singletary, who has averaged 2.8 points, 1.0 assist and 1.3 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game, has developed a floater — a shot that he didn’t use too frequently in college but is essential for an undersized NBA point guard.

The 6-foot Philadelphia native sounded a little in awe when he talked about being on the same court to start the game versus the Heat’s Dwayne Wade.

“Just seeing some of his athletic moves was crazy and taking advantage of defenses and his awareness on offense was pretty [unbelievable],” said Singletary, who had six points and two assists.

Singletary, who’s earning $442,114 this season, has been keeping up with Virginia very closely. He remains optimistic, despite the team’s 3-3 start that has included a loss to Liberty.

“I’ve been looking at the box scores and the [fan] message board like every day,” said Singletary, who was actually text messaging members of the coaching staff with suggestions during the team’s loss to Minnesota on Tuesday. “I think they’re doing well. I have so much confidence in coach [Dave] Leitao. He’s done worlds for me and will do a lot for those kids. I’m just behind him 100 percent.

“I know that they’ll be all right. Any young team has hiccups or growing pains.”

Singletary has been impressed by the play of Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg, the team’s leading scorer (19.0 ppg).

“I had played some one-on-one with him over the summer, so I knew he was good,” Singletary said, “but you never know how somebody’s going to react in the games.

“I think he’s surprised a lot of people, but you really need to wait until the ACC play starts to see what he really can do, but I think he’s real talented and has a lot of heart. Hopefully he can continue to lead.”

Having an abundance of heart is probably the thing that has enabled Singletary to get where he is today — living his dream as an NBA player.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who work around the league and they all say that they expect me to have a long career in the NBA,” he said. “I know a lot of people questioned me coming out of college, but I think I’m making a pretty quick adjustment to the [pro] game and think I’ll be here for a while.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”