After seeing Darkwa pen his name and draw a little basketball next to each signature, the Ascension Elementary first-grader finally blurted: “Why are you drawing balls? So people know you’re a basketball player?”
Darkwa laughed. He knew there was some truth in the kid’s confusion.
Before this night, Darkwa had to rely as much on his artwork as his court work to define his basketball presence at Wright State.
Prior to the Milwaukee game, the 27-year-old Navy veteran who’s in his first season of college ball had not played at all in six of the Raiders 24 games and only three times had gotten off the bench for more than five minutes.
Then Monday, Cooper Land — the 6-foot-8 junior who was the Raiders first big man off the bench — tore a right knee ligament and was lost for the season.
Instantly, the 6-7 Darkwa moved up the depth chart, and Thursday he played a career-high 16 minutes, scoring four points, blocking two shots and grabbing two rebounds, all while wrestling with the Panthers’ 6-7, 310-pound James Eayrs or the nearly-as-bulky 6-6 Jason Averkamp.
Darkwa had some nice moments — his leaping out-of-nowhere blocks and his inside defense — but there were some rough spots, too.
Along with three turnovers, there was the one play — a missed assignment on an inbounds play — that made Brad Brownell short-circuit. The WSU head coach called a timeout, met Darkwa on the court to give him a face-to-face reminder, then exiled him to the bench for a few minutes.
“He did some good things — he’s got a presence inside and can do some things our other guys can’t — but as he got tired, his mind wandered a bit,” Brownell said. “And on occasion his mind wanders when he’s not tired.”
With the 16-9 record and just four league games left, the Raiders are trying to secure a No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League tournament.
As for Darkwa, “his learning curve is going to have to be much faster now,” Brownell said.
Darkwa said college basketball is a lot different than the game he played while in the service eight years: “In the Navy, we did our work first and just played when we had time. ... I know I’ve got work to do, but I’ve been patiently waiting my turn, and now, finally, I’ve got my feet in the water.”
And for a Navy man, that’s a place where he soon should feel pretty comfortable.
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