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 “He's one of the orniereist rotten little no-goods I've ever coached” - Coach Jerry Wainwright on Senior guard “Cliffy” Clinkscales
On a tropical Sunday afternoon in Rosemont, the Blue Demons faced off against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. It was senior day, and the stadium was appropriately packed to support the last home game for veteran Big East warriors, Kerron Clarke, Cliff Clinkscales, Draelon Burns and Wes “Hollywood” Green. The attendance of 16,934 was largest DePaul home crowd of the season.
That, the majority up the fans who filled the usually vacant upper bowl were wearing green and gold and shouting “Irish Home Game” is really neither here nor there. The day was about the seniors.
Honoring their commitment to the program, sticking around even after the coach who recruited them left, Jerry Wainwright started all four seniors.
The first half started out well enough, following an opening bucket by awkward, but effective Notre Dame star Luke Harangody, Wesley responed with a jumper of his own that clanked off the rim, but was rebounded by Clarke. After another missed Blue Demon jumper by Tucker, Green battled for the rebound and finshed with a layup to tie the score at two.
Though he began the season starting most of the games, he lost his spot, but showed in the first half that he still deserved to be a starter. Just past the 11 minute mark, with the Demons down by four he backed down the future 1st round draft pick Harangody, going this way, then that, before making an easy shot from the post.
Not wanting to be out-done by a reserve senior, Luke tried to answer the next time down the floor, taking a pass in the post and trying to get back at green. He thought he had created an opening for himself when he took his shot, only to see the gigantic hand of the 6-9 no-way-he-weighs-300-pounds-as-listed-in-the-media-guide Green come down and get all ball. Blocking the shot for a ND turnover, with the possession arrow poitned their way following the jump ball. The ensuing Blue Demon possession, Green scored again over Harangody.
It was to be an impressive first half for the senior, playing 13 minutes, finishing with 2 blocks, 3 rebounds and 8 points on 4-6 shooting from the field. He also attempted his trademark three pointer, which although he did score the first points of the season for the Demons on a three, this one clanked off the rim.
Heading into Sunday afternoon's game, Wes had made 36% of his threes this year, a better percentage than gunner Draelon Burns who will leave DePaul in the top five in 3-pointers made in their illustrious history.
If nothing else, Green has to go down in basketball lore as the best three point shooter over three hundred pounds.
When coach Wainwright pulled Green with just over 8 minutes left in the half, the Demons were down by four. They'd played extremely well against the number 17 team in the country, but that was as close as they'd come.
Notre Dame all of a sudden realized, oh yeah, we're the fifth best team in the country at shooting three point field goals.
They capped off their first half run with three three's to close out the half, finishing up by sixteen as the teams left for half time.
Wainwright stuck with the seniors to start the second period, but quickly pulled all four after two minutes had gone by and the Irish had increased their lead to 23.
Although the game was for all intensive purposes over by this point, the Demons battled all the way to the end. In the post-game press conference, Wainwight commended his younger players, saying “they had a choice without even knowing it, they could've lost by 40.”
Instead, they kept battling and put up 60 points, outscoring the Irish by nine in the half, to finish down by only seven.
It was a symbollic passing of the torch, as DePaul's seniors yielded to the younger players, who responded to the call. Freshman Dar Tucker and Mac Koshwal lead the offensive push, finishing with 28 and 23 points, respectively, career highs for both.
The pair has the talent to do some things in the Big East and maybe even the NBA someday, and the program is in good hands with them leading into the future. The most important thing for each of them is how hard they work in the off-season. As Chicago's greatest basketball legend Michael Jordan said, “championships are won in the off-season.”
Aside from the impressive play of the freshmen, the half's highlights were the kiss-cam, where following a gray-haired older couples passionate embrace to the crowd's applause, the camera shifted to the student section, focusing on a pair of young students. As soon as the female realized what was going on, she acted appropraitely, not by kissing the guy she probably barely knew, but by running away.
Ahh college, reminds me of my “glory days.”
Before I get to the other highlight, let me preface it by saying that I'm [surprisingly] not perfect. I make a concerted, consious effort to see the world as colorless, despite the history of racial warfare, prejudice and ignorance that high school teachers usually ignore in U.S. History classes.
Nevertheless, there are people who say that stereotypes exist for a reason, and though I feel that to be an absolutely ididotic comment, at the most halfway true on a macro level, but complete b.s. when applied to any individual, for a second Sunday afternoon I felt it to be appropriate to what I was watching.
Just past the 17 minute mark of the final period, Notre Dame raced the ball up the floor following a timeout. Luke Harangody beat Koshwal down the floor, recognizing this, guard Kyle McAlarney tried to take advantadge of the situation. He floated an “alley-” above the rim, hoping for a resounding “oop” by Harangody to put the final dagger into the Demon's heart.
Though it doesn't really matter, both players are caucasian.
As the pass not only missed Luke, but pathetically bounced off the backboard and right into the hands of a Blue Demon, I couldn't help but thinking it was the “whitest” play I'd ever seen on a baskteball court.
At the end of the day, despite the impressive Blue Demon second half, it was just too much offense from the Irish for DePaul to handle. Though it wasn't his day, Rob Kurz certainly played like a senior, making four of five from three point land to finish with 21 points. He wasn't the only hot Irishman that day, the team fnished an insane 13-23 from three point land for the game.
After the game, there was a respectable tribute to the four DePaul seniors, along with a senior team manger. They've all had respectable careers, they should be proud of. Green, as I said is the smoothest big man from distance in the land. Karron Clarke was named to the all-tournment team at this year's San Juan Shootout, after averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Of the thousands who've played D-1 college ball this year, Cliff Clinkscales is 4th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio.
And then there's Draelon. Burns was the only senior on the court to close out the game, and played all the way to the end like the true warrior he is. In a fittingly full-circle moment, he had a steal with 3.7 seconds left, reminding fans of what he called one of his favorite games as a Blue Demon: a win last season against Notre Dame, when he stole the ball with seconds left, and assisted on the game winning bucket.
He was presented with the thousand point ball, and honored for his career, where he's improved his scoring average every year. More importantly, though, as his coach noted, he also raised his GPA every quarter after Jerry arrived.
It was a touching send-off for the group, as Wainwright had to pause and collect himself, as not-Hillary-Clinton-fake-political-machination tears came down his cheek.
Afterwards, coach Wainwright led off the post-game press conference saying, “I am an old softie.”
Though I usually hate melodrama, especially when it's forced and not-deserved, such as everybody saying nice things about even jerks at their funerals, I felt something listening to the man proudly brag of his player's accomplishments. I'm not gonna go so far as to say I was “touched” or anything, but I certainly didn't want to vomit, which I usually do in such settings.
The honors aside, what matters now for the Blue Demons is business. Despite their struggles, they still control their own fate heading into the Big East tournament. They have two tough, but winnable games left, one against Cincinnati Thursday, and their regular season finale Sunday at Pitt.
If all goes according to plan, the Demons will be playing under the big lights of “the city” in Madison Square Garden, battling for their lives with a NCAA tournament spot on the line.
Regardless of what happens, though, DePaul can be proud of their seniors and the legacy they left behind. Wainwright called them the “building blocks” upon which the future of the program will be built.
Final Score - Notre Dame 98, DePaul 91
More articles by Charlie Danoff
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