Rusty Chiles

UNTLifer · January 16, 2003

Chiles’ time now more meaningful

Injuries force walk-on into reserve role for Mean Green

01/16/2003

By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer

It would have been forgivable if guard Rusty Chiles’ first name described his game when the walk-on was recently thrust into a key reserve role for North Texas.

It had been, after all, almost three years since Chiles had last played meaningful minutes in a basketball game.

The 6-2, 165-pound senior had accepted that his duty as a walk-on was to help the Mean Green by pushing the regulars in practice. That changed, however, when UNT guards Leonard Hopkins and Scott Roniger were lost to injury on a road trip in late December.

UNT

Rusty Chiles, who walked on for the Mean Green, is now playing about 16 minutes per game due to injuries.

Chiles had played a total of 14 minutes in his UNT career before Dec. 28. He has averaged 16.2 minutes in five games since then.

"Coach [Johnny] Jones always told me to keep working hard and good things would come my way," said Chiles, whose team faces Sun Belt foe Arkansas-Little Rock at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Super Pit. "Unfortunately, some people had to get hurt for that to happen. But I’m happy to get the opportunity to step up and contribute.

"I always knew that there was a good chance that I wasn’t going to get to play. But at the same time, I always worked hard because if the opportunity did come, I wanted to take full advantage of it."

Since becoming part of the rotation, Chiles has averaged 5.2 points per game on 50-percent shooting. His brightest moment came when he hit a clutch 3-pointer from the corner in overtime of the Mean Green’s Sun Belt-opening win at Florida International.

Jones gushes about the way that Chiles, whose baby face and slight frame look better suited for junior varsity than Division I, handles himself on the court. Chiles calmly executes the offense, makes good decisions and plays hard-nosed defense.

"I’m not hesitant to put him into a game in any situation," said Jones, who often cites Chiles’ work ethic as an example for his team. "He plays with a great deal of patience and poise. He understands that he has his limits, but he does an excellent job of playing to his strengths. He’s really grown on me as a player."

Chiles played at Richland College — receiving honorable mention all-conference honors as a sophomore — before transferring to UNT and taking a year off from basketball.

Then Chiles ran into UNT forward Jermaine Green, a former teammate at Spring High in suburban Houston. With Chiles already thinking about trying out, a little encouragement from Green sealed the deal.

Green, who calls the guard by his high school nickname of "Gusto," said he knew Chiles had the combination of smarts, scrappiness and shooting ability to help the Mean Green.

"It’s no surprise to me what he’s done lately," Green said. "He never tries to force anything. He knows how to pick and choose his spots."

Chiles, who financially supports himself and is working toward a master’s degree in accounting, squeezes basketball into a hectic schedule that includes a part-time job in the morning and classes at night. He usually sports UNT gear around campus, which confused one of his co-workers at the College of Education.

"He asked if I actually was on the team," Chiles said, "or if I was just a real big fan."

UNT swingman Chris Davis also needed a little convincing that Chiles belonged on a Division I basketball court.

"When I first saw him, I was like, ‘Who is this dude?’" Davis said. "He’s skinny with kind of a big head. I thought he was just somebody who wanted to come out here and have fun. I didn’t know he really loves the game like he does. "