BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- We can see the numbers. We can see the progression. We can see that since December, 6-foot-9 forward D.J. White has evolved from an inconsistent, timid freshman into the best all-around player at Indiana, the best freshman in the Big Ten and one of the best young prospects in the United States.
We can see all that. We just can't see how it happened.
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| Marco Killingsworth, who spent three years at Auburn before transferring, is someone the young players can look up to. (Getty Images) |
This is one of the reasons why Killingsworth ended up at Indiana, at least from the perspective of Hoosiers coach Mike Davis. After three years at Auburn, Killingsworth came to Indiana this past fall to finish up his degree at a school that would promise plenty of playing time in 2005-06. Davis let Killingsworth come because White, who was skinny and 17 when he reported to campus in August, needed a tutor.
Killingsworth is sitting out this season as a transfer, but he has earned every penny of his scholarship. Even if he enters the 2005 NBA Draft and never plays one game for the Hoosiers -- which is a possibility, Killingsworth concedes -- he will have earned his keep in anonymity.
No, none of us has seen Killingsworth's handiwork. But we've all seen the results.
"I'm just so proud of him," Killingsworth says, referring to White. "That's my son!"
Killingsworth has helped birth a monster. White reported to campus with skills and athletic ability, but with no clue about the speed of the college game, no idea about the brutishness waiting in the lane. That's where Killingsworth came in. White is 225 pounds, all arms and angles. Killingsworth is 6-7, 265 pounds, all shoulders and thighs.
"Coming out of high school, I could overpower people," White says. "Here, I've got to use my head more. I learned that from Marco."
Class has been in session since August, when Killingsworth made sure to join White in the gym whenever the freshman was going. They'd head to Assembly Hall at night and go at it, one-on-one, sometimes with teammates shooting on other goals and sometimes in privacy. Just them and 17,456 empty seats.
It was ugly at first. Killingsworth has all kinds of skills, drawing comparisons to versatile ex-NBA forward Anthony Mason, and, like Mason, he has power to spare. He spared none of it with White, bumping the freshman, throwing him around, dunking on him. And refusing to let White dunk on him.
"Coach Davis told me when I got here, 'I want you to make D.J. better,'" Killingsworth said. "I've been showing him little tricks of the trade, but at first it was just about being physical. I'd come to the gym and I'd say, 'D.J., you better not let me dunk on you today.' And then I'd dunk on him."
Somewhere along the line, something clicked for White. Killingsworth remembers the day it happened. It was at a practice in mid-December, and on this particular day, White took 10 shots and made all 10. Most of them were of the can't-miss variety.
