Minor a Major Part For Bears
12/19/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2000
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Erika Snoberger appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
The Baylor men's basketball program is one built on years of history and steeped in strong tradition. So it is ironic, at the least, that one of its greatest standouts so far is, in many ways, the antithesis of tradition. The 6-4, 215-pound point guard has already signed his name in the record books and in this, his senior season, it is his plan to make his mark even more prominent.
His name is DeMarcus Minor, and his basketball career is shaping up to be one of the best in Baylor history, despite his own past of incontinuity.
The Garland native embarks upon his final season as a Baylor Bear, and it seems hard to believe that his last year at the Ferrell Center is only his second. The road that ultimately led him to Baylor was a long and winding one, but Minor said he believes he is finally where he was meant to be.
Surprisingly, Minor's first love was football. He was a multiple-sport athlete in junior high and high school, but the motivation behind his basketball efforts was somewhat misplaced.
"I started basketball in the sixth or seventh grade, but I never really liked it that much growing up," he said. "The only reason I started playing was because of my brother. He and his friends always played and so, if I wanted to hang out with them, I had to play, too. And you know, you can only throw the football up to yourself and score touchdowns on yourself so many times."
BY THE TIME he entered high school, Minor's coaches already saw his collegiate potential on the court. He earned state and national accolades as a senior and set several school records, including most points in a single game with 49.
During his senior year, Minor was recruited by numerous schools, including several from the Midwest and the East Coast. He finally settled on Marquette University and trekked away from home, with the makings of a star-studded college career ahead.
But Minor's time at Marquette was to be short-lived, as he soon found the once-inspiring promises of the university to be much less than reality.
"I really didn't think I'd play my freshman year," Minor said. "But that was okay with me because they promised I'd start as a sophomore the next year, and I knew three years was enough to get plenty of exposure."
It turned out Minor did play as a freshman. He even started three of the 21 games in which he saw court time. But by as early as December, things took a turn for the worst.
"I READ IN THE PAPERS they (Marquette coaches) were heavily recruiting another point (guard) from Chicago. I actually talked to him about the situation, and he said the coaches told him that if he signed, I'd be his backup. All the promises weren't playing out."
Minor finished the year at Marquette, but then decided his skills were better served elsewhere. He transferred to Barton County Community College in Great Bend, KS, where he rediscovered the love of basketball he had lost at Marquette.
"Junior college was good for me," he said. "The coaches were great, the players were great, and it was just a fun time. But I guess for me, it was like I went there with something else in mind for the future. Out of junior college, you want to go somewhere big and play every chance you get."
Minor got that chance, in fact, it was his second chance. Baylor assistant coach Kevin Lewis recruited Minor out of Kansas and succeeded on the Bears' second try to ink the talented point guard.
"(Former Baylor) Coach Miller recruited DeMarcus out of high school," Lewis said. "And then I had also recruited him when I was coaching at New Mexico. Neither of those schools were attractive for DeMarcus at the time, but I just felt that the second time, he was ready to make a change and come play for a team that needed him."
After several talks with Lewis and head coach Dave Bliss, Minor had found the next step he needed to take.
"When Coach Bliss got the (head coaching) job at Baylor, I knew yes, that was where I was going," Minor recalled. "I really had the feeling that I could trust him, and everything was so comfortable. When he called me, we would talk for about an hour and a half, and not just about basketball, about life and everything."
Bliss, too, had very compelling feelings toward Minor in the beginning.
"Some junior college players don't buy into our philosophy as well as he did," Bliss said. "That was the marvel of it. I would take junior college players like that on any team I ever coach."
BUT BEFORE MINOR left Kansas, there was one more big game left in his junior college career which, to him, proved to be fate in his decision to become a Baylor Bear.
"It was March 20, 1999," he remembered without hesitation. "The Junior College National Championship. We knew they (the opponents) were good, but we had no idea they were that good from top to bottom."
That top-to-bottom team was Indian Hills Community College out of Ottumwa, IA, and with it came a 6-5, 210-pound phenom forward who himself would soon become a Baylor Bear. His name was Terry Black.
"Sure, I had always heard of Terry," Minor said. "I really didn't pay that much attention. But in the championship, he dunked on our 7-3 center. Just picked the ball up off the floor and dunked it. I started paying attention then."
Indian Hills won the game, and following the season, Minor and Black both headed for Waco, where their college basketball careers would soon merge.
"When we first got to school together, I didn't talk to him too much," Black said. "We kind of stayed away from each other."
But before long, the two developed a relationship on and off the court that has been a large part of both of their lives ever since.
"ON THE COURT, we've had a good relationship from the beginning," Black said "He knows where I'm going to be, and I know where he's going to be.
"We've both been on winning teams, and I think (Baylor) expected something special from us."
Minor had similar sentiments, but quipped that the bond has not always been perfect.
"Of course, there were always problems when we lived together last year, though," he joked. "He (Black) would walk around with his championship t-shirts on and leave his rings laying around. You see, Terry is selfish. One little championship game, he could have at least given me that."
Becoming serious, Minor said he was relieved to finally find a place where he could develop for the long term.
"When you play for so long just going team to team, it's nice to be on a team where you're finally settled and everyone gets along."
Minor characterized the 2000-2001 Baylor squad as one that has all the necessary qualities of a program in rebuilding.
"You bring in a top-notch coach and top-notch players, and you're only going to create a top-notch program," he said. "Baylor recruits great players and right now, the core players know what's going on. It starts right here."
Bliss and his Bears have certainly proven Minor's theory true. In just one season, the program has begun a turnaround venture, and is already attracting popular recruits nationwide. But Bliss said his focus is just as much on the present as the future, and much of that begins with returning players such as Minor.
"He's definitely one of our strongest players," Bliss said of Minor. "His size makes him somewhat non-traditional for a point guard, but being atypical gives us an advantage. It will play into our rotation. What I want from DeMarcus right now is for him to become more of a vocal leader. He's never been a big holler guy, but the team respects his work ethic. He's a leader by example."
As for the future, Minor said his goal is to go out of his senior season knowing it was his best ever. And next up will be earning a degree in education come August.
"I don't know if I will ever play professionally," he said. "I would like to, sure, but if it doesn't work out, there are plenty of other things I can do. I want to help out the kids. DeMarcus loves the kids."
Bliss said he believes one of the reasons Minor has achieved so much success, even early on, is because of an all-around development of himself as a person and as a player.
"I know he'd like to go out with at least some recognition of progress that has been made here," Bliss said of Minor's athletic career. "But my goal with these players is similar to that of any parental or coaching philosophy. I want them to learn life skills within a team setting, and that's what I think DeMarcus is doing."
DeMarcus Minor, the hub of coach Dave Bliss's basketball wheel.
Editor's Note: Articles such as this one by Erika Snoberger appear in each edition of the Baylor Bear Insider Report, available upon membership in the Baylor Bear Foundation. For information on joining the Bear Foundation, click here.
