Donte Darby has been a major contributor for the Lincoln High School boys’ basketball program for the last two seasons, but as Darby prepared for his final season with the Lions, he realized that his role was going to have to change.
Gone were the prior leaders of the team like Darby’s good friend D.J. Henderson.
“I always looked up to D.J.,” Darby said. “I knew how he ran the team for the last two years. I knew that I was now going to have to fill his shoes.”
So how did Darby determine how he was going to become the leader of the Lions? He simply went right to the source.
“I sat down and talked with D.J. and asked him how did he do this,” Darby said. “He said that when the team got down, it was my job to pick them up and make them feel better. I had to motivate each and every one of the players on the team.”
Darby said that he didn’t mind the words of advice from his friend and former teammate.
“I actually thought it was a great change for me,” Darby said. “I knew that if I wanted to play at the next level, I needed to get the rest of my teammates to play better. I knew that I had to take baby steps forward in order to play in college. It has built my confidence to hear my teammates say, ‘Darby has to do this,’ or ‘Darby has to do that.’ It’s really motivated me more.”
Lincoln head coach Bill Zasowski also realized that Darby had to do more, even if Darby was solid enough of a player to earn Hudson Reporter All-Area Second Team honors last year.
“We only had one player coming back from last year,” Zasowski said. “That was Donte. He had to change his role to take more of a leadership role. We were fortunate enough to have D.J. handle that role for the last two years. D.J. was the one who had to worry about the 12 other players. Donte only had to worry about himself. But now, Donte had to be the one who had to be the overall leader of everyone. His ability to play has never been in question. But he had to do the little things.”
Darby also had to worry about his recovery from sports hernia surgery.
So when the 2018-19 season began last month, Darby had a ton on his plate. The 6-foot-2 senior had to not only continue his scoring ability (averaging 14 points per game last year as a junior), but he had to deliver all the other intangibles that leaders produce, like telling the younger players where to go on the floor and how to act.
And when the game is on the line, well…
“The ball just seems to find his hands,” Zasowski said. “There are always these late-game scenarios, but they all seem to involve him.”
Recently, the Lions faced fierce rival Snyder. It’s a matchup that Darby has always looked forward to.
“There was a lot of talk going on about our team not being as good as we were,” Darby said. “People were saying that we couldn’t beat them. So this was a game that I really wanted to play. Coach [Zasowski] said that this was a game that I was going to have to shoot the ball more from the outside. I was really fired up to play. I love my team and my team loves me. I give them the energy that they need. The place was packed and everyone was energized with what we were going to do.”
The Lions followed the lead of Darby en route to a thrilling 49-45 victory. Darby scored 24 points, which included 5-of-6 shots from 3-point range, and seven rebounds.
Darby also had 18 points, seven rebounds and five steals in a 47-37 victory over Hoboken and had 19 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists in a loss to Marist.
For his efforts, Darby has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
The win over Hoboken enabled the Lions to improve their record to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the rough-and-tumble world of the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League, which shifted to a one-division format this season.
Zasowski likes the efficiency in which Darby is playing this season.
“He scored 24 points against Snyder, but he took only nine shots,” Zasowski said. “He was hitting the three [point field goals]. He’s improved leaps and bounds in that aspect. As a sophomore, he made only nine all season and 30 all of last year. Well, he now has 17 this year already. He’s going to the free throw line more and making his free throws. Because he’s so strong, he can put the ball on his hip and go to the basket. He’s become a good late-game free throw shooter. No question, he wants the ball down the stretch.”
For example, last week in the win against Hoboken, Darby had only one point at halftime, but scored 12 points in the third quarter when the Lions took control and had 17 of his 18 points after intermission.
“I’m just out there every night and I want to win,” Darby said. “I don’t like losing.”
“I think he has a different mindset now,” Zasowski said. “He seems to play his best with the game on the line and he seems to play his best against Snyder. The Lincoln-Snyder rivalry is huge. He had big moments last year against Snyder [17 points and five rebounds in a regular season game and 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in 51-48 win in the quarterfinals of the Hudson County Tournament]. This game, he took it upon himself from the opening jump. He just likes beating them.”
But as for the leadership role?
“I’d have to say it’s a continual work in progress,” Zasowski said. “I just have to get on him to not get frustrated with his leadership.”
“I’m learning more about it,” Darby said. “I think I’m getting better.”
Zasowski is hopeful that his overall play, including his prowess from the perimeter, will catch the eye of college recruiters.
“We talk about college all the time,” Zasowski said. “He will play somewhere next year. Wherever it is will be up to him. But he’s going to go to college.”
It’s always been a goal for Darby, whose older brother, Frank, is a standout college football player, a sophomore wide receiver at Arizona State who is apparently playing toward a professional career.
“I look up to my brother,” Darby said. “He’s doing well in college and he keeps getting better and better every day. I want to be like him. I just need a shot. I’m really excited about going to college.”
Chances are that Donte Darby will play college basketball next fall, but before that, he will continue his pursuit toward becoming a 1,000-point scorer at Lincoln. He now stands about 150 points shy of the impressive milestone. As long as Darby leads the way like he has been, Darby should reach the milestone sometime next month. Not bad for the reluctant leader. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com
