By Pete Borello

Joe Hu/Town Crier Mike Dunleavy, speaking to youngsters at Foothill College last week, has played three seasons with the Golden State Warriors.

It turns out there is a way to silence a gym full of high-energy youngsters armed with leather basketballs and donning squeaky sneakers.

Bring in an NBA player.

It’s the morning of June 22 at Foothill College, and Mike Dunleavy is standing before - and well above - about 70 boys and girls, many of whom would probably test positive for sugary cereals. The forward is on the Los Altos Hills campus to speak at a youth basketball camp run by his Golden State Warriors.

The primarily preteen audience is hooked - even before Dunleavy spouts a single word. They’re quiet, attentive and curious about the 6-foot-9 man in the stripped polo shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers with no socks.

Dunleavy, 24, tells them about one of his early experiences as a basketball camper. He was a seventh-grader attending a camp in his native Texas. The celebrity speaker was a point guard from Santa Clara University. An unassuming guy named Steve Nash, who “not even in his wildest dreams could have imagined he would become the NBA’s MVP,” Dunleavy said. Nash accomplished the improbable this past season with the Phoenix Suns.

The low-key Dunleavy - who talked hoops with the campers for about 15 minutes, then took questions and signed autographs - hopes his appearance has the kind of lasting impression Nash’s did on him.

“I know when I was their age I enjoyed it,” he said afterward in an interview with the Town Crier. “It was a cool experience.”

Since the Warriors conduct weeklong camps throughout the summer (there will be 12 this year in nine Bay Area locations), the team can’t expect to have a player available for each one. Sometimes a member of the coaching staff stops by, or a former Warrior great (hall-of-fame center Nate Thurmond came to Foothill in 2003). But the team can always count on Dunleavy for at least one appearance per summer.

“It’s great working with kids and speaking to them,” he said. “I love the questions they ask.”

Dunleavy probably posed plenty of questions to the pros when he was young. He grew up around the NBA. His father, Mike Dunleavy, has coached in the league for more than 20 years.

The younger Dunleavy has been in the league for three years, selected by the Warriors with the third pick in the 2002 NBA draft. The former Duke University star has seen his playing time, scoring average and field-goal percentage increase each season. He started 79 games in 2004-05, averaging 13.4 points per game.

But he’s not even close to being satisfied. The offseason doesn’t mean time off for Dunleavy. He is sticking around the East Bay this summer to polish his skills, taking only a few weeks off to visit family on the East Coast. The 230-pound Dunleavy said he intends to “get stronger” through weight training and “work on my post-up shots and low-post game so I can use my size more to take advantage of smaller players” who often defend him.

“I’m trying to improve my game,” he said. “I want to come back next year as a better player and help the team get to the next level.”

The Warriors’ loyal-as-a-Labrador fans seem optimistic that the next level - making the playoffs after an 11-year lapse - is just a season away. Dunleavy admitted that “the expectations from everyone else are very high” after Golden State went 18-9 over the last two months of the season.

What will it take for the Warriors to meet those expectations?

“From start to finish, we want to have a solid season and play consistently - without any lulls and long losing streaks,” Dunleavy said. “If it happens, we’re looking at the playoffs, which is the ultimate goal.”

That goal probably won’t be realized without a healthy Baron Davis, the all-star point guard the team acquired in a March trade with the New Orleans Hornets. Although Davis’ injury history could rattle the nerves of even the boldest health-insurance provider (he missed 83 games over the past three seasons), Dunleavy is elated the Warriors snapped him up. Davis played through pain to spark Golden State’s late-season run and bonded with his teammates faster than Krazy Glue.

“It’s great to have a guy who knows the game, a point guard who distributes the ball well and controls the game,” Dunleavy said. “He’s a good guy off the court, and awesome on the court.”

The Warriors may also receive a lift from the 2005 NBA Draft, scheduled for last Tuesday (after the Town Crier went to press).

Dunleavy was confident that the Warriors’ brain trust - led by vice president Chris Mullin and general manager Rod Higgins - would pick the right players.

“We have three picks (Nos. 9, 40 and 42), and we obviously want to take players who can help the team,” Dunleavy said. “(The front office) has done a good job the last few years. Whether it’s an older player who can help us right away or a younger guy - I trust them.”

In 10 years or so, the Warriors might just draft one of the aspiring pros Dunleavy spoke to at Foothill last week. OK, so that’s a long shot; but it’s a good bet the campers of ‘05 will still recall the time they met an NBA player.

“When it comes down to it,” said Jason Perkins, who directs the Warriors camp with Jeff Addiego, “that’s what they’re going to remember most.”

For more information about the Warriors Basketball Camp, call (510) 986-5310 or visit www.warriors.com.