"Walk On"

 

Series 1: The Jaguars - Who Are They?
Interview # 3

By: Keenan Mann

 

I watched a documentary recently about Sam Bowie called Going Big.  For those unfamiliar with Sam’s story, I’ll summarize it by saying he was a great high school and college basketball player who would have probably been a great pro player as well.  But despite all the promise his basketball future seemed to hold, his two biggest claims to fame ended up being that he was picked ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft and that he broke his legs – a lot -  playing basketball.  I provided that background not because I intend to talk at length about Sam Bowie, but rather to set up a comment one of his college teammates, Dirk Minefield, made in the documentary.  It was in response to an apparent question about Bowie having been thrashed by Ralph Sampson in an elite high school all-star game that took place just prior to his entering college at the University of Kentucky.  Dirk said Sam actually benefitted from the experience of being outplayed by Sampson because he showed up on campus and “worked like a walk-on.”  Almost as soon as my brain had processed the words, I could visualize with absolute clarity what Dirk was describing because I had played a few years in college with a walk-on named Jarrod Dubose Schmitt. 

Those of you who’ve read the second interview (“41”) will recall Jarrod’s name as he was mentioned in one of Derek’s responses and also in one of my footnotes. This interview arose out of the notion that there might be a value in developing Jarrod’s story beyond a couple of passing comments.  So, after having absolutely no contact with one of my favorite teammates for 21 years, I reached out to Jarrod Dubose Schmitt to gauge his willingness to participate.  See the text of our virtual reunion below:

………………………………………………………………….

Me:  Is this “The” Jarrod Dubose Schmitt?

JDS:  Who is this?

Me:  This is one of the people who used to beat up on you at Christenberry Fieldhouse – long before it was called that.  Keenan

JDS:  SKINNY?!?

Note:  I think in the annals of nickname history there has never been a more appropriate one conferred.  My physical stature was in some ways quite a disadvantage (imagine being a 6’6”, 170 lb. freshman post player) and in some ways a huge blessing (imagine again being a 6’6” 170 lb. freshman post player).   But that’s another story for another time.  Suffice it to say that for four years I was called by that name at least as much as I was called ‘what my mama named me’.   Every time one of the guys from those days refers to me that way I break out in a broad grin.  Good times.

Me:  What’s up man?!!

JDS:  Oh, not much.  It’s only been what, twenty years?!?

Me:  Been a long time.  A lot of years.

Note:  That was a reference to a Sanford and Son episode which probably nobody will recall but me (and maybe Go-Go.  Still, it made me laugh.

Me:  Hey, I need a favor.

Note:  Up to this point the dialogue had been a rapid fire back and forth.  Then Jarrod went silent for a while.  So I figured he thought this favor was going to cost him something.

JDS:  You’re not trying to get me to join Amway are you?

Note:  Just like I figured!  I almost went into a fake Amway sales pitch just to see how uncomfortable I could make him, but I didn’t.

Me:  Naw man, I’ve been doing some interviews with past players and I want to make you a subject.  I need an email address so I can send you some questions.

JDS:  Ok.  I’m not going to be the white kid in the book that didn’t play much and kept the team GPA up am I?

JDS:  Oh wait!!!  I was!!

Me:  LOL!  Wait a minute now.  I put it down in the classroom too.

JDS:  You sure did, but I don’t recall Clint calling you out in practice like he did me!  Ruined any image I had managed to build.

Note:  Because it’s so easy to learn about almost anything on the internet, I can tell you that an English monk named Geoffrey Chaucer once said, “Many a truth is spoken in jest”.  Jarrod might have been kidding here, but only just.  I’m sure the pressure he felt to “fit in” was enormous and he might have even halfway interpreted being a good student as being uncool to some of us fellas. 

JDS:  Cannot tell you the thousands of stories that have been permanently burned on my brain.

JDS:  What line of work are you in?

Me:  I’m the B2B director for a large appliance manufacturer.

JDS:  You hiring?  I’m getting tired of these kids

Me:  Not right now, but you certainly could skip a couple of rounds of interviews if I were.

JDS:  I’m kidding about the job.  Education has been good to me. Guess who our basketball coach is?

Note:  I knew he was kidding.  But I wasn’t.

Me:  Who?

JDS:  None other than the former South Carolina standout and former Chicago Bull, JoJo English

Me:  No, really?  Does he remember we almost kicked their asses on opening night in the new gym?

JDS:  We revisit it almost daily.

Me: (Perhaps being too nosy):  Is he doing it for the love or does he need it?

JDS:  I’m not sure.  He played professionally for a good while.  He’s working on his teaching certification and has been coaching around the midlands for the last couple of years.  This is his first head coaching gig.

Me:  Basketball pays the bills for so few of us

JDS:  No kidding.  I gotta be at the games anyway, so I figured I’d take on the PA job and make a few extra bucks.  But I wouldn’t say it paid any bills.

Me:  What’s your day job?

JDS:  Believe it or not, I’m an assistant principal.

Me:  I believe it.  Anyway I’ll send the first round of questions soon and may have some follow up questions as well.

JDS:  I look forward to it.  Great hearing from you.

End of reunion and beginning of interview………………………………………………………………

 

ABR:  Did you play high school basketball; I mean where did you play high school basketball?

JDS:  I played at Grace Christian School, a very small private school in West Columbia, SC.  At the time, the only graduate to play at the college level could still be the case.

Note:  He completely missed the joke in the first part of the question.  I’ll do better. 

ABR:  Are you dunking yet?

JDS:  OUCH!!!! Much like you got offended about “putting it down in the classroom, too!” I am deeply hurt by that question.  Although, I only dunk donuts these days!  Students over the years have asked, “DuBose, can you dunk?” My response is always, “20 years and 40 pounds ago, yes!”

Note:  Bull’s-eye!  For the record, I do remember Jarrod dunking.  His offerings were never the prettiest sight, but in the technical sense, they met all the requirements to be thusly named.

ABR:  What made you decide to attend Augusta College? 

JDS:  My aunt was a long-time English professor at AC.  I decided to attend AC before I knew whether or not I was going to be able to play ball there.  I have in my head that I attended both Coach Bryant’s and G. White’s basketball camps the summer before my senior year in high school.

ABR:  Was it always your intent to try and play basketball?

JDS:  I like your phrasing of that question, “…to try and play…”  Yes, it was all I wanted to do.  As a freshman or sophomore in high school I decided that I was going to go to college, play basketball, major in Physical Education and coach basketball in high school and be able to tell my players what it took to make it to and at the next level. 

Note:  I actually wasn’t joking there. 

ABR:  What years did you play for AC?

JDS:  Well, play is a relative term!!!!  I was a team member from ’90-’93.  I ruptured a disc in my back mid-Junior year and did not play my senior year. 

ABR:  What was your major?

JDS:  Health and Physical Education with a minor in Education

ABR:  For the life of me I can’t remember how you were introduced to the team.  I mean, I vaguely remember Coach introducing you to us as Jarrod Dubose Schmitt (rather than Jarrod, or Jarrod Schmitt, or Schmitty or something like that), but I don’t recall the circumstances that brought about your joining the team.  We didn’t have tryouts, so how did that all go down?  And did you tell us to refer to you by all three names?

JDS:  As I stated in a previous question, I attended Coach Bryant’s and G. White’s camps and began talking with then assistant coach Ken Crapps, I think that was his name.  Anyway, he and I communicated a bit throughout my senior year and then I believe he left the program and Dip took his place.  I can’t remember if I talked to Dip or if my aunt did or what, but he (Dip) found my aunt on campus one day prior to the start of the school year and asked her if I was still planning on attending AC.  She told him yes, and he asked her to get me to come see him when I got there.  I found him as soon as I could that first day and he said that we started preseason conditioning that afternoon and to show up at so and so time.

As far as being introduced, I’m with you, that’s a little cloudy.  I’ll explain a bit more in a later question about that first day.

Now about the name, the great Cedric Hurst, one of my very favorite teammates, dubbed me Schmitty, which is what most people called my father.  I remember having to explain the three names about 5,000 times, but I highly doubt I asked anybody to refer to me as Jarrod DuBose-Schmitt.  Coach Bryant always lost the DuBose and it was simply, Jarrett Smitt, which if you check the spellings, gives it quite a different pronunciation. Big Rob Harris always called me Jahrod Double Shit, he thought that was quite clever!!!!

Note:  His name was Ken Crapps!  And if Cedric Hurst ever reads this or is reminded of that name he’ll hurt himself laughing about the time Coach Crapps made him make up his hotel bed before he left the room while he was in Augusta on his recruiting visit.  That, in my opinion, was one of the all-time funniest stories ever told over the four years I was there.

ABR: Did you know anything about any of us or any of the coaches before you walked in the gym that first day?

JDS:  I had met and worked with G. White at his camp, as previously stated, and I believe one or two of you worked either his or Coach B.’s camp.  So, yeah, I had a little info on the coaching staff and one or two of you guys.  I actually went to see AC play the Univ. of SC during my junior year in high school. 

ABR:  If you can still recall, describe how you felt walking in the gym for practice that first day.  Do you have any memories, good or bad?

JDS:  Oh boy, do I!!!  I remember what I was wearing!  I had on a pair of green Umbro shorts and a pseudo version of a polo shirt with a 4-H logo on it from the summer camp at which I had worked.  Now, mind you, we were simply running for an hour or so, but the looks from all of you guys… If I could redo that wardrobe choice, that might have helped with the team’s initial impression of me!!!!  It was during that practice that I became aware you guys were in a different league- without a basketball even being dribbled, passed, or shot.  It’s just one of those gut things.  I knew this was going to be a bumpy ride!!

Note:  I had forgotten this, but Jarrod did such a good job of describing what he had on that it all came back to me.  And I imagine we did give him some crazy looks kind of like we did guys who’d wanted to play pick-up with us wearing sweat pants, jeans, and even baseball caps.  As was customary, they’d say “I got downs”, and we’d either ignore them or tell them somebody else already had it.  Then we’d just ‘run it back’ once the current game ended, much to the dismay of the ill-dressed bystander.  Jarrod sure is lucky it was a conditioning day and not a pick-up day.  

ABR:  How long did it take for you to feel like a full-fledged member of the team?  Did you feel like it was harder to gain the respect of any particular teammates?

JDS:  What’s today? Friday? Then, today.  I feel like this makes me a full-fledged member.  Seriously though, I remember as we started that season, Coach B. was wrapping up a practice with us and we hadn’t yet played an official game, and he mentioned that we might have a traveling roster and that some may not make that roster, and that some would make that roster and what have you (Coach B. talk for those that know!!)  Well, as you may recall, we were on the road for 8 straight, I believe.  I was petrified that if I didn’t make the first travel roster, I’d be sitting in Augusta by myself for the months of November and December.  When that first game came and I was on the bus with you guys, I thought, maybe, just maybe I was okay. 

Note:  I can tell you when his acceptance day was.  It was the day after practice, in his sophomore year, when Ced (Cedric Hurst) announced that Jarrod had just cursed.  Took him a year and a half to utter a curse word and complete his initiation requirements!  Seriously though, the moment he joined us on the baseline to run sprints, he was one of us.

ABR:  Who on our team (besides you of course) do you think never really got the credit they deserved and why?

JDS:  First off, I don’t really think I deserve any type of credit.  I was just a dude trying to play and not very well most days!  I think that Gerald Daise is one that should’ve gotten more credit but not for his playing ability.  I, like Derek, was in constant amazement of Daisy’s range, but what many people didn’t really know was that Daisy was an awesome guy all the time!!!!!  I remember the team doing a media day for the community and when the little kids would go up to Daisy, he would engage them in a conversation, ask them about their school, what they wanted to be when they grew up, like Santa Claus.  He always had the most pleasant demeanor and always the biggest smile.  We lost a good one way too early. 

Note:  Two things.  First, I was kind of joking about Jarrod not getting credit.  We’ve gotta get in sync.  Second, amen on the Gerald Daise comments.  He was a great player and great person.  He died of cancer in November of 1997.  For all the fans of the movie Cooley High, “This is for the brothers who ain't here” – Cochise.

ABR:  You had a unique experience as a basketball player.  I mean if I were to use a military analogy, you were well drilled but didn’t see much live fire.  What or who comes to your mind first when you think about all those practices you went through?

JDS:  Buck Harris.  I think Buck made it his personal mission to try to get me to quit my freshman year.  As I have told many people many times, I spent more time on the floor that first season than I did upright on two feet.  Buck made a man out of me.  I always thought he just didn’t care for me, thought I didn’t belong, whatever, but he was toughening me up.  Later that season, I can’t remember if the season was over or not, but Buck wanted to know if I wanted to grab some lunch or supper.  My initial thought was, “Why me?”  Anyway, we went to Hooters and, in my mind, I had earned Buck’s respect.  He is the one teammate that helped me the most on the court because he didn’t take it easy on me.  He knew how to push you as a player to make you better; he certainly did that for me.    

Coach B. always had a practice schedule posted. While everyone was shooting around, warming up before we really got started, I’d run over there and check to see if any Vegas were on there.  God, I hated those. 

Note:  The Buck Harris theme continues.  And as for the ‘Vegas’ thing Jarrod referred to, they were cross court sprints.  We had to complete sixteen of them in 30 seconds or less.  And we ALL hated them.

ABR:  As you look back on all those practice days, do you think there was anything about those experiences that has been of lasting value to you?

JDS:  Getting through them.  In life, you will have many road blocks, speed bumps, and wrong turns.  I thought about hanging up the sneakers many, many times.  I look back and wonder how and why I stuck it out.  That persistence has been with me for over two decades.  

ABR:  Have you read the other interviews?  If so, what did you think?  And I’m not looking for your critique of the writing.  This is all practice for me, so mistakes will be made.  I want to know if anything in either of the interviews triggered any thoughts, memories or emotions from you.

JDS:  I did, and I thought they were fantastic!  I enjoyed the one with Brian simply because I heard all about him my freshman year, but unfortunately, never had the good fortune of playing with him.  The one with Derek brought back a flood of memories.  And just so he knows, no offense was taken on his comment about my jersey needing to be hung, too. I’m all for that; I’m gonna call Dip and Clint right now and get that process started. Seriously, I too, loved the notes!  (And tell our Hollywood friend that Don Cheadle is in House of Lies, not House of Cards- that’s Kevin Spacey and he talks to the audience as well.)  As I read them, I could picture who they were talking about and where they were talking about.  Everything was as if I was on campus at practice yesterday.   

ABR:  If you have read the other interviews, you will recall that I made reference to what you said to me as I pulled my jersey off for the last time.  Do you remember that?  If so, do you have any recollection of my response?

JDS:  I do remember that.  I remember knowing that it was important for me to tell you that and I was a little “iffy” as to whether that was a good time or not, but I knew that I wanted you to know that.  I believe that I shook your hand and the only thing that I recall you doing, and I hope I’m not making this up, was shaking it back and saying thanks.  Please, let me know what I’m leaving out.  

Note:  That sounds about right to me.  I was never a man of many words, and I was definitely at a loss at that particular point in time.

ABR:  I’m not trying to get you to stroke my ego but can you tell me what prompted you to say that to me?  As I said, I’ve never forgotten it and I doubt I ever will.

JDS:  Like I said, even at the end of the season, I still knew you guys were in another league.  I was always in awe of your ability, your work ethic, and your silent leadership, all of it.  One of my three favorite memories of you is when we were in the old gym, running the weave to get practice started and you came through the lane, caught a bounce pass and knocked it off of your shoes and dunked it behind your head.  Everybody stopped. Every jaw dropped. Coach B. finally yelled, “Let’s go, let’s go!”  I continue to tell that story; it was unbelievable to me that I was on the same team!  Your talent, drive and demeanor made a lasting impression on me. You were who I looked to when I wasn’t really sure how to act.  You wore leadership like a comfortable old shirt, not a freshly pressed suit.  I always admired everything about how you handled yourself on and off the court.  It truly is my honor and my privilege to call you a former teammate. 

Note:  Wow, for the second time in an interview.

 I was a kid then and I’m sure I didn’t really know what leadership was.  As far as what Jarrod observed though, all I was really trying to do was not embarrass myself or my family and not put Coach in the position of having to account for my actions or to regret his decision to offer me a scholarship.

ABR:  My recollection of you as a teammate was that you worked extremely hard and you always had a positive attitude.  Did you bring those habits with you to campus or did you pick them up while you were there?

JDS:  I believe that I have to give thanks to my parents for those attributes.  I remember winning the best attitude award my freshman year and my father couldn’t have been prouder.  He said that meant more to him than any athletic accomplishment.  The trophy is on my bookshelf in my office to this day.  My high school playing days taught me how to be a gracious loser!  We didn’t win a whole lot of games, but we lost with pride and left it all out on the floor. 

ABR:  Do you have any regrets about your playing days?

JDS:  I don’t know if I’d call it regret, I just wish I’d been a better player.  Other than that, I tell anyone that will listen that basketball took me all over the country to play all kinds of great teams with great guys.  Hard to beat that!

Note:  I think any basketball player who’s honest with himself wishes the same thing.  I know I do.

ABR:  If you could go back in time is there anything you would do differently?

JDS:  Besides the first wardrobe selection?  I probably wouldn’t sign up for that credit card in the CAC that day; that dang thing got me into all kinds of trouble!  Basketball wise, I don’t know, I would love to say that I would work out more or try harder, but that wasn’t me. I never possessed the drive that most, if not all, of you guys had/have.  I loved the game, I loved the team, and I loved the school.

Note:  Good advice on the credit card.  I also agree with him on the wardrobe thing.  The Umbro shorts and golf shirt thing was a bad scene.  As far as not possessing the drive, I’m not so sure about that.  I came across a few slacker teammates over my four years. One of them was so bad that we nicknamed him The Invisible Spann (for his last name and his frequent absence from practice or any activity that required breathing with your eyes open).  Jarrod was about as far from that guy as you can get.

ABR:  Imagine this:  You’ve been commissioned to write a book about how to succeed as a college basketball player.  The only constraint the publisher has given you is that the book can only be three chapters long.  Can you give me the titles for the three chapters? (Feel free to add as much context or color as you’d like)

JDS:  Um, why are you asking me that question? I might be commissioned to write a book about how to survive as a college basketball player!!! Now if that was the case, I think I can script the titles for the three chapters.

Chapter One – Preparation – For a guy like me, it needed to be more mental than physical.  I had to adjust from going from a big fish in a small pond to a minnow in the ocean!  You guys played more games your senior year in high school than I played in my high school career. 

Chapter Two – Know Your Role – I was a practice player.  I loved how you put in your note that I gave a 100% every time I stepped onto the practice floor.  That’s where I did my job.  Doc, Cliffy, and I always used to joke about me being a warm-up all American.  Doc would always ask me how many I got first half.  I loved that!!! Then it became a joke with me and one or two of the women’s team members. 

Chapter Three – Enjoy the Ride – I loved being a part of the team.  I loved being able to say that I was there!!  I love being able to recall the stories of playing against Georgia Tech, playing in the LA Sports Arena, and in all of the other great places that we got to go.   I love the memory of us being in the elevator at the hotel in Florida with members of the group of Alice in Chains going one way and Woody Harrelson going the other way.  Who gets to do that??  I did!

Note:  I might argue with his inferred assessment that he merely survived, but I won’t argue with those chapter titles or the context behind them.  By the way, John “Doc” Sullivan was the trainer and Cliff Pounds was the equipment manager.  They were both closet comedians too and we were all fair game.

ABR: The book is a smash hit now and you’re a famous author.  Your publisher fronts you the money for a second book.  He wants this one to also be 3 chapters long and he wants the title to be, “What Basketball Taught Me About Life”.  Can you give me the titles for those three chapters as well?

JDS:  Chapter One – Give It Your Best Shot – Again, I didn’t possess the skills that you guys did, so I had to work with what I had.  I tried to leave it all on the floor each and every day.

Chapter Two – Fake It ‘Til You Make It – Many, many, many times I thought I was done.  Whether it was a poor day on the practice floor or an injury or too much ribbing from teammates, I tried to make it-even if it meant faking it along the way.

Chapter Three - Be Thankful – Always, always be thankful for what you have or what you have been given.  Very few people ever get the opportunity to do what we did.  While I never got the playing time or athletic accolades, I was there, and I am thankful for every second. 

Note:  I think he could have sold the second book using the chapter titles from the first.

ABR:  You didn’t live in the apartments/dorms with the rest of the team.  Did that detract from your college experience in your estimation?

JDS:  I don’t think it did.  I lived with my aunt over in North Augusta.  I think the only issue was getting up a bit earlier to get to those 6 a.m. practices!!!  I don’t think it took away from my experience.

Note:  Six in the morning, G. White at my door.  I had forgotten about that.

ABR:  In the best game you had as a college player, what was your stat line?

JDS:  I had to think about this and do a bit of research because I feel that you might actually have it!  Most of my stat lines read DNP!!!  Not sure what the line would read but it would probably be 2 for 2 FG, 2 rebounds, and a possible assist.

Note:  I didn’t know this.  And I honestly don’t know what mine was either.

ABR:  I’m looking for you to say one of two names here.  Did you think any of your teammates were just a little crazy (for real)?

JDS:  Big Rob Harris and J-Boogie!!!  I loved them both, but Rob could be out there and Jermaine was well, just Jermaine!!

Note:  He picked two pretty good ones.  I’ll just leave it at that, although I was looking for one name to be different.  I think I’ll re-load that question with someone else.

ABR:  You mentioned you had a thousand stories burned in your head.  Give one or two of your favorites.

JDS:  The first we chatted about over text.  It was my freshman year.  We had just finished the first academic quarter and Coach B. gathered us up at the start of practice, like always, and he proclaimed that he had good news!!  No one was on academic probation.  There were several teammates that let out obvious sighs of relief.  Then, Coach B. states that we have one young man on the Dean’s List.  If I could’ve crawled under the bleachers, I would have!!  Mr. Jarrett Smitt!!  All eyes turned to me and I just gave a little wave.  We went on to shoot 1 and 1 plus 1s and my partner was Johnny Mize.  Johnny kept looking at me while we were shooting and I said, “What?”  He responded with, “Damn, you must be smart as hell!”

The second was after a practice that we had on MLK day in the new gym.  Coach B. wrapped up practice a little early and had us all sitting on the bleachers and talking to us about the significance of the day.  Now mind you, I happened to be the only white member of the team that year, and towards the end of his speech, he said and I believe this is verbatim, “And…Jarrett Smitt, is getting a hell of an experience, not because you guys are black and he’s white, but….but….because he’s a hell of a person!”  Cannot tell you how many of you guys gave me crap about that!!!

Note:  I was all ready to laugh until I got to the hell of a person part.  Very true.  It’s also very true that Coach could screw up a name.  Smitt?!

ABR:  What do you miss about your playing days?

JDS:  All of it!!! The free shoes, the free food, the free trips, the team atmosphere, being a cog in a larger mechanism.  It’s hard to say, just all of it!

Note:  That’s pretty much how everybody has answered that question. 

ABR:  Do you keep up with any of the guys?

JDS:  I have kept up with David Butler aka Butt/Butter.  We have stayed in touch over the years.  As a matter of fact, we worked together at camp one summer and I actually introduced him to his wife!!  Big Rob and I reconnected via Facebook in the last couple of years along with Bernard Pettiford.  Derek and I also chatted via Facebook as well.  Derek and Keisha actually lived in the same apartment complex as I did in Columbia a few years after school, you know, prior to Hollywood!  I went to see ASU play Francis Marion a few years ago and I got to see J-Boogie who was also at the game.

Note:  David Butler was the first white guy I knew with “hops”.  And I mean “HOPS”!  His dunks, unlike Jarrod’s, far exceeded the standards.  He was also hell of a teammate and a good guy.  It makes perfect sense to me that those two stayed in touch. 

ABR:  Was it always your intention to get into education?

JDS:  Yes, although it took quite a while for me to get there.  I finished my degree in ’94 and didn’t start teaching until ’02.  I held various jobs in different fields for eight years until my mother informed me that I probably needed to stop circling the runway and actually land the plane!

ABR:  I know you could tell me some stories about work that would make me shake my head.  If you could change one thing about the way public schools are run, what would it be?  And if that’s too hard to answer, give me two things.

JDS:  The main source of all issues is usually money!!!  Funding public education has always been a source of contention.  If we had more teachers, more supplies, more programs, etc, etc.  It would be great if educators weren’t spread so thin.  We also have federal and state mandates that come down the line that have to be implemented, usually without funding.  We are mandated to do things that are usually burdened upon the district or the schools to fund.  That makes day to day operations tough. 

Note:  Okay, I could argue that here, but I won’t.  Perhaps Jarrod might help me “unpack” that answer in a separate interview/forum someday.

ABR:  You don’t have any kids that are movie stars do you?

JDS:  Not yet!!! But I’m gonna get D-Mak’s book and see if I can make that happen.  Between my wife and me, we have 9.  Yes, 9!  So, we could probably have a reality show!  I’m gonna start shopping that idea!

Note:  I’m almost certain Jarrod messed up Derek’s nickname.  If he has, I’ll let number 41 even the score since Jarrod publicly corrected him as well.

ABR:  I think a few of your old teammates will read this and all of your old coaches (except maybe Crapps).  Is there anything you want to say to any of them?

JDS:  I want to thank Coach B and Dip for sticking with me.  He used to tell Dip, “That Jarrett, ain’t no punk!”  I would also like to thank David Butler for getting me through my freshman year.  Although, I only had that one year with him, he was instrumental in helping me get through the bumpy ride.  He has been a dear friend over the years.  Again, I would like to thank Buck Harris for making a man outta me!  All you guys have a special place in my heart and memories.  I already expressed my gratitude to you earlier in the questions!

Note:  I can hear Coach saying that, as I bet many of my former teammates can.  All you had to do was play hard and get up when somebody knocked you down for him to make that declaration.  He said that a lot about Jarrod and he was right.

End of interview…………………………………

I said in the opening paragraph that, because I knew Jarrod, I could immediately visualize what Dirk Minefield was talking about when he commented on how hard Sam Bowie worked when he came to campus.  But what hadn’t occurred to me until now was that working in that manner was just as much a necessity for Sam (the superstar) as it was for me (the marginal player lucky enough to get a scholarship) and Jarrod (the true walk on). Success as college athletes required us all to have the mentality of a walk on.  I think it follows logically that success beyond college, after we hang up the sneakers and “get on with it”, requires the same mentality.  There are always going to be ‘Ralph Sampsons’ waiting with humbling lessons for us.  Whether those lessons send us cowering or strengthen our resolve to succeed, in my opinion, will be determined by whether we consider ourselves among the scholarship-entitled of the world or among the walk-ons.  So, I guess if I were Jarrod’s book publisher, I might suggest to him a fourth chapter for either his first or second effort titled, “No Matter What Team You Find Yourself On and No Matter How You Got There, Work Like a Walk-On”

 

Augusta Basketball Report

"41"

Series 1:   The Jaguars - Who Are They?
Interview # 2

By: Keenan Mann

I had a few people in mind for the second interview in this series.  I ended up choosing Derek Stewart (1989-1993), the second all-time leading scorer in school history.  I decided to make him the subject because Brian’s reference to him in the last interview reminded me of our own special connection.  As uncool as this may sound, I’m going to describe that connection using the X-Men comic books.  For the uninitiated, the X-Men were superheroes.  They all had some kind of special mutant super power.  In a way, we basketball players were kind of the same, minus the spandex and masks, in that most of us had a special skill that we brought to the team.  I was different in that I didn’t really bring anything unique to the table.  Derek, on the other hand, brought several specialized skills with him.  As any reader of the comics will know, a certain member of the X-Men team, Calvin Rankin (AKA Mimic for the real X-Men nerds like me and John Walker), had the power to imitate the abilities of others for a short period of time.  Mimic’s quest (mine too secretly) was to make the powers that he copied from his teammates permanent.  He never achieved that goal.   I didn’t either, but I sure did spend lots of time copying Derek and trying to make his skills my own.  Again I never succeeded in my quest for permanency, but my failure, in that context, didn’t turn out so badly either.

Derek was one year younger than I, but physically I always felt like he was a couple of years ahead (except for in the weight room where he made me look like Mr. Universe by comparison).  He had a touch on his jump shot, had really developed post moves, and had such leg strength that he could bounce up and down for dunks, blocks, and rebounds with seeming effortlessness.  He actually led the nation (NCAA Division 1) in blocked shots one season and re-wrote the blocked shot record books for our school.

By the way, he did get a lot stronger in the weight room over his career, but he never passed me there like he did in almost EVERY other category for which records are kept.  And speaking of records, Jack Nicklaus, the world’s greatest golfer by total major victories, once said of Tiger Woods, ‘If I had known Tiger Woods was coming along, I might have worked a little harder’ (to protect his records).  In my case, if I had known Derek was coming along, there really wouldn’t have been much I could have done about it.  So it was a fitting end to my short reign as the school’s all-time leading scorer that I would present Derek with the game ball on the night he moved me (briefly) to second place.

To get the interview process started, I reached Derek via text message.  Here’s our initial conversation (please excuse the slang.  I can’t resist talking like that with old friends like Derek. It kind of takes me all the way back to that time, which is fun):

 Me:  What up man, this is Keenan.  I’m working on some interview questions that I need you to answer for me when I get them all polished up.  Give me an email address I can send them to.

Derek:  What up Skinny?  D…….@yahoo.com

Me:  Not a whole lot man.  Almost finished writing this screenplay and about to start shoppin’ it.  Please listen to my demo. 

Note:  Every time I’ve talked to Derek since he went Hollywood on us, I've made some reference to him helping me break into the business.  "Please Listen To My Demo" was an underground hit by a semi underground rap group called EPMD.  The reference will crack up most Jags from our era.

Derek:  Lol!

Note:  See, told you.

Me:  Seriously man you’re the second person on my interview list.  I’m working on the questions now, but I gotta tell you, Schmall set the bar way up there.  Go check out the one I did with him at augustabasketball.com.  The Clint breakfast thing between you and Brian had me choking.  I had forgotten all about that. 

Derek:  (after about 10 min) Which one is it?  Never mind, found it.

Me (after about 30 min, anxious to get his reaction):  What did you think?

Derek:  Just finished reading it.  Wow, that was GREAT!  Alright, I’m ready for my questions now.  Don’t lob me no soft ball either!

Me:  LOL.  Cool.

Me (After a few days):  You haven’t forgotten to take a look at my questions have you?

DS:  I’m actually working on them now.

Me:  Cool, I have one or two more that I forgot to ask and your answers may lead to a few more.

DS:  Ok, send them to me.  These were great questions by the way.  I knew the jersey question was coming, and I’m glad it did.  It’s time to get that stuff off my chest.

Me:  Thanks, I tried to fulfill your request about not lobbing softballs, so I only asked a few of those for people who don’t know anything about you.

Me:  And I know you got the battery reference right?

DS:  “D” (expletive)  “D”!                    

Me:  Lol!!!!!!!!!!

End of text exchange…………………….

So I polished up the questions as I had indicated and sent them off to my old teammate.

ME:  (Before switching into reporter mode and not being able to resist pointing out the only time I “got” Derek) Do you remember that time I dunked on you when Jay Boogie was down here on his recruiting trip?  My forearm hurt for weeks!

DS: LOL…that would be your first question, huh? Yeah, I remember. It was a challenge. You know I tried to block everything back then!

ABR:  Which Augusta College coach was the first to visit you?

DS: Gerald White

ABR:  Had you ever heard of Augusta College?

DS: Nope. Hadn’t even heard of Augusta.

ABR:  What high school did you attend?

DS: Bradwell Institute in Hinesville, Ga.

ABR:  Who else was recruiting you?

DS: I had a partial scholarship offer from Ga. Southern, and full scholarship offers from Armstrong St., and Western Carolina.

ABR:  I remember picking you up or hanging out with you while you were on your recruiting trip, but I honestly don’t remember what we did.  I was probably the worst guy to show a recruit around, which I’m sure you would agree with.  Nonetheless, you signed with us.  Why?

DS: I would have to agree with you on that one Skinny…you were THE WORST guy to show a recruit around! LOL. If I’m not mistaken, you picked me up from the hotel, we went to Coach B’s house and ate and watched an NCAA Tourney game, and you dropped me off at the hotel.

But in spite of that, I saw the beginnings of something when I went on my official visit. Coach Bryant spoke to me about being a part of the foundation that would turn that program around and I wanted to be a part of that. I was also excited about playing with you and Brian. Gerald would send me some of your game tapes when he was recruiting me and I just felt like you were the kind of guys I wanted to play with, guys who were competitive and hungry.

ABR:  Our readers will already know about the condition of our facilities. What did you think and why didn’t that deter you from coming to Augusta?

DS: Because the new gym was already being built. That played a big part. Being able to see the beginnings of what College Station and the Sports Complex would become made me want to be a part of it.

ABR:  Where were you born? 

DS: Syracuse, New York

 Note:  I asked this question intending to tease Derek a bit.  Back then, because of the huge influence of the hip hop culture born in New York, it was cool to be from anywhere up there.  Derek and Jay Boogie used to proudly proclaim their New York heritage while we all joked about them really being from Hinesville, GA and Bennetsville, SC.  But times have changed now and it’s just as cool, if not cooler, to be from the Deep South.  Those two still can’t lose!

ABR:  If you had it to do all over again, what would you change, if anything, about anything (school, team dynamics, etc.)?

DS: Those shorts we wore my freshman year! I’m still recovering from the psychological damage wearing those shorts caused! But seriously, I don’t know if there’s anything I would change. It was such a great experience for me both on and off the court.  Not to say that it was always perfect but whenever I think back to that time, I never find myself saying, “I wish…”

Note:  This was just about the time that basketball shorts started to lengthen.  Coach Bryant may not have been as fashion conscious as we were at the time or maybe a uniform refresh just wasn’t in the budget that year. Either way, the shorts were definitely bucking the new trend (in the wrong direction).  And they were even worse my freshman year.

ABR:  Give me your all-era fantasy Jaguar basketball team.  You can have a starting five and two subs.  Elaborate as much or as little as you would like on your selections.

DS: Well, with respect to those who didn’t make the list:

1.     Brain Schmall-best PG I’ve ever played with.

2.     Gerald Daise-range was when he stepped into the gym.

3.     Keenan Mann- The Batman to my Robin

4.     AJ Bowman-maybe the best Jag ever

5.     Derek Stewart-

6.      Buck Harris-I need an unselfish player who can guard, and play, all positions.

7.     William Adair-low post scoring machine

Note:  I’d take that squad anywhere and feel good about my chances!  Also, there’s a pattern developing with Buck Harris.  Guys who didn’t play with him wanted to and guys who played with him wanted to play with him more.  (Buck, put your thinking cap on, we may be coming for you soon!) 

ABR:  As a player at AC, what was the highest point in your career?  What was the lowest?

DS: The highest point for me is easy. My sophomore year.  Period.  We came off of a year (the year before) where we were the laughingstock of the Big South. Finished last my freshman year and then picked to finish last my sophomore year. We were on a mission as a team from day one to prove that we were better than that. Do you remember that? We finished in 2^nd place and lost in the conference tournament championship. That was a great ride.

Note:  Yes I do, and yes it was.

I would have to say that the low point was losing to Georgia College in the first round of the PBAC Tournament my junior year. We had a lot of expectations for our team that year and to go out like that…that loss still bothers me to this day.

 Note:  Me too.  I was stunned at how quickly it all ended.  I felt sure we had a few more games left.

ABR:  Do you remember the bus trip during which you introduced the team to Jay Boogie?  Who came up with that name?

DS: Lol…that story is an example of what made my time at AC so memorable. We had great times together. We were on a road trip somewhere in NC. After practice, we’re on the bus on the way to dinner and Jermaine (Jay Boogie) Henegan and Johnny (I Save My Per Diem) Mize were having a freestyle rap battle. Coach B told them to come do it over the loud speaker on the bus. Jay wanted me to introduce him so I got on the mic…”Ladies and gentleman, straight from the streets of Brooklyn, NY…my main man…Jaaaayyyy Boogie!” The legend was born. I have no idea where it came from. Just off the top of my head. He was known as Boogie from then on. I created a monster.

ABR:  You were a pretty competitive guy.  Did you have any secret competitions going on with any of your teammates?

DS: Well, you probably weren’t aware of this but I would say that I had sort of a friendly competition going on with you. We were teammates and at the end of the day, all I wanted to do was win. But I also wanted to be the best. You were great and I looked up to you. I challenged myself to be better than you when my career was over.

Note:  This was a loaded question.  I was fully aware of the competition because I was in it as well.  I was wondering whether Derek would open up about it, so I think it’s pretty cool that he did.  I feel the same way he did about it - it was always friendly.  And I think I got better faster than I would have if Derek had not shown up on campus my sophomore year.

ABR:  Spike Lee made a movie called Do the Right Thing when we were in college.  For a while, it became a bit of a sport for us to quote some of the movie’s funnier lines.  One of my favorites (and I think yours too), which I’ll only hint at here, involved an exchange between ‘Radio Raheem’ and a convenience store clerk about some batteries he was trying to purchase.  But that was just funny.  One of the more thematic quotes from the movie was uttered by a character named ‘Buggin Out’ (who would also go on to play ‘Gus Fring’ in Breaking Bad).  He was sitting in Sal’s pizzeria looking at all the pictures in the restaurant and asked Sal “How come there ain’t no brothers up there on the wall?”  Any true long-time Jaguar fan who has visited Christenberry Field House since your departure must be struck with a similar question.  So, how come there ain’t no number 41 up there on the wall?  And how do you feel about that?

DS: In all honesty, it hurts. For the first few years after I left school, it didn’t bother me. My playing career was still moving forward so I wasn’t really thinking about what I had done, only what I was trying to do. At the time, I honestly didn’t care one way or the other. But as we get older, we begin to reflect on our lives and the things we’ve accomplished.

I believe that I made a SIGNIFICANT contribution to that program and that there is no way anyone can justify my number not being retired. I left as the all-time leading scorer and shot blocker, holding every shot blocking record that existed.  I was a three time all-conference selection, conference player of the year as a senior and a Div.II  All South Region First Team selection. I’m not sure what else I could have done do qualify for that honor.

I’ve been told that the reason it hasn’t been done is because they “Don’t retire the jerseys of players who don’t graduate.” I respectfully disagree with that position. I’m not downplaying the importance of obtaining a degree, but if a person’s athletic jersey is being retired, it’s for what they did on the field of play. It has nothing to do with what goes on in the classroom. If that’s the case, then Jarrod Dubose-Schmitt should have his jersey up there as well.

Having said all that, it is what it is. Whether my jersey is hanging on the wall or not, I did what I did. No one can erase that and the people who matter most (the guys I played with) will always remember. I have had (and continue to have) an amazing life and if not having my jersey retired is the worst thing that happens to me in my lifetime, I’m cool with that.

Note:  Jarrod Dubose-Schmitt was a walk-on who we all loved being around.  He was never going to win any awards for his prowess as a basketball player, but he gave 100 percent of what he had every time he stepped on the practice floor.  There are only two memories I have from the locker room after my final game in a Jaguar uniform.  The first is of Coach Bryant silently walking in and giving me a big bear hug.  He turned and walked away without saying a word.  We were both fighting back tears.  The second is of Jarrod Dubose-Schmitt.  While we were both still wearing our uniforms, he walked up to me and said “It was an honor and a privilege to have played with you.”  I’m sure I’ll always remember that and I just thought I’d share that about the guy to help keep Derek’s remark in context.  We all respected the hell out of Jarrod Dubose-Schmitt, who we always called by his full name for some strange reason.

Front row from left to right:  Buck Harris, Keith Harrison, Gerald Daise, Johnny Mize, William Lester, Cedric Hurst, Jermaine Henegan; Back Row from left to right:  Kareem Kenney, Kevin Mitchell, Larry Blakeney, Jake Middleton, Derek Stewart, Jarrod Dubose-Schmitt, Bernard Pettiford, Keenan Mann

ABR:  Has the issue strained your relationship with Coach Bryant?

DS: I think it has. I mean I speak to him from time to time and always make sure I see him whenever I’m in town. But I certainly think we would be closer if there wasn’t this “thing” between us.

ABR:  Do you regret anything you might have done or said to Coach or anyone else regarding this subject?

DS: I don’t. Whatever I’ve said to anyone regarding this issue came from the heart. It’s how I feel and I think I’m entitled to that.

ABR:  We had a very good team for your sophomore and my junior year.  There’s no question in my mind we could have won the Big South tournament and gone on to play in the NCAA tournament against Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers that year.  Why do you think we came up a short?

DS: I think we were just learning how to be a good team. We had done a complete 180 in just that one season…going from (literally) the bottom of the league to (literally) the top. We certainly had the talent to accomplish those things but we just weren’t ready yet.

Note:  I agree with Derek’s point about learning how to be a good team.  The fact that Derek and I both wanted to be the best probably helped us and hurt us.  We probably weren’t as deferential to each other as we could have or should have been at certain times.  Too bad we can’t put our forty-plus year old minds back into our 20 year old bodies.  It wouldn’t even have been fair!  Besides that, we drew the short straw as far as scheduling went for the conference tournament.  We played the late game on Saturday night and didn’t get back to our rooms until after midnight.  Then we had a shoot-around at 9am for a 12PM tip off – all because the game was televised on ESPN as a part of Championship Week.  I still believe if that game had been at 7 PM we would have won.

ABR:  You’ve just fouled out.  The Jags are down two points with 10 seconds to go.  Of all the guys you played with, who do you want to take the shot – and be honest.

DS: Keenan Mann

 Note:  Wow.

ABR:  You played pro ball for a while.  How long and where?  Why did you stop playing?

DS: I played from 93-94 thru 2000-2001, playing on teams in Germany, France, Israel, and China during that time. At the time I retired, I had been contemplating it for a couple of years. It was a great experience living abroad and getting paid to play the game I loved but I sacrificed a lot as well. Being away from home for so long starts to take its toll after a while and the game becomes more of a job.

My oldest son was born in the summer of 1998. He and my wife Keisha spent the 98-99 season with me in France but they stayed home the following season. Being away from him for so long made me rethink my priorities. I was missing time with him that I would never get back. I felt like I had been blessed to play the game that I loved for as long as I did and that it was time to start the next chapter of my life.

ABR:  Back when we were in school, Ice Cube was one of the guys on top of the rap game.  I remember his Death Certificate album being in pretty heavy rotation in the locker room.  We were all fans.  Now you know the guy personally!  How in the world did that happen?

DS: It’s crazy man! I’ve actually said the same thing to Coy. That my college teammates and I loved Ice Cube in college and now you’re working for him! Well…

Coy is my oldest son (15). Back in the summer of 2008, we were looking for a summer activity for him and signed him up for acting classes at an agency in Columbia, SC where we lived at the time. He came out of the first class and said that he loved it so we thought, “Great, this will be something for him to do for the summer.” Turns out that he was a natural and before we knew it we were taking him back and forth to NY for auditions. In the fall of 2009 he booked a play (A Raisin in the Sun) at a regional theater in Weston, VT. We moved to Vermont for two months so that he could do that. A few weeks after we returned to Columbia, his agent in NY wanted us to bring him back up to audition for another play, this time on Broadway. While we were on our way, he (Ice Cube) called and said that there was a casting call for a new sitcom called Are We There Yet that would broadcast on TBS. He said that it would be a long shot because Coy was an unknown kid but since we were going to be in town, why not. The rest, as they say, is history.

ABR:  I actually knew the answer to that question, but I thought asking it again here would be a good segue into what you’re into now.  Your son Coy is a very successful actor.  I remember the first time I ever saw him, I knew he’d be a famous actor!  I’m kidding.  Really the first time I saw him you were pushing him in a stroller on the sidewalk outside the Warren Road gym.  The next time I saw him was on national TV.  That wasn’t the plan was it?

DS: Of course it was! Nah, no one can plan anything like that. The only thing Keisha and I did was try and introduce him to as much as we could when he was younger. We always let him know that we loved and supported him and that he could do anything he wanted. The only limits are those he puts on himself. When he said that he wanted to be an actor, I said that we would support him as long as he understood two things: 1) School comes first. If his grades started to slip, we would shut the acting thing down. 2) We would be as dedicated to it as he was. If he didn’t take it seriously, we wouldn’t either.

ABR:  Remember the last time you came down for an alumni gathering?  We were both injured (trying to get in shape) and you said something like ‘Skinny, it’s over man, we can’t do it any more…’ and I agreed.  Are you okay with it?  How do you fill the competitive void now?

DS: You know what Skinny? I’m not. I hate to admit it, but I’m not. I wish that I could say that I enjoyed it while it lasted and I’m ok with being older and moving on. But the truth is, I wish I could do it forever.

As for filling that competitive void, I think that it has a lot to do with what I’m doing now. When Coy started acting, he basically pulled our entire family into the business. With him being a minor, he always had to have a parent present with everything he did. Once I realized that our circumstances had changed, I had to figure out what my purpose was in this new “world” we were in. I couldn’t be one of those parents who just sit around on set waiting for their child to finish working. I had to have my own thing. So, I wrote and published a book chronicling our journey into the entertainment business and I am currently in film school studying to be a filmmaker. My goal is to put us in a position to produce our own projects.

This is a very competitive industry and it’s a challenge for me. I approach it with the same mindset that I did when I played basketball- work my butt off and try to accomplish what many think I can’t.

ABR:  What advice would you offer to the current Jag or non-Jag college student for that matter about how to approach planning out the next 15 to 20 years?

DS: Figure out what it is that you love to do, then figure out how to make a living doing it.

Note:  That’s a powerful sentence.  Amen to that.

ABR:  Brian Schmall says you guys still imitate Coach Bryant every time you talk.  You got any funny stories you want to share?

DS: Well, aside from “Breakfast is mandatory, and when I say breakfast is mandatory, that’s what the hell I mean!”, there are quite a few stories but none that I can share in public. You know the saying, what goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room. Although I’ll never forget the face he made when we put hot sauce in his sweet tea while we were eating at Horne’s in Florence, SC.

Note:  The place we were eating at was actually a restaurant that Coach Bryant always insisted on stopping at called the Thunderbird Inn.  The fare was very similar to Horne’s though and many of the players began to refer to it as Thunderhorne’s.

 ABR:  This is becoming my favorite question.  If you had to produce an episode of “Unsung” about your time as a Jaguar, who would be the subject?

DS: It would have to be J Boogie. He had talent and an engine that didn’t stop. To this day I still ask myself from time to time, “What happened?”

Note:  Jermaine had a way of getting everybody on the floor to turn it up another notch when they might have otherwise started coasting.  He did all the dirty work and enjoyed it.  Aside from the occasional overzealousness on defense, which would leave him out of position and us exposed, he was exemplary of the kind of guy you wanted to go to battle with.  Thats stands in stark contrast to his off the court persona in that he never worked hard on the academic side.  He never did the dirty work of staying up past midnight studying for a test.  But he did always know where the party was and he was always able to convince a few people to tag along when they might have otherwise stayed home and used the time more constructively, even if it was just to get some rest.  So the answer to what happened to Jermaine is actually pretty simple – the inevitable.  He became academically ineligible in the spring of his junior year (Derek’s senior year) and his college playing days were over.

ABR:  If you had to point to a person, place, thing or idea and say, ‘That’s why I got so much better from my freshman to my senior year”, what who/would it be?

DS: I can point to three things…

1)     As I said earlier, I was in competition with you for being the best player on the team. I always respected your game and looked up to you so part of my motivation was trying to be just as good or better.

2)     I came in as a freshman with a chip on my shoulder. My freshman class included Todd Holts, Bernard Pettiford, Cedric Hurst, and Rob Harris. After we had all signed, Gerald (White) sent me an article from the Chronicle about all of us having signed. In the article, they talked about each player and what they were expected to contribute during the upcoming season. Bernard, Todd, and Rob were expected to battle for the starting position at center, Ced was expected to challenge for minutes at the point, and I was expected to “add depth to the frontcourt.”  I was offended when I read that and swore at that moment that by the time we all left AC, I would bet the best of the whole group.

3)     The pressure of living up to expectations. After my freshman year, I felt like people expected certain things out of me and I expected certain things out of myself. I didn’t want to be the guy who didn’t live up to his potential. I wanted to fulfill the promise that my freshman season seemed to have made.

Note:  Thank you, G. White!

ABR:  What player from either before or after your time as a Jaguar would you have liked to been a teammate of and why?

DS: Tim Daniels. I know that we technically were teammates during my freshman year but I never got to actually play with him. He was a hell of a player and it would have been nice to share the court with him.

 ABR:  You had some real characters as roommates, Cedric “The Ladies Love Me” Hurst, Jake “Leather Shoestring Tie Wearing” Middleton, and Bernard “Always in the training room” Pettiford.  After you stop laughing about that tie, reflect on this question:  Reality shows didn’t exist back then, but if they did, who of your roommates or other teammates would have been the best subject for such a venture and why?  (If you take this idea to some producer somewhere, I need a little piece broken off)

DS: Aww man, the tie! I forgot about the tie! Lol. If I were producing it I would’ve made the entire team the subject. We had some colorful characters on our team (including Clint) and I think collectively it would have made for some entertaining television.

ABR:  I asked Brian this question and came up empty.  Do you have anything you’d like to confess to Coach or any of your teammates or anyone from back in the day?

DS: Well, I’m not sure who all knew this but I almost left after my freshman year. I had an opportunity to transfer to a bigger school. It ended up not working out and when I look back on it, I’m glad it didn’t.

ABR:  What do you miss most about college?

DS: The camaraderie with my teammates. You guys were like my brothers and we had some great times together.

ABR:  I asked about regrets earlier as it related to the jersey situation.  Do you have any regrets in general about your time at AC?

DS: You know, it took me some time to think about the answer to this one. I don’t really like to say that I regret anything I’ve done in the past because all of our past experiences are why we are who we are today. I kind of like who I am so anything that I’ve done (or not done) in the past seems to have worked out for the best.

If I had to pick one I would say maybe that I didn’t take school as seriously as I could have and gotten my degree. But at the same time, not having it hasn’t stopped me from doing anything I’ve wanted to do since leaving school so it’s hard to say that I regret it.

ABR:  What advice would you give to anyone just starting that four year journey.

DS: Work hard, play hard, and enjoy it. It’ll be over before you know it. Then it gets real.

ABR:  Last time you were down here, I gave you my top three all-time Jaguars.  I put myself somewhere behind you and AJ and said you guys needed to battle it out for number 1 and 2.  I wasn’t trying to be patronizing or falsely humble (and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if I was a lot lower in a consensus rankings list). But as far as you and AJ, I truly believed that.  You both made it look easy.  So it’s one of my biggest regrets that the two of us on the same team didn’t accomplish more than we did together?  What are your thoughts on that?

DS: Now that is actually a regret. I feel the same way. I loved playing with you (and everyone else as well) and I thought we were a great 1-2 punch. Our games complemented each other and we didn’t get in each other’s way. I thought for sure that we would accomplish more than we did.

Note:  You can’t have an all-time discussion without talking about Ben Madgen.  He was a hell of a player and his jersey hangs in the rafters to prove it. But the liberal in me (I’m not really a liberal but I’ll adopt one of their tenets for this argument) wants to level the playing field a bit before the ballots are cast.  Ben showed up at the school when he was about 22 yrs old and was 26 when he finished.  I don’t know about Derek and AJ, but the 26 year old me as a basketball player barely resembled the 21 year old me that played my senior season.   I was a problem for defenders.  I imagine that goes double for Derek and AJ.

ABR:  Hollywood history books are littered with cautionary tales about child stars and their “lives after”.   Do you worry at all about that with Coy?  

DS: Not even a little. First, while there are a number of child stars who’ve had well documented issues during and after their careers are over, the issue is not as big as the media would have us believe. There are probably twice as many who have had no issues whatsoever. We just never hear about them because it’s not as interesting. Second, “Hollywood” isn’t the issue.  It’s parenting. Our job as parents is to raise our children to be the best people they can be, no matter the circumstances. Whether they are a junior in high school, playing on the basketball team living a “regular” life, or they’re the star of a TV show living in the public eye. A parent’s job is the same.

What I’ve noticed during my four plus years in this business is that sometimes parents forget this. They get caught up in all of the attention and the lifestyle and all of a sudden, parenting takes a back seat. Their focus becomes making sure that their child stays in the spotlight so that they can stay in the spotlight.

Being a mother and father are the most important jobs that Keisha and I have. We are well aware of the fact that the kind of people our boys grow up to be is more important than how famous they are and we raise them accordingly. We don’t treat Coy any differently than we ever treated him.

ABR:  You have a daughter too don’t you?  What’s her name and does she have any interest in the Hollywood game? 

DS: I actually have another son. He’s 7 and his name is Chayse. As far as him being in the business, that remains to be seen. He’s been on TV production sets since he was 3 so it’s all kind of second nature to him now. He has representation (agent, manager) and has done a guest spot on an episode of The Electric Company with Coy and an AT&T commercial but we’re not sure yet if it’s what he wants to do. Sometimes he says he does, sometimes he says he doesn’t. Typical 7 year old. We’ll see what happens.

ABR:  You’ve already written a book.  Do you have anything more ambitious in the works (and do you need a partner)?

DS: Yes, very ambitious. I am currently in film school at the International Academy of Film and Television out here in Burbank, studying to be a filmmaker. In addition to writing the book (The Unlikely Journey), I have also been working on a handful of screenplays over the last couple of years. My plan is to start a production company and be in a position to produce, write, and direct my own projects, some specifically for Coy. (I am currently working on a project for class in which I will write and direct a short film with Coy set to play the lead.)

As far as a partner, I’m always on the lookout for script ideas.

Note:  Derek’s book is called The Unlikely Journey and it’s available at Amazon.com. I haven’t read it yet but I intend to.  A couple of people I’ve spoken to who have read it say that it is very well done.  Click here to get your copy!

ABR:  You are your son’s manager right?  Have you had to learn any hard business lessons in that role? 

DS: I’m not technically his manager. He has an actual manager that we work with but at the end of the day, Keisha and I decide what he does and doesn’t do. A lot of child actors are managed by their parents but I decided against this for a couple of reasons…1) A manager’s job is to create opportunities for his clients to showcase their skill. The way a manager creates these opportunities is through his relationships with various producers, directors, casting directors, and studio executives. When we first started in this business, I didn’t know any producers, directors, casting directors or studio executives so I was in no position to do the job of a manager.  2) I am his father and that’s the relationship I want to have with him. I will always be there to guide him but things tend to get complicated when you mix business with family. Plus, I have my own thing to focus on.

I actually haven’t encountered any hard business lessons thus far. It turns out that this business is very similar to being a professional athlete so I was more prepared for it than I knew. After all, it’s all entertainment.

End of interview………………………

So I sent Derek a follow up text after reading his answers to my questions.  I was having some trouble receiving emails so he actually had to send them several times.  The following is a recap of our conversation:

DS:  Did you get ‘em?

Me:  Yeah, I got ‘em.  You did an incredible job with your answers.  Way beyond what I had hoped for.  Thanks for the raw honesty and a big thanks for the compliments you paid me.  They mean more than you can know.

DS:  I’m glad you’re happy with it.  I tried to be as honest as I could.

Note:  I’ve known Derek for a long time so there isn’t much about what he revealed that surprised me.  I will say I was surprised to learn he had written a book since our coaching staff struggled sometimes to get him to take books seriously while he was a student.  I guess that’s just one more proof of the theory a good friend of mine used to quote.  I’m going to paraphrase and hope I don’t mess it up too badly here, ‘In life, we’re all basically C students.  Some of us end up making A’s and some of us make F’s’.  Derek is in film school now.  I’m willing to bet he’s making A’s.  I’m also willing to bet he could come back here and make enough A’s to put a number 41 up on the wall – if he wanted to.  But even if he doesn’t want to, as he pointed out, it won’t detract one bit from his on-court body of work.  Ask anybody who played with or against him.

Augusta Basketball Report