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Busy day Stackhouse gets degree, flies to Detroit for win over Sixers
Posted: Sunday December 19, 1999 12:33 AM
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- Most NBA players take it easy on the first day back from a West Coast trip, especially if they have a game that night. Not Detroit Pistons guard Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse got up at 8 a.m. on Saturday and flew to Chapel Hill to take part in his graduation ceremony at the University of North Carolina. After the ceremony, he flew back to Detroit, arriving at the Palace about an hour before tipoff against his old team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Pistons coach Alvin Gentry was worried that his off-guard wouldn't have much energy left, but he underestimated Stackhouse. He scored 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 26 as Detroit won 104-91. "I didn't think he would have enough left to do that, but Stack is just an unbelievable competitor," Gentry said. "I think it helped that we were playing Philly. I don't think he holds any grudges against them for trading him, but it's just human nature to play harder against them." Stackhouse, who left North Carolina for the NBA after his sophomore season, compared the day's emotions to the day that the 76ers drafted him. "It was a lot like that day, because you knew it was coming," he said. "It isn't like playing a game, where you have no idea what is going to happen. This is something that you have worked on for years, and it is such a great feeling to finally do it. Basketball has been my whole life, but this is really a great achievement. It is amazing to see the pride on the faces of my family."
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