Shawnee ? Shoulders slumped as he walked toward his rental car, Jerry Wainwright looked like a guy in dire need of a home-cooked meal and good night’s sleep.
“I am completely whacked out. This is a grind,” DePaul’s third-year basketball coach said, sporting bags under his eyes after watching several hours’ worth of games at the AAU Price Chopper Invitational at Okun Fieldhouse.
“This” is the July recruiting evaluation period, which for all Div. I coaches ends today.
Wainwright left the recruiting to his assistants for much of the month. He was in Serbia from July 12 to 23 coaching the United States Under 19 team, which, without injured Kansas University forward Darrell Arthur, wound up winning the silver medal at the World Championships.
“We were an overachieving crew,” Wainwright said of the 8-1 runner-up team. “I’d sure loved to have him (Arthur) in that championship game (74-69 loss to Serbia). We were so small, and he is a warrior. I think he’s one of the best post players in the country.”
Wainwright was impressed with the 6-foot-9, 230-pound Arthur, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in a pair of exhibition games prior to being ruled out of action because of a stress fracture in his left leg that will have him sidelined two more weeks.
“He has a presence about him,” Wainwright said. “He’ll point at a teammate who gives him a good pass. He had a great locker-room presence He’s very mature for his age.
“When we lost him, we lost not only a versatile frontcourt player, but a leader. Especially going on the road to a foreign country : he’s not a young man, but a man.”
Arthur hit eight of 11 shots in the two exhibition games, including one of two threes.
“He shot it well from 15 feet,” Wainwright said. “We moved him around a lot. He shot well at practice and made one of two threes against the Chinese team in Dallas.
“He’s really a good player. Anytime coach (Bill) Self yells at him : I told him it’s not that long of a drive to Chicago. We’d love to have him. I’d love to hug him instead of yell at him,” the coach joked.
Wainwright will coach against Arthur for the second straight season during a DePaul-KU meeting Dec. 8 in Allen Fieldhouse. Last season, the Demons beat KU in Chicago, 64-57.
“I am not at all looking forward to going there. As a matter of fact, my wife and I scheduled a trip to Niagara Falls for that date. I may try to go over in a barrel,” Wainwright said.
“One thing I loved about Allen Fieldhouse : we were fortunate enough to play there one time before (his Richmond Spiders stunned KU, 69-68, on Jan. 22, 2004). The people treated us so well after the game. My wife was on that trip. We walked around town, and everybody congratulated us. It’s not only a great venue of college basketball, but they do it the right way. They love basketball and pull for their team, but there’s not anything negative they do. Coach Self and I are good friends, and I love the tradition, but, no, I am not looking forward to going there.”
