JS: Dom James Article

[mu_hilltopper]

Boys to men
The father
Daughter's birth transformed James

Posted: Mar. 14, 2009

So much of life is about timing. Take the case of Dominic James, for instance.

Here he was early in his sophomore season, playing well as the featured piece of Marquette University's three-guard attack. The shots were falling, the assists were coming and the team was winning.

He also was freshly removed from a fabulous freshman campaign that saw him named Big East Conference rookie of the year. His stock was soaring, and James was having the time of his life. The National Basketball Association wasn't even on the radar screen.

It was then that everything changed.

James received the life-altering news that he was going to be a father. Caught off-guard for the first time since coming to MU, he suddenly found himself with huge responsibilities that had nothing to do with running an offense or acing a midterm.

"My only focus in life was being a basketball player," James recalled recently. "And then it changed from that to being a dad."

James had his moments from there, most notably during an eight-game winning streak that included victories at Connecticut, Louisville and Pittsburgh.

But by the end of the season, which was culminated in a blowout loss to Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA tournament, his scoring, rebounding and shooting percentages all had dropped.

James nonetheless declared himself eligible for the NBA draft about a month after that final game. And just about everyone outside his circle wondered why.

"Just looking back on it, it was so dramatic of a change it was hard to stay focused," he said. "It was something that I didn't really let anyone know. No one knew about it except for my closest family and relatives. That was just my main focus.

"Obviously I wanted to take care of my family as soon as I could, and that's why I ended up entering the draft."

He was well aware of the doubters but thought he had to take a shot at it anyway for the sake of Nora, who was born Feb. 7, 2007, the same day James put up six points and seven assists in a 67-47 victory over Rutgers at the Bradley Center.

"I had two feet in, and if I was going to do it I wanted to go at it wholeheartedly," he said. "But the only thing I was thinking about was my little girl at the time. I'm ready to take care of my little girl. I don't want her to have to struggle the way that I did."

James didn't hire an agent, leaving the door open for a return to MU if things didn't pan out, which is exactly what wound up happening. He received a last-second invitation to the NBA predraft camp in Orlando as an alternate, which didn't speak well of how scouts viewed his game at the next level.

He struggled once he arrived, stuck around for one group workout for interested NBA teams and then headed home. James withdrew his name from the draft not long thereafter.

"I was trying to do things that don't complement my game at all. My mind was everywhere," he said. "I didn't know how they wanted me to play. I didn't know how to be a point guard, and I'll take full blame for that. I just didn't know how to be a point guard."

James' transition back to MU wasn't easy, as he found himself torn between trying to do what was best for the Golden Eagles and what was best for him. His numbers dipped almost across the board for a second straight season.

"It's discouraging, just to see your dream kind of dissipate," he said. "It's, like, 'What am I supposed to do now? Do I have to go out there and reprove myself?' Once you get that type of attitude that you've got to go out there and prove something, sometimes that can work against you.

"And I feel like that's what happened to me."

It was during last season that James' role as go-to guy on the floor shifted to Jerel McNeal, who closed with a flourish. James said he never begrudged the transfer, and in fact learned how to work harder because of it.

"Jerel was unbelievable in the gym, and it kind of gave me the inspiration because I had gotten by on my talent until my freshman year in college," he said. "I was never a gym rat. And then when I saw Jerel put that type of work in, Wesley (Matthews) started doing it as well, and when I saw it starting to pay off, I was, like, 'Wow.' "

With McNeal providing the scoring and Matthews' game receiving a jump-start thanks to new coach Buzz Williams' motion offense, James entered this season needing more than ever to become a consummate floor general.

"The thing I was scared about this year was, was it going to be enough in their eyes?" he said. "I feel like it was easy, just because of the way that Jerel's been playing, just the penetrate-and-kick, I'm, like, 'OK, this is all I've got to do.' "

James' transformation didn't stop there. For the first time he also parlayed his unbelievable athletic ability into becoming a lockdown, on-ball defender, one who routinely shut down some of the best and quickest point guards in the Big East.

But his personal renaissance ended Feb. 25 at the Bradley Center, when he broke his left foot on a drive in a loss to Connecticut. He has since had surgery and should recover just fine, but the Golden Eagles have struggled mightily in his absence, going 1-5 since he went down.

The injury has given James plenty of time to reflect on the four memorable years he spent at MU, and the myriad lessons he has learned.

"Just trying to be myself every single day," he said. "It's hard to do that, man. My freshman year I got a lot of attention, I had a lot of success. But that was the best thing for me and that was almost the worst thing for me, too.

"I got caught up in it, and for the first time in my life I started listening to what other people were saying. I started reading the headlines and thinking I was better than I really was."

Professional basketball - in the NBA or elsewhere - is still a goal of James'. But becoming a more constant presence for Nora, who lives with her mother in Appleton, has become his primary focus as the life lessons continue with graduation day only a few months away.

"I still haven't been able to fully experience fatherhood," he said. "Just seeing what mothers have to go through, it helps me to understand that there's just so much more to life than just basketball. And now I have to provide for my little angel. That's what she is."