The Pit crowd tonight will be treated to two of the nation's best dunkers, childhood buddies Terry Black of Baylor and Wayland White of UNM.

By Edgar Thompson
Tribune reporter

     Talk about a quick first step.
     The minute he found out childhood chum Terry Black's Baylor Bears were coming to town, Lobo Wayland White reached for the phone.

Jennah Ward/Tribune Baylor's Terry Black, a childhood friend of the Lobos' Wayland White, could be an even more exciting player than White. A panel of Lobo observers recently voted White the best dunker in UNM history, but Black has been heralded as the best dunker in the country.

     It was time to do a little long-distance trash talking.
     "He was like, 'Get ready,'" Black said. "'I'm coming at you Wednesday.'"
     Black paused. "He told me about the game a half hour before I even knew."
     White's first step off the dribble usually is much quicker than his lip.
     This was different.
     When these Milwaukee natives square off at 10 tonight in The Pit during the first round of the National Invitation Tournament, it will be the first time they've met in a Division I setting.
     "It's a little, friendly thing, that's all," White said of his pre-game taunting. "It's not serious.
     "I'm excited," he added. "It's going to be the same old, same old."
     The reunion of White and Black is one of many subplots in a game featuring an ex-Lobo coaching staff facing a new regime, and an ex-Lobo player returning to his face some former teammates.
     But Dave Bliss vs. Fran Fraschilla or Greg Davis vs. Brian Smith pale in comparison to White vs. Black.
     White and Black could provide the kind of action-packed matchup worth the price of admission, and a place on anyone's highlight reels.
     Their last names might imply they're polar opposites, but the 6-foot-6, 210-pound White and the 6-5, 210-pound Black are mirror images.
     Fans of dunking should be treated to two of the premier high-wire acts in the college game.
     Black was voted the nation's top dunker in The Sporting News and will participate in the slam dunk contest at the Final Four. White was voted the best dunker in University of New Mexico history by seven longtime observers of Lobo basketball recently polled by The Tribune.
     "They're two of the most exciting basketball players in the country," said coach Dave Bliss, who recruited Black to Baylor and also made UNM's first contact with White when Bliss coached here.
     "I think from the moment the opening tip goes up, they'll be trying to outdo each other."
     White and Black caught each other's eye on the playgrounds of Milwaukee as ninth-graders.
     "Looking at him was like looking at me," Black recalls. "We're so similar what we do on the court -- our moves, our quickness, things like that."
     White and Black soon became close friends and a formidable duo at Milwaukee's Lincoln Park.
     But in organized settings, White and Black have always been pitted against each other.
     White attended Pulaski High School and Black went to Messmer. In summer leagues, no one put them together "because everyone thought we were too good," Black said.
     Then, when each went off to junior college, they ended up on rival teams -- White at Iowa Western and Black at Indian Hills, down the road in Ottumwa.
     Black was 4-0 vs. White in junior college and played for two national champions at Indian Hills. But White and Black aren't big on keeping score.
     "We try to encourage each other," White said. "I don't try to hurt his feelings, and he doesn't try to hurt mine."
     Black said: "With him it was never, 'Let's outdo each other.' It was always, "Let's do it together.'
     "But I'm going to go at him, just like he'll go at me. Neither of us will back down."
     Since White is forced to play power forward because of the Lobos' dearth of post players, he won't guard Black, who's a small forward.
     Even so, their paths are sure to cross the entire night.
     Black -- Baylor's inaugural All-Big 12 first-team member -- averages a team-high 15.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 steals. White is the only player in the country leading his conference in steals (1.96) and blocked shots (2.28 a game).
     But the energetic White has fouled out of three of the past five games, something his friend recognizes as an Achilles Heel.
     "He's a guy who's going to try to block everything," Black said. "His No. 1 problem is going to be foul trouble."
     As long as White and Black are on the court, expect plenty of fireworks. And, maybe, a shot or two fired over the bow.
     Black fired one on Monday when he claimed to be a better dunker, adding "I guess the pressure will be on him."
     White's response: "Whatever."
     All trash talking aside, White and Black say they cannot wait to step out on the court for what will the final college game for one of them and re-new their friendly rivalry.
     Just like they're back on the playgrounds in Milwaukee.
     "It's going to be something special for both me and Wayland," Black said.