Dontaye Dominic Draper is undoubtedly the leader of this year’s Cougar squad and he has the chance to become the first Cougar since Thaddeus Delaney to be named to the First team All-Conference in back-to-back years. Draper was a SoCon Player of the Year candidate and All-American candidate last season. Draper is also the only senior on the squad to spend all four years at the College of Charleston. Dontaye is averaging 16-points and 38.6-minutes per game this season. (Photo courtesy of the Post & Courier’s Mic Smith, the picture in the paper is mislabeled with Carmelo’s name).
The Baltimore, Maryland native began the season ranked 23rd on the All-Time Scoring List for the Cougars, and after a sensational senior season he is within one-point of passing Steven Johnson (played for the College of Charleston from 1984-1988, with 1,456 career points) as 7th on the Cougar’s All-Time Scoring List. Assuming he breaks the mark, he will be 49-points from Marion Busby’s 6th spot on the All-Time Scoring List.
2005-2006 Season
As the shooting guard last season, Draper led the Cougars with 18.5-points per game. He averaged 2.6 rebounds starting in 28 games for Cougars. Draper was named to the Billy Minardi Classic all-tournament team (University of Louisville tournament).
Gene Sapakoff’s finally penned an article worth his billing
Sapakoff wrote in today’s Post & Courier about the formula that produced the hard-working, corn-row wearing, future NBA star, Donataye Draper. The article covers every aspect of Draper’s rise to greatness showing with his body-ink a tribute to both his West-Baltimore background, where he developed life-long friends-namely Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony and his love for his maternal-heritage, Aundra Coner his mother and Mary Coner his grandmother. Sapakoff also goes into detail about his player development due to his friendship with Anthony and his competitive performance at Carmello’s “boot-camp” this past summer.
Despite whatever numbers Draper leaves the College with, I am sure he will go on to a bright future and (just as Carmelo Anthony has) give back to his community. The young group named HOOD (Holding Our Own Destiny) from West Baltimore has their eyes on greatmess and with their talents, they will achieve their goals. The Maroon Nation will always have a special place in our hearts for Dontaye and as Draper’s remarks show, "When the College of Charleston started recruiting me and I read about the history here, I fell in love," Draper said. "Once I got down here, I never wanted to leave. I love the fans. I love the school. I just love everything about Charleston." Love is a two-way street.
Special note: Draper has won me over the past 4-years, but it was his use of my high-school soccer coach’s “buzz-word”, “lackadaisical” that made the final attachment of my heart strings. Good Luck Dontaye in your future endeavors, do what you do best on the court to return our Cougars to the Big Dance! The guys look to you as their General; we need you to have an unstoppable performance in your last two regular season games and in the Southern Conference Tournament if we are to have a “Cinderella story book ending” this season.
Draper and his teammates give the members of the Maroon Nation great anticipation for the possibility of March Madness. If the Cougars can dance this season, this team will go down as one of the greatest squads ever and coach Cremins will undoubtedly add to his legacy, returning to basketball and leading a mid-major school to greatness.
The Baltimore, Maryland native began the season ranked 23rd on the All-Time Scoring List for the Cougars, and after a sensational senior season he is within one-point of passing Steven Johnson (played for the College of Charleston from 1984-1988, with 1,456 career points) as 7th on the Cougar’s All-Time Scoring List. Assuming he breaks the mark, he will be 49-points from Marion Busby’s 6th spot on the All-Time Scoring List.
2005-2006 Season
As the shooting guard last season, Draper led the Cougars with 18.5-points per game. He averaged 2.6 rebounds starting in 28 games for Cougars. Draper was named to the Billy Minardi Classic all-tournament team (University of Louisville tournament).
Gene Sapakoff’s finally penned an article worth his billing
Sapakoff wrote in today’s Post & Courier about the formula that produced the hard-working, corn-row wearing, future NBA star, Donataye Draper. The article covers every aspect of Draper’s rise to greatness showing with his body-ink a tribute to both his West-Baltimore background, where he developed life-long friends-namely Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony and his love for his maternal-heritage, Aundra Coner his mother and Mary Coner his grandmother. Sapakoff also goes into detail about his player development due to his friendship with Anthony and his competitive performance at Carmello’s “boot-camp” this past summer.
Despite whatever numbers Draper leaves the College with, I am sure he will go on to a bright future and (just as Carmelo Anthony has) give back to his community. The young group named HOOD (Holding Our Own Destiny) from West Baltimore has their eyes on greatmess and with their talents, they will achieve their goals. The Maroon Nation will always have a special place in our hearts for Dontaye and as Draper’s remarks show, "When the College of Charleston started recruiting me and I read about the history here, I fell in love," Draper said. "Once I got down here, I never wanted to leave. I love the fans. I love the school. I just love everything about Charleston." Love is a two-way street.
Special note: Draper has won me over the past 4-years, but it was his use of my high-school soccer coach’s “buzz-word”, “lackadaisical” that made the final attachment of my heart strings. Good Luck Dontaye in your future endeavors, do what you do best on the court to return our Cougars to the Big Dance! The guys look to you as their General; we need you to have an unstoppable performance in your last two regular season games and in the Southern Conference Tournament if we are to have a “Cinderella story book ending” this season.
Draper and his teammates give the members of the Maroon Nation great anticipation for the possibility of March Madness. If the Cougars can dance this season, this team will go down as one of the greatest squads ever and coach Cremins will undoubtedly add to his legacy, returning to basketball and leading a mid-major school to greatness.
No comments:
Post a Comment