After the men's basketball team beat Yale last Saturday, the two stars of the game - Chris Skrelja '09 and Damon Huffman '08 - gave interviews to two different reporters outside the locker room.
Huffman was in the middle of a sentence when he stopped abruptly. He stared at Skrelja.
"Dude, you are so loud," Huffman said. "I can't even hear myself think."
In a more recent interview, Skrelja insisted he's not normally a loud person. (He backed it up by giving a decidedly un-loud interview.) But on the court, Skrelja has been as vociferous as any of his teammates.
Running the Bears' offense as sort of a "point forward" or "point center," Skrelja is third in the Ivy League in assists per game (3.94) and rebounds per game (6.3). He averages 9.1 points a game, but has twice scored more than 20. Head Coach Craig Robinson has come to rely on Skrelja, who has played more minutes than anyone on the team besides Huffman.
The season has been a kind of validation for Skrelja. While he didn't exactly struggle in his first two years at Brown, he thought he would break out as a freshman.
Skrelja, the son of Albanian natives who moved to the United States in 1980, grew up in a suburb outside New York City. For two years, he attended Hastings High School in New York. He then transferred to Trinity Catholic, a basketball powerhouse in Stamford, Conn. There, he played with other future Division I basketball players, including Craig Austrie, now at Connecticut. and Mike Trimboli now at Vermont. Trinity Catholic won the state championship his junior year and was the runner-up a year later.
When Skrelja chose to attend Brown his senior year of high school, he had lofty expectations.
"I thought I would be one of the best freshmen in the league," he said.
But Skrelja disappointed himself with the way he played that season. He said he was "just young and immature (in terms of) playing basketball." He was also frustrated with the way he and his team, which finished 10-17 that season, were playing.
Adding to his unhappiness was his homesickness, which he said was so bad that he seriously considered transferring to a college closer to home. But his parents and an old coach urged him to stick to Brown, and he was ultimately convinced.
Though he averaged just 3.3 points per game and 2.6 rebounds per game, Skrelja showed flashes of brilliance on the court during his first season. His best game was at Harvard, when he led the Bears to a win with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. He sought to build on that over the summer, saying he spent "hours and hours" running, weightlifting and practicing basketball. He said it was the hardest he had ever worked.
His routine seemed to pay off. Robinson, who had just begun his first year at Brown, was immediately impressed after Skrelja's first individual workout. His teammates were impressed, too.
"At the beginning of the season," said guard Steve Gruber '10, "Chris was looking like he was going to be the man, the man on our team. He was just dominating."
Skrelja felt like he was playing at a level he never had. But as the days to the season opener at Michigan State drew closer, Skrelja felt a pain in his left foot. He tried to practice through the pain, but on the morning the team departed to Michigan, the pain became unbearable. He saw a doctor, who diagnosed Skrelja with a stress fracture in the foot.
Skrelja was out with the first injury of his career. After eight weeks, Skrelja's doctor said he could return to the court if he felt healthy.
So Skrelja did, playing against Rhode Island and Albany. He played poorly, shooting 3-for-21 against the teams. Then, the pain returned.
"I had just been so anxious on the sideline," he said. "I just thought, 'I couldn't wait to get back on the court.' "
So Skrelja was out for another four weeks, returning in time to play the entire Ivy League season. But he wasn't the same player he was before the season started.
"When you've been hurt," Robinson said, "you come back and you're on a totally different chronological clock than everyone is. You're always a step behind, even if you're in shape."
Playing in 21 games, Skrelja finished with a per-game average of 7.0 points and 3.9 rebounds. After the season, Robinson gave Skrelja a list of skills to work on over the summer. One of the items on that list: ball-handling.
Skrelja worked on that by playing a lot of one-on-one basketball. When Skrelja returned to Brown in the fall, he became the Bears' primary ball-handler, replacing the graduated Marcus Becker '07.
The 6-foot-6 Skrelja, who has almost always been a small forward, said it took him some time to get used to his new position. He made some bad turnovers in his first few games. But now, he said that running the offense is his favorite thing to do - besides rebounding, which he likes because "it's all about hustle and it really doesn't take any skill," he said.
Though Skrelja's take on rebounding may illustrate his all-out style of play, he also insists he has matured. A prime example: Jelani Floyd '11 has been sidelined for all but two games this season with a stress fracture. Skrelja's advice to Floyd? "Take your time," he said.
Robinson praised Skrelja for his leadership skills and his defense, which he thinks may be the team's best. The coach said Skrelja still needs some work on his jump shot. Skrelja had also been struggling with his free throws, but has felt more comfortable at the line since he started shooting them one-handed in December.
Robinson said he is particularly impressed by Skrelja's "insatiable appetite for learning, and that's on and off the court."
Outside basketball, Skrelja's teammates say he is outgoing and fun. Gruber, one of Skrelja's best friends, said the swingman loves watching reality TV, especially, "the trashy VH1 shows."
Studying economics, Skrelja isn't quite sure what he wants to do after he graduates. His dream is to play professional basketball in Italy or Spain after he graduates and then return to the United States to work on Wall Street, for a sports franchise or as a basketball coach.
"I'm still thinking about it," Skrelja said. "I change my mind every two weeks."
