Virgin Islander and NBA superstar Tim Duncan is coming home for a visit - and he's bringing friends.

The world champion San Antonio Spurs will hold the team's 2005 training camp at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center on St. Thomas, UVI and Spurs officials announced on Thursday.

The Spurs will begin practicing on Oct. 4, and the camp will continue until the team departs St. Thomas on Oct. 13 to begin its preseason schedule. Daily practices will be closed to the public, but fans will be able to attend an intra-squad scrimmage to see Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Robert Horry and the rest of the Spurs in action.

"We've always thought about holding training camp in the Virgin Islands," general manager R.C. Buford said in a statement released by the Spurs. "It certainly is something that is very important to Tim Duncan. But we really think it'll be a great experience for the entire team."

The Spurs' training camp is expected to attract newspaper and television coverage from both San Antonio media and national news organizations to St. Thomas. The practices could also draw interest from media in Argentina, where native son Ginobili is revered much the same way Duncan is here.

"We are pleased and proud to host the Spurs," said UVI president LaVerne Ragster. "It is an absolutely wonderful honor, and we're happy to welcome back our own Tim Duncan."

For Duncan, it will be his first trip to the territory since winning his third NBA title and Finals MVP award in June. As far as triumphant homecomings go, this one should be about as dramatic as they get.

For a territory full of Tim Duncan fans, it will be the first - and perhaps only - chance to get a first-hand look at the 6-foot-11 Crucian in a Spurs uniform. In his eight-year NBA career, Duncan has become one of the most recognizable and honored basketball players in the world, winning two league Most Valuable Player awards and playing in seven All-Star Games.

But Duncan has not played a game in the Virgin Islands since turning pro.

"Speaking to Tim, he's very excited about the opportunity to come home," said Rashidi Clenance, Duncan's longtime friend and president of Sun Stroke Promotions on St. Croix. "He hasn't played ball in the Virgin Islands since he left for the NBA. He's always wanted in some way to come back home."

Clenance is in the process of preparing a travel package that will be made available for fans from St. Croix to attend the Spurs' scrimmage. Though details and final cost of the package have not yet been finalized, Clenance said there will be no charge for transportation to and from St. Thomas for St. Croix residents.

"Tim is going to foot the bill for the boat charter for people from St. Croix to come over," Clenance said. "He just wants to get as many people from St. Croix to St. Thomas to see this open scrimmage as possible."

The efforts of Duncan and Clenance were "instrumental" in bringing the Spurs to the territory, according to UVI athletic director Peter Sauer, who spent most of the summer hammering out the details of the deal with Buford.

The Spurs general manager first called in early July to follow up on a letter Sauer sent him shortly after the Spurs defeated the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals. Buford expressed interest in bringing the team's training camp to UVI - a response Sauer had been waiting to hear for nearly five years.

Sauer began efforts to bring an NBA training camp to the Sports and Fitness Center almost as soon as the facility was finished in 2001. San Antonio topped his wish list from the start.

"Anytime you have the chance to deal with an organization that has set the bar in the NBA at the highest level, it's a great thing to be able to host their training camp here at the University of the Virgin Islands," Sauer said.

Buford visited St. Thomas earlier this month to scout out the facility and begin negotiations. According to Sauer, Territorial Police Chief Novelle Francis and Internal Revenue Bureau director Louis Willis facilitated arrangements that will assure the Spurs of adequate security and transportation during their stay, and Buford was pleased by the pristine maintenance of the Sports and Fitness Center by Charles Martin and the UVI physical plant staff.

The success of UVI's annual Paradise Jam Division-I College Basketball Tournament also played a part in reassuring Buford.

"He heard how professionally we run events down here," Sauer said. "He checked with college coaches around the country about that."

Additional upgrades, including bringing pieces of the hardwood over from the Antilles School's Marin Center to expand the court at UVI, will also be made to accommodate the Spurs.

The Spurs will pick up the entire cost for bringing the team here - a much more expensive prospect than holding training camp in the San Antonio area. The financial burden is one the Spurs are obviously willing to bear for their franchise player.

"The Spurs are coming because Tim is from St. Croix," Clenance said. "It's unprecedented having an NBA team practice in the Virgin Islands, let alone the NBA champions. A lot of compromises had to be made for the Spurs to make this happen, but the Spurs were willing to make the sacrifice for Tim."

- Contact Michael Potter at 774-8772 ext. 310 or e-mail mpotter@dailynews.vi.