Pittsburgh—Many Duquesne fans were devastated when they heard the news last March: 3rd team All-Conference point guard T.J. McConnell to transfer out of Duquesne. McConnell, who ran Duquesne’s offense the past two years, was also the Atlantic-10 Freshman of the Year in 2011. In addition to McConnell’s departure, the Dukes were plagued with the loss of sophomore guard Mike Talley.
At the conclusion of last season, things looked pretty hopeless for the Dukes. Even though the team was undersized last year, they could still count on McConnell’s ability to run the offense. But this season, there is no more McConnell. Instead, first year Head Coach Jim Ferry has found someone new, in the form of true freshman Derrick Colter.
Colter made history as the first recruit of the Ferry era. The 5-foot-10 point guard from Forestville, Md. signed his letter of intent on May 4th, after receiving interest from schools like DePaul and George Mason, among others. It wasn’t long after this that he started impressing fans.
Colter dominated in his first game of the 2012 Pittsburgh Pro-Am Summer League this past June, putting up 29 points. His quickness and ability to shoot the basketball throughout the short season last summer made him stand out amidst many more experienced players. It also earned him a spot on the 10-man All-Tournament Team.
The fans that witnessed his Pro-Am performance caught a quick glimpse of what Colter can bring to the floor. But so far this season, Colter has proved that he can not only put up big numbers in summer league games, but that he can play for real. In his first NCAA regular season game against Albany last Friday, he was the leading scorer with 17 points. In that game, he demonstrated his scrappy, physical style of play as well as his long-range shooting abilities. Although he has struggled with turnovers in both games this year, this will likely improve as he gains more experience. Most importantly, Colter has kept his team in games so far this season while running the offense.
Sure, his team is 0-2. The Dukes have some problems that they need to fix if they want any chance of being competitive in the Atlantic 10 this season. And yes, Colter himself also has much work to do. He needs to take better care of the basketball. He needs to learn to use his skills to make the players around him better. But despite these problems, Duquesne now has hope at the point guard position that they didn’t have eight months ago.
Colter will have his share of bad games this year—it’s all part of the learning curve. Every freshman goes through it. But from what he has shown us to date, I think it is safe to say that Ferry has the right man he needs to run his up-tempo offense going forward.
Photo Credits: 5-star camp
