There is a point of contention in the Clancy family. Sam Jr. claims to have beaten his father in basketball for the first time when he was 15.

``If you ask him, he'll disagree,'' said Sam Jr. ``But that was the case.''

Sure enough, Sam Sr. begs to differ. He said his son didn't defeat him until he was a junior at Lakewood St. Edward High School, making him ``16 or 17.''

There is no disagreement as to the last time Clancy beat his son. It was two years ago when Sam Sr., now 43, made one final stand.

Clancy, a former defensive end for the Browns, is now quite content to watch his son play. Clancy Jr. is a senior forward at Southern Cal who likely will be a first-round pick in June's NBA Draft.

Should Clancy Jr. make the NBA, he'll be fulfilling a dream that eluded his father. Yes, Clancy had a solid NFL career with Seattle (1982-83), the Browns (1985-88) and Indianapolis (1989-93). But he would have traded it for a decade in the NBA.

``Basketball was his first love,'' said Clancy Jr. ``But he had to feed his family.''

Clancy, now defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints, was a rugged college basketball player at Pittsburgh. He was drafted by Phoenix in the third round of the 1981 NBA Draft, and was the last player cut in training camp.

Determined to make the NBA, Clancy joined the CBA's Billings (Mont.) Volcanos for the 1981-82 season. One could say the CBA is where Clancy really got a reputation for hitting hard.

In a late-season game, Montana forward Ronnie Valentine elbowed Clancy while going after a rebound. Valentine then mouthed off to the 6-foot-7, 265-pounder. Clancy decked him with one punch, sending Valentine to the hospital with a fractured cheekbone and earning Clancy a three-week suspension.

``I was a very physical player,'' Clancy said. ``(Valentine) elbowed the wrong guy. He got cocky and I cracked him.''

NFL scouts soon took notice. By the next fall, Clancy, who was a high-school football star in Pittsburgh but only played in a few spring practices at the University of Pittsburgh, was a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

Clancy ended up making four consecutive playoff appearances with the Browns. But that didn't mean he wanted his son in shoulder pads.

``I kind of led him into playing basketball,'' Clancy said. ``When he was 6 years old, and I was with the Browns, I remember limping home with ankle problems. I was thinking I didn't want that to happen to him. I'm real proud of how he's done in basketball.''

When Clancy Jr. plays, the only people getting banged up are USC's opponents. Clancy Jr. is averaging 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. In Thursday's 97-80 loss at Arizona, he had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Clancy Jr., whose long arms make him seem taller, threw down dunks all night long against the Wildcats. He was having a lot more fun than he would have had sitting on an NBA bench. Clancy Jr. was an early entry candidate for last year's draft before he withdrew to return to USC for his senior season.

``I thought I needed another year of seasoning,'' said Clancy Jr., who, being undersized for a power forward, needs to improve his outside shot and his ballhandling. ``My situation was a little different than most players. I'm financially set because of my parents, so there was no rush.''

Playing 11 seasons in the NFL has allowed Clancy, who divorced his son's mother in 1994, to provide well for Sam Jr. While Sam Jr. continued to live in Fairview with his mother, Anetta Harris, he remained close to his father.

The two talk on the phone about three times a week. Clancy has seen his son play in person only a few times, because he is so busy with football. But he catches nearly every game on television or listens on the Internet.

Clancy on Friday attended a game at St. Edward involving another son, Samario, a 6-4 junior who is averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds. With the football season over, Clancy is making preparations to see some USC games. Maybe he'll also find time for another one-on-one game against Sam Jr.

``He uses all those old-man tricks against me,'' said Clancy Jr. ``He's always getting physical. He's always telling me how much tougher he was as a player than me.''

That's not all bad. The elder Clancy sometimes thought he was playing football even when wearing a tank top.


Trivia time

Clancy was the second player the Suns drafted in 1981 since they didn't have a first-round pick. Name the future All-Star taken by Phoenix in the first round.


Short jumpers

Wanting to give experienced players plenty of playing time to see if they could get the Cavaliers into playoff contention, head coach John Lucas declared January ``veteran's month.'' It's become a vicious month. The hapless Cavs won their first game of the month, but have since lost nine in a row, with the average margin being 14.1 points. By the time February rolls around, expect Lucas to start taking long looks at rookies DeSagana Diop and Jeff Trepagnier. Ricky Davis, who becomes a free agent after the season, might get even more minutes. Veteran forward Tyrone Hill, due back soon from a back injury, presents an interesting dilemma since he's not part of the team's long-term future. But it would make sense to showcase Hill, whose contract expires after next season, for a possible trade.

Cavs forward Brian Skinner seems to be a conservative guy. He's well-spoken, using words such as ``docile'' in everyday conversation. But evidently Skinner has a wild side. He has a pierced tongue. ``I got it two years ago in California,'' he said. ``Why not?'' Skinner knows of no other Cav who wears such jewelry. Skinner keeps his piercing in during games, saying it presents no additional risk of injuring his tongue.

Denver rookie center Chris Anderson, a member of the Cavs' most recent summer-league team, had 17 points and nine rebounds last week at Utah. But don't blame the Cavs for giving up on Anderson. They saw some potential in Anderson, and he accepted an invitation to veteran's camp. But Anderson bolted at the last minute to Phoenix's camp. He eventually was waived by the Suns. The Nuggets signed him after a short stint in the NBDL.

Trivia answer


In the first round in 1981, Phoenix drafted Larry Nance, who went on to become one of the top players in Cavs history.