Basketball: The Eagles Have Landed...on Top of the NAIA World (Part II)

SL: What was the most exciting or rewarding part of calling this past year’s games for Faulkner?
DD: Obviously, having the opportunity to call, once again, a national tournament for the third year we’ve gone and each year watching them go further each time and being to call games in the (NAIA) Final Four. So thus far that’s been the most rewarding part.

SL: If you had a son that was good enough to play anywhere in the country, I know you wouldn’t try to "tell him" where to play, but deep down where would you like to see him go?
DD: I really feel like when you combine the components of academics and exposure I would love to see him play in the ACC. I would like to see him play at Georgia Tech. To be honest with you, I’ve been over there, and I’ve seen how they run their program and what they stand for. They have a great academic tradition and play in a top Conference. Plus he’d be close enough to home that daddy could come see him play.

SL: There are numerous differences between Division – I basketball and the NAIA variety. What are the similarities?
DD: ESPN Magazine did a feature on the NAIA National Tournament, called "Little Dance, Big Dreams" – not to promote another magazine (laughs) – which quoted a guy that spent seven days following the teams around and his view was the difference is the depth and the big men. The similarity is guard play. Dave Fleming, of ESPN Magazine, said, "…there are a lot of guards in the NAIA Tournament that you could plug into an NCAA team and you wouldn’t skip a beat." Obviously a 6’6" or 6’7" guy will play center or post position in NAIA ball while that height is what you may see in a two guard at the NCAA level. But guard play is guard play. And I’ve seen guards at the NAIA level that are just as quick as any other, including one that we had, Rodney Keener, that is as fast as any guard I’ve seen up close in person – including Stephon Marbury and Travis Best (both former Georgia Tech All-Americans in mid 90’s). He’s that explosive.

SL: Where do you see this program headed?
DD: It’s to reach the pinnacle. Every year you line up, your goal is to win the National Championship. So the program has reached its goal, and at this point the need is to find something else to motivate yourself. You can’t just stop, get complacent, take a deep breath and bask in that. The redefined goal is to stay on that mountaintop and defend the National Championship. You’ve had a taste of it but you want more, and that’s tough to do. Only one or two schools (in NAIA) have won back-to-back Championships, so that is our new goal – to become one of them and become, consistently a top five program.

SL: Where do you see yourself in the next 5, 10 or 20 years?
DD: Well, I enjoy broadcasting more than anything I’ve done professionally in my life. I’ve always wanted to do it. I studied it in college. Sports have always been a big part of my life, but you almost come to that point where the question is, "what else can I do in this arena without having to move or try new things?" It finally becomes a matter of priorities and next year I’m scaling back and only doing home games because of family commitments and my first job. I do broadcasting as a hobby. It’s something I really enjoy. I feel very blessed to do that, but it’s not my primary source of income, so my family responsibilities come first. So I’ll again scale back some and just dabble in this next year because I don’t want to miss out on things my kids will be able to take part in and on the road I would miss some of this.

SL: How much interaction to you have with the players?
DD: A lot. And that’s the big difference between the NCAA and NAIA level, we travel together on bus or plane, eat meals together, stay in the same hotels, and because it is a smaller school I have a lot of interaction with the players. I’ve had players over to the house for meals. On the NAIA level, you’ve got to do a lot of things, we may be broadcasters, but we may have to drive them to practice or to get something to eat, we’ve even washed uniforms at the laundromat for them. And because of all the interaction, let me tell you something, before they won the National Tournament, they were champions in my book because of the kind of people they are, the character they have. I’ve gotten close to every one of those players. And every year, just like teachers have to say goodbye to another Senior Class and say hello to a new group, I have to do the same. And while it’s fun to meet a new group it’s not easy saying bye to the ones leaving. Jim Sanderson recruits a different kind of kid, character wise, and that really equates to how they act off the court. And I see that. I see them at the hotels, I see them away from the coaches, and I see them at restaurants and on the bus. It’s not something that can be an act. I’m with them. And that’s the part I miss the most in the off-season, is just the interaction and fellowship with the players.

SL: Given what you know in your background in sports, how important is chemistry to team success?
DD: This year more than ever before. It’s been the most important factor, the key factor. I know Faulkner (University) has had some teams as talented as this past one but as far as chemistry, or closeness, I’ve never seen a team as close as this one. Egos got put aside. People understood their roles. And because of that somebody that could have probably started at any other school in the country could come off the bench and play fewer minutes to fit into that piece of a National Champion. And this year it was very obvious that people were willing to do that. (Head Coach) Jim Sanderson plays eleven guys, and of those coming off the bench there are four or five that could start for any other team in the Conference.

SL: What’s the most important part of your character that you picked up through sports?
DD: Perseverance

SL: Biggest disappointment in sports?
DD: Not being able to fulfill my dream of playing college baseball. I felt like that was my calling. That’s why I came to Montgomery to begin with. I had a situation where I was set up to play at a university here but because of injuries and frankly, a numbers situation, I was unable to live my dream. So in many ways what I’m doing now has, from an athletic standpoint, filled that hole by being able to pick up a (National Championship) ring.

SL: One word associations. "basketball"
DD: Enjoyment

SL:"Family"
DD: Blessing

SL: "Sports"
DD: Consuming

SL: Faulkner
DD: Privileged

SL: How does family balance your life?
DD: Well, it’s a tremendous balance personally because it keeps me in check. I think first off there is no way I would be able to fulfill the dream of broadcasting a game without the support of my family. When I think about how I’m able to do Faulkner games begins with my wife. If I had never met my wife, I wouldn’t have met the people that were at Faulkner. Not only has she been unselfish and say I know we have three small children, but I know it’s always been a dream of yours to broadcast sports, so I’m willing to do without you for four months out of the year while you do that. It also puts me in touch with my priorities. It makes me realize while I’m on the road how much I miss my family. And the fact remains, if the announcing aspect of my life went away, I still have my family and I’m still tremendously better off. They keep me honest. They keep me focused. They keep me in reality, and that makes me appreciate them even more.

SL: Last question, athletes, role models or not?
DD: Absolutely they are. And they are because anyone that watches somebody do something else athletically – whether it’s at the high school level or NBA – you are being watched and you’re being watched for a reason. That (fan) has come to see that event, and how you react to that and handle that influences children and others that watch you. And I can say that because I’ve seen over the past 20 years what kids try to emulate. From the college level to the NBA, who you and I tried to emulate is completely different from what kids try to emulate in today’s game. And without getting too specific, you can’t tell me they aren’t role models and they’re not being influential because you can see what the kids wear, their style of game, what’s important in the game of basketball now is whether you can reverse dunk or not instead of making that extra pass. So unless you’ve missed the boat, you can realize the athletes are being watched, so let’s give them a positive image to follow.