By CRAIG MUDER
Sports Editor
Observer-Dispatch

HAMILTON — Dave Hardy has been playing basketball at Colgate University for about a year and a half now.

Sure, someone resembling the 6-foot-2, 195-point point guard from West Chester, Pa., played for the Raiders during the 1999-2000 season. But that guy — a freshman who shot just 36.2 percent from the field and had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio — is long gone.

These days, Colgate’s point guard is a commanding floor general who ferociously protects the basketball, knocks down almost 50 percent of his shots and runs a Colgate offense that is averaging almost 78 points per game.

"It’s not possible to overstate how valuable Dave is to us at the point," said head coach Emmett Davis, who has his 6-2 Raiders off to their best start since the 1992-93 season. "At times you take him for granted because he’s so consistent.

"Dave’s a point guard who can score. There aren’t a lot of those guys around."

Hardy couldn’t score as a freshman, however, when he was thrust into Colgate’s starting lineup midway through the season. Hardy finished his first season with a 5.6 points-per-game average — and compounded that deficiency by committing 1.5 turnovers for every assist.

After that season, Hardy went immediately to Colgate’s weight room.

"Strength was the big key," said the articulate and thoughtful Hardy, who is an economics major at Colgate. "I was getting knocked around and I couldn’t get to the basket. So I hit the weight room and gained 15 pounds.

"At this level, you can’t rely on just speed. It was a tough adjustment, because the guys here are just stronger than they are in high school. But I got a lot of support from my dad (Dave Hardy Sr.) and my high school coach (Eric Anderson)."

The results were immediate. Hardy claimed the starting point guard job in fall practice last year and never relinquished it — starting all 28 games last year en route to 9.8 points per game and a Patriot League-best assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.85-to-1.

Still, there were problems. Hardy shot just 38.2 percent from the floor — and Colgate went just 13-15.

"Shooting is just repetition," said Hardy, whose team returns to action Friday against Dartmouth at Cotterell Court (7 p.m., WKXZ FM 93.9). "So I went back to basics. If I can hit the open shot, they have to guard me and leave the bigger guys open. That opens up our offense."

Hardy has hit the open shot this year — knocking down 48.3 percent of his shots through Colgate’s first eight games. His left-handed delivery still seems a bit unorthodox — with a pause during his stroke while he’s in the air — but the ball is going in the basket.

"I’m trying to get rid of that hitch, but — considering how I’ve shot this year — maybe I shouldn’t," said Hardy, a career 80.7 free throw shooter (including 90 percent this season) who has no such hitch in his free throw attempts. "It’s something I’d like to smooth out."

Davis isn’t so sure.

"I don’t want Dave to change a thing," said the fourth-year Raiders coach, who is just one win away from evening his career record at Colgate at 47-47. "We’ve got five guys with positive assist-to-turnover ratios this year (Pat Campolieta, Tim Sullivan, Bill Kern, Mark Linebaugh and Hardy) and I don’t think I’ve ever coached a team like that. A lot of that is a result of Dave distributing the ball correctly and running our offense.

"This team has a chance to make a run at the Patriot League title. We’re on the right track — and Dave has been a huge part of that."