IT'S GUTS, NOT GRACE IT DOESN'T ALWAYS LOOK GOOD, BUT UCLA'S HINES GETS THE JOB DONE.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

You don't have to watch Rico Hines for long to see him go hurtling over the scorer's table and into the stands to chase a hopelessly lost loose ball. Or see him wince as he accepts a knee to the sternum as collateral for drawing a charge. Or watch him clutch and grab at an opponent, unsure if he's trying to defend him or crawl into his shirt.

If it looks as if Rico Hines will do anything possible to stay on the court for the UCLA basketball team, why not? He's certainly done everything possible to get there.

In a program where the sense of history often is rivaled by the sense of entitlement, Hines, by experience and circumstance, is different.

If he doesn't always play well, he always plays hard.

Hines, who plays with knee-high socks, a mouthpiece and a perpetual grimace, is much more guile than grace. He'll never be accused of making basketball look easy, whether it's trying to score a rare basket or stay with his man on defense. If he did, it would belie the truth.

Now nearing his 24th birthday and already graduated with a degree in history, Hines didn't grow up in the company of former pros or as a coddled high school All-American. He grew up, geographically and figuratively, about as far away from most of his teammates as possible - near the tobacco fields of eastern North Carolina.

Instead of turning down scholarship offers from the nation's elite, he said no to the likes of Towson State and UNC-Wilmington. He's battled injuries, the latest of which was a concussion that sidelined him last week, and he briefly was sent home by the NCAA as a freshman.

Yet, some of the obstacles he's put before himself.

Growing up fast

Hines attended prep school and a military academy because of poor study habits in his early teens, and he feels fortunate to be on the team after assaulting a teammate last season.

``I had to grow up a lot faster than most of the fellas here,'' Hines said. ``Most of them were more sheltered. Some had two parents in the home. I was raised a little different than if I were raised out here.''

Hines, who was born when his mother was 17, spent his early years sharing a three-bedroom trailer with his grandparents, who were tenant farmers near Greenville, N.C., and four other relatives.

``We didn't have a lot,'' Hines said. ``But my grandparents always dressed me up, made sure I was clean and minded my manners.''

His late grandparents, Bertha and James Hardy, who never were schooled beyond the fifth grade, also stressed one thing beyond all else: education.

Their eight children, including Hines' mother, Faye Bordeaux, each graduated from college. Three of them have master's degrees and another a Ph.D.

When Faye, who was the valedictorian of her high school class, became pregnant with Rico, her parents took him into their home and sent Faye on her way to Chapel Hill, two hours away, where she had a full academic scholarship.

``They were very focused on us getting an education because they did not want us to have to toil in the fields,'' said Bordeaux, who runs her own child and family therapist business in Greenville. ``They never finished high school because of the times and we grew up working on the farm. That was motivation enough for us to get a real good education.''

Bordeaux returned to Greenville just before Rico was ready to enter kindergarten. She married his father, Mickey Hines, two years later (they've since divorced and she's remarried) and Rico came to live with them. Nevertheless, he was a communal child. He still calls Faye's older sister ``Momma,'' and her four brothers, all of whom shared Rico's passion for basketball but not his height, doted on him.

``I was a neighborhood kid,'' Hines said. ``My family values were that loyalty was important. The idea was that this is your family. It's not always rosy, but it's your family. I understood sacrifice. The older I get, the more I see all that everybody did for me.''

Lesson in loyalty

Hines first arrived at UCLA so long ago that Jim Harrick was still the coach. Having spent the summer in Los Angeles working out and preparing for his first season, Hines was checked into the dorms in late September 1996, awaiting the first day of school.

That's when the NCAA notified him that a religion class he took at St. John's at Prospect Hall, a Maryland prep school, could not be counted among his core classes. That knocked his core grade-point average down enough that his SAT score, which works on a sliding scale with a student's GPA, wasn't high enough to meet the NCAA's minimum standards.

``When Rico was in middle school, he was in the National Honor Society,'' his mother said. ``When he got into high school, he didn't put forth the effort. He was a basketball star.''

Devastated, Hines flew home on a Friday and arrived at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., the following Monday.

``I hated it,'' said Hines, who went there at Harrick's behest. ``Here I go from L.A. to living in the Army barracks where it's lights out at 9:45. I cried every night on the phone to my mom.''

While Hines was studying to retake the SAT (he'd later score above 1,100, according to his mom), Harrick was fired.

Shocked, Hines didn't know where this left him.

The Bruins essentially had offered him a scholarship in the hopes of landing his prep-school teammate and best friend, All-American Nate James. But with James headed to Duke, UCLA no longer bound by a letter of intent and its coaching situation in limbo, Hines wondered if the offer was still good.

Steve Lavin, appointed interim coach and desperately trying to land players, immediately phoned Hines and Earl Watson, then a senior in high school, to say their scholarship offers stood.

Hines says he's forever grateful to Lavin for his loyalty. The coach has returned the favor many times over.

Forgiveness

Hines had been a reliable role player his first three seasons and, after sitting out last season with a knee injury, he was put into the starting lineup last month when point guard Cedric Bozeman was sidelined with knee surgery.

Yet, what Hines is most thankful for is Lavin's leniency when he assaulted teammate Matt Barnes before the start of last season.

The incident occurred when the Bruins were scrimmaging during a period when the NCAA prohibits coaches from being present. According to an eyewitness, Hines and Barnes, two of the team's most competitive players, were guarding each other. As the play became more heated, they traded taunts.

Finally, after one exchange, the two came to blows and wrestled each other to the court before teammates pulled them away.

As the scrimmaging resumed, Hines paced along the baseline, seething.

After several minutes, he grabbed a metal stool by the seat, rushed Barnes, who took a few steps back and held up his hands in defense, and struck him over the head with the stool.

Barnes was taken to the UCLA Medical Center, where seven stitches were required to close the gash.

Lavin suspended Hines for the first two games last season, but when a subsequent knee injury forced him to miss the season, Lavin waived the penalty.

``I broke some rules. Now I've got to take it like a man,'' Hines said at the time. ``Coach (Lavin) is great. He treats us like human beings, not like Bobby Knight. He understands college students make mistakes. I'm not a crazy person.''

Barnes forgave Hines almost immediately and said he harbors no ill will.

The incident, according to several players, hasn't hindered Hines' leadership role on the team.

``We don't bring it up,'' said Hines, who has been appointed as a captain the past two seasons. ``We're like a family. Stuff happens. It was unfortunate, and I'm sorry about it but it happened. Matt and I are cool. He's an up-in-your-face dude and so am I. The guys know what I'm about. If it's something that's always simmering, you can't move on.''

`Element of toughness'

Hines has been at the center of things for the Bruins this season, too.

UCLA has won 10 of the 11 games Hines has started and is 3-3 without him in the lineup. Outside the locker room he's hardly viewed a savior. He might lead the team in floor burns, charges taken and pep talks given. But his failure to muster any offense also has made him the leading flak catcher from fans.

``I've always turned to Rico,'' Lavin said. ``He brings that element of toughness, tenacity, competitiveness, intelligence and understanding of the game that sometimes you don't find in other players. If you break down film the way coaches do, what you see is him rotating five straight times or plugging holes (on defense), taking charges or forcing an extra pass.

``Our staff knows that what he brings to the team are things that you're not always going to see in the box score.''

Which, of course, is the rub. Hines often doesn't appear prominently in the box score. In 317 minutes this season, he has scored but 12 points. He is shooting 19 percent from the field, has missed all 10 of his 3-point attempts and all four of his free throws.

Hines, who averages one point for every 26.4 minutes he's on the court, might move the ball quickly and set firm picks. But he is so unthreatening on offense that former UCLA star Marques Johnson, working as a analyst for Fox, remarked during the loss to USC two weeks ago that the Bruins are essentially playing 4 on 5 with Hines on the floor.

When Hines faked a 3-point shot two weeks ago against Kansas, there was a collective gasp at Pauley Pavilion. One post on an Internet message board suggested that Krispy Kreme come up with a new promotion for UCLA games - a free doughnut for every zero Hines puts in the box score.

``I don't really care what people think,'' said Hines, who plans to go into coaching next year. ``My shot is not falling so I've just tried to find other ways to be productive. If I can draw two defenders, set screens and rebound, that's OK because on this team we don't need scorers. At the end of the day, it's about winning. That's what I'm all about.''

Becoming a man

Like him or not, Hines has played a critical role in several of the Bruins' wins. UC Irvine's Jerry Green and Washington's Curtis Allen didn't play nearly as well late in games after they complained to officials about Hines' physical play. Washington State coach Paul Graham was furious over some of Hines' tactics during a game but praised him afterward.

``He's a winner,'' Graham said. ``Most guys don't want to do the dirty work, but he's accepted it. You need those guys to win.''

His value might have been most realized last weekend, when he was sidelined on the trip to Arizona with a concussion he suffered while hitting his head on the floor in practice.

The Bruins nearly blew a 14-point lead in an 82-79 win over Arizona State and they lost a 20-point lead in their 96-86 loss to Arizona.

``This is just another thing I have to overcome,'' Hines said of the concussion. ``The injuries, another year at prep school, all of it is something God has done for a reason.

``I think going away to prep school helped me become a man. The older I get, the more I see that, man, my family did a lot for me. I understand about sacrifices and loyalty. I've just tried to go out and work hard and set a good example for my teammates. I think I've left my mark as one of the toughest competitors and hardest workers that's ever played here.''

UCLA vs. STANFORD

Today, 7:30 p.m., at Pauley Pavilion

--TV: FSN 

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) no caption (UCLA's Rico Hines)

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer