Rural Banter

Author: ERICA GOODMAN

West Barnett, Vt. Population 1,670. The town's Lake Harvey is known as the place where Jacques Cousteau acquired a taste for underwater diving while vacationing there as a child. West Barnett's second claim to fame? Its basketball protégé, Taylor Coppenrath.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog. Coppenrath has taken FDR's words one-step further. He has shown that it's not the size of the doghouse either.

The 6' 9" senior forward at the University of Vermont (UVM), who comes from the tiny town, has left a huge impression on the world of Division I basketball. With teammates hailing from the suburbs of New York City to the nations of Cameroon and the Czech Republic, the shy giant has shown over the past four years that the size of the doghouse from where he hails makes no difference. His talent and the accomplishments of his team have uplifted the University. He has hoisted the spirits of small-town residents across the state, who see one of their own shining in the spotlight.

Now the American East division may not have the same reputation as the Big Ten or the ACC, but the Catamounts are surely putting this small New England state on the map of national college basketball. In 2003, the UVM Men's Basketball team, with Coppenrath helping to lead the way, made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament. The quiet young man from West Barnett will graduate this spring and will leave behind a legacy as the program's most decorated player. Although he is too modest to admit it, the big dog from the little doghouse is even being hounded by NBA suitors.

The cable channel ESPN2 recently took viewers behind the scenes of the Catamount men's basketball team. On a detour from Burlington, the camera followed Coppenrath and two of his teammates to the Vermonter's hometown. Cue twangy banjo, backwoods mountain music. I watched this episode of "The Season" with my teammates from the Middlebury women's basketball team. The girls watched silently in amazement as the television screen spanned split-level trailers, barren fields and streets quieter than Tombstone after the fight at the OK-Corral. "There is, like, nothing there!" someone exclaimed. True. It is hard to picture the second leading scorer in Division I Men's Basketball polishing his skills in such a quiet town where pick-up game competition was very limited.

Not bad for a boy from the sticks. Not bad at all.

(Should you care to observe Coppenrath's catapult jumper, UVM plays for the American East title on Saturday at 11:30 p.m.)