Freshman Earl has skipped the growing pains

If you asked the typical basketball coach to design a shooting guard, he would probably come up with a sharpshooter with a plenty of success in his background. For Ivy League coaches, throw some high test scores and a desire to get a good education into the mix. Meet Brian Earl. Standing 6-foot-2, and weighing in at just 160 pounds, Princeton's most highly-touted recruit in several years is not a physically intimidating opponent. But put him 19-and-a-half feet away from the basket, and Earl is as deadly as a SWAT team sniper. The Marlton, N.J., native is making quite an impression in his first year at Princeton. Despite the enormous adjustments that Earl, like all incoming Tigers, needed to make to fit into coach Pete Carril's notoriously rigid system, the freshman has succeeded in establishing himself as a player to watch in the Ivy League. The two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week's high school career was filled with accolades. A four-year starter for New Jersey powerhouse Shawnee High School, Earl was named first-team all-state after his senior year, when he averaged 22 points and 6 assists per contest. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Earl was able to team up with, and learn from, a player whose game Penn fans know well -- his older brother, Dan. The elder Earl is presently the starting point guard for No. 16 Penn State, who beat the Quakers at the December 9 Atlantic City Shootout, 88-61. "It helped me a lot to be able to go out every day and play someone I looked up to," the younger Earl said. Once his high school career ended, Earl quickly honed in on the type of college he desired. Despite being recruited by a number of programs with scholarships to offer, including his brother's Nittany Lions, the former state champion narrowed his choices to the aristocracy of Ancient Eight hoops -- Penn and Princeton. In the end, the prized guard preferred the semi-rural feel of Princeton to the urban setting of Penn. He also felt that the Tigers would be "more competitive as for long as I'm here" than the Quakers, who lost five starters after 1995 and will be without three more after 1996. "Brian's a fine young man, and I enjoyed the recruiting process with him and his family very much," said Penn coach Fran Dunphy, the loser in the Brian Earl sweepstakes. "We wish him the best luck in all but two games a year -- or hopefully three this year." In addition to the usual growing pains associated with the move to Division I college basketball, Earl has had the task of adapting to Princeton's traditional offensive system. If the numbers are any indication, he has succeeded in style. His scoring average of 10.3 points per game is impressive enough for a first-year player, but it gains increased stature within the context of Princeton's low-scoring approach. The Tigers are proudly second-to-last in the league in scoring. Earl has also avoided one problem that has plagued many a young star -- inconsistency. No Tiger has reached double-figures in scoring more often than Earl. "[The offensive scheme] is very strict, but when I'm open, I'm allowed to shoot," Earl said. "I'm still learning a lot about it. It takes a while for a freshman to jump into the system." In fact, there is only one game in all the 1995-96 season that can be regarded as a terrible disappointment. That was the Ivy League opener against Penn at Jadwin Gymnasium. In that contest, Earl managed got only four shots off as the Tigers lost their first and, to date, only league game of the season. "We've got to find a way to get Brian Earl 10 shots a game," Carril said after the January 6 encounter. Apparently Princeton has succeeded in that task. Earl's hot hand from outside has been a primary reason for the Tigers' 12 straight Ivy League wins. He is shooting treys at a 43 percent clip and his season total of 53 is a new freshman record at Princeton. Earl is also one of three names -- the others being Tim Hill of Harvard and Gary Raimondo of Columbia -- being seriously considered for Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Earl would stake his claim to that title if he makes amends for that off-day two months ago and leads the Tigers to the NCAA tournament tonight.