Leonard’s Not Fast but Quick : USD Point Guard Gets Moving Only When He’s Playing

SAN DIEGO —  Speed afoot helps Paul Leonard on the basketball court. As the University of San Diego senior point guard, he keeps the Torero offense moving quickly and smoothly.

But, Leonard doesn’t use his speed for much else.

“I’m probably the slowest walker on campus,” Leonard said. “Unless it’s real cold or something, I like to take my time. I guess you could say it’s pretty easy to spot me just poking along.”

On the basketball court, it’s different.

“Paul’s real strength is his quickness,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “Wherever he goes, he takes the ball with him, and with that, our offense can move quickly.”

But, off the floor, Leonard says there isn’t anything that can make him rush. He just prefers to take his time.

“If there’s a team meeting at 6:30, you better tell Paul that it’s at 6:15,” Egan said. “Then when he walks in, you understand why you had to tell him that.”

Said Leonard: “I’m just used to taking things deliberately. My motto is to take your time doing something the first time so you do it right. I don’t like to rush through anything and have to do it again.”

Leonard has been the Toreros’ point guard since coming to USD two years ago from Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

“I liked him after I saw him play one game,” Egan said. “He came in here and won the starting job right away. I didn’t give it to him, either. He won it.”

Leonard helped lead the Toreros last season to their best record (19-9) at the NCAA Division I level. This season, he’s shooting a bit more and averaging 12.7 points per game (second on the team to Scott Thompson). He’s also averaging 3.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

“It seems to me, Paul’s a pretty quiet kid,” Egan said. “On the road, a lot of players like to go shopping or run around. I don’t check all the time, but it seems Paul’s always in his room just resting, saving his energy for the basketball court.”

Leonard has always been known for saving energy. Just ask his parents.

“They were always telling me I was too lackadaisical,” Leonard said. “You know, when I was supposed to chores around the house or something.”

Egan, for one, is happy that Leonard doesn’t rush himself.

“Hey, Paul’s himself and I’m myself. I can’t control that,” Egan said. “How he is off the court doesn’t matter. He does a good job running our offense. I’ll go crazy on the sidelines sometimes and he’ll just say, ‘OK, coach,’ ”

Leonard credits one-on-one sessions with his brother, Efrem, a guard on the Mt. SAC basketball team, for his shooting success this season.

Leonard has hit 55% of his shots this season, and he’s 14 for 23 from three-point range.

“I never told Paul he couldn’t shoot,” Egan said. “Last year, though, we had (Pete) Murphy and (Mark) Bostic and Paul knew it was better for our offense to get them the ball and he played a lot of defense. This year, we have Danny Means at off-guard and he’s doing a good defensive job. Paul’s been able to concentrate more on offense.”

Leonard knows the chance of playing in the NBA is unlikely, but he wouldn’t pass up playing overseas.

“Traveling is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Leonard said. “If the opportunity came to have a chance to play in Europe, I’d take it. I heard those guys make a lot of money over there.”

So the man who’s never in a hurry says he has place to go.

“I have a lot of things I want to accomplish, but I know I can take my time accomplishing them,” he said.