Fourth-year forward Anthony Duruji, who sat out last season after transferring from Louisiana Tech, will bring an elite athleticism to the Gators, along the lines of teammates Keyontae Johnson and Scottie Lewis.
Duruji Seeks Nice & Nasty Balance
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It went down during a recent Florida practice. Not a scrimmage, just a practice. No one can recall what exactly led to the exchange between forwards Keyontae Johnson and Anthony Duruji, nor does it even matter. The important thing was it happened, the coaches and players saw it, which means it can happen again. All parties, in fact, want it to happen again.
Duruji got mad.
A different version of Duruji was unleashed. A more aggressive, more physical, more intense one. The elite athleticism took on a edgy and fiery flair that manifested itself most notably on defense and on the glass. Afterward, UF assistant coach Darris Nichols pulled Duruji aside and complimented him on what may have been his best all-around day as a Gator.
"I don't like doing that," Duruji confessed to his coach. "I don't like being that guy."
"Oh, so you don't like playing that good?" Nichols shot back.
To reinforce the rhetorical message, Nichols walked his fourth-year junior forward over to the court and pointed to the out-of-bounds line. Make a habit, Nichols told Duruji, to flip a mental switch when he crossed the line. It's OK to be a nice guy and consummate teammate off the court, Nichols assured, and still be a junkyard dog on it.
The UF coaches call that guy "Nasty Duruji."
"Yes, I know exactly what they mean by that, and it's something my coaches have always talked to me about," Duruji said after a recent practice. "Obviously, it has to do with my character and who I am as a person. 'The nice guy, the good kid,' I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I want to be the best player I can be and I want to show my competitiveness, but I am always going to embrace who I am. I'm not going to change that."
God. Family. School. Basketball. Those are Duruji's priorities, in that order, and no one is asking him to abandon them. But don't make assumptions regarding a descending level of importance. The combination of those four elements make Duruji a 6-foot-7, 220-pound mass of high-flying substance and one of the most respected players on his team, despite having yet to play a minute in a Florida uniform after arriving by way of Louisiana Tech as a transfer nearly 18 months ago. That will change next week when the Gators (COVID-19 willing, of course) open the 2020-21 season with pair of games — first against UMass Lowell on Nov. 25, then reigning national champion Virginia two days later — in the so-called "Bubbleville" setting at the Mohegan Sun casino resort in Uncasville, Conn.
Duruji, who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules, looms as a key player in a to-be-determined rotation of probably nine, 10 maybe even 11 players on a Florida team that went 19-12 in the pandemic-trucated '19-20 season, then underwent an offseason makeover relative to its style of play. Coach Mike White, entering Year 6 with the Gators, junked the pace tempo of the last several seasons in favor of a running and pressing system the UF staff believes is better suited to a roster teeming with length, speed and athleticism.
Like Duruji.
Fourth-year junior forward Anthony Duruji (left) attempts to drive on sophomore wing Scottie Lewis during a preseason practice.
He is an athlete in the mold of Johnson, the first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection last season and the league's preseason player of the year, and guard Scottie Lewis, the former McDonald's All-American and projected 2021 first-round NBA draft pick. From his time as a prep star in Maryland through two standout seasons at LA Tech, Duruji's athleticism has been two steps ahead of his basketball skills, but a sit-out, scout-team year may have closed that chasm and nudged Duruji closer to the all-around player he strives to be.
"We see him as a high-level defender and rebounder, and as athletic as anybody in our league," White said of Duruji, one of three Division-I transfers who will make their UF debuts next week. "He's got to continue to learn how to get out of his comfort zone between the lines. He's a really talented guy and as versatile a defender and rebounder as we'll have. He's growing as a player."
If that growth can match Duruji, the person, watch out.
SKILLS PLAYING CATCH-UP
Derrick Harvey recalls being at an AAU showcase event for players in metro Washington, D.C. As associate head coach and charged with recruiting at Potomac (Md.) St. Andrew's Episcopal, Harvey was looking for players when one jumped out of nowhere.
Literally.
A steal and what looked to be a routine run-out turned into anything but. As the player was going in for the layup, Duruji, 16 years old and very much unsung, trailed the play by a good 15 feet, closed like a cheetah and then pounced. Harvey swears Duruji took off just inside the free-throw line and swiped the ball in mid-air before it even hit the backboard.
"He had shoulders at the rim," Harvey said.
The skills, at the time, were very much chasing the athleticism. It had been so since Anthony was a young boy born in Bronx, N.Y. Basketball, though, was very much in his blood. How much? His mother, Esther Obioha, played for the Nigerian national team and was set to sign a WNBA contract with the Washington Mystics in 1997 when she got some news.
"I was pregnant," Obioha said through her thick, elegant accent. "I already have four kids and that was enough. I never thought about a fifth one."
The fifth was Anthony, who was five years younger than his next-oldest sibling, Scott, who also had a twin sister. The family moved from New York to Maryland when Anthony was a toddler. Mom would continue playing basketball, albeit it for kicks, and do so against men. She'd take Anthony along and let him dribble on the sidelines. Eventually, Scott began taking his little brother to the nearby high school to work with him.
"I remember not being able to put the ball through my legs," Duruji said. "It was frustrating."
Young Anthony, though, had things the other kids did not. Height, for example.
"He was always tallest boy," Obihoa said.
The fastest, too. And could jump the highest and the farthest. In time, Duruji became a very good prep high-jumper (he placed second in the Class 4A state meet), but excelled even more at the triple jump — he popped a personal-best of 49 feet, 6 inches that placed in the national top 10 — and did so without putting much effort into it.
Anthony Duruji's favorite holiday is Mother's Day because Esther Obioha, who raised Anthony and his four older siblings, is his "rock."
Duruji's first love always was basketball. When he transferred from public school to play at St. Andrew's in the wildly competitive Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference he learned some hard lessons against the likes of Luka Garza (now at Iowa), Saddiq Bey (Villanova) and Aaron Thompson (Butler). He was a really good player, but nowhere near his potential.
"There wasn't a single night I wasn't crushing him about his work ethic," said Harvey, who railed at Duruji to work on his handle and jump shot until something finally clicked after a so-so junior season that was good enough to get him a scattershot of offers from mid-majors, including LA Tech. "Finally, he started getting in the gym and working harder. things started to click."
As a senior, Duruji averaged 17 points, nine rebounds and two blocks per game, earning Capital All-America area honors, and was invited to the take part in the nationally televised American Family Insurance National Slam-Dunk Contest in Phoenix (see above), he finished runner-up to Oregon-bound Victor Bailey Jr. He qualified for the Junior National Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., but opted to early enroll and head to Ruston, La., and begin his college basketball career.
"He had gotten more attention from other schools his senior year, but he signed early with Louisiana Tech," Obioha said. "He thought [La Tech] was his best shot."
It turned out to be a springboard to something better.
BUSTIN' IN RUSTON
As a freshman at La Tech, Duruji came off the bench for the Bulldogs for the first 13 games of his career — and none after that.
By the time his rookie college season was done, Duruji had reached double-figure scoring 10 times, including a career-high 25 points against North Texas, and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team after averaging 7.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and leading the league in blocked shot among freshmen with 45. The Bulldogs finished 17-16 and ninth in the conference. Duruji followed an All-Conference USA freshman season at La Tech by averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds as a sophomore in '18-19.
His sophomore year was more of the same, only better. Duruji increased his numbers to 12.2 points (on nearly 47 percent from the floor, 34 from the 3-point line) and 6.2 rebounds while starting all 33 games. He had 20 double-figure scoring outings — headlined by 22 points and nine rebounds against eventual SEC champion LSU — and probably had his best all-around performance in scoring 16 points and clearing a career-high 14 boards in a win at Southern Miss. That La Tech team went 20-13, good enough for eighth in the C-USA standings.
"He was the best player at a small school in a one-bid [NCAA] league," Harvey said. "He was never able to measure his potential against the best in the country."
So Duruji entered the transfer portal, where he became very popular very quickly.
"LA Tech will always hold a special place in my heart. I really grew as a player and a person there. I just wanted something better for myself," said Duruji, citing the small number (6) of NBA players from the school, with none drafted since Paul Milsap in 2006. "I think it would have been harder to do coming out there. I perhaps could have been one of the all-timers there, but I was really looking for a challenge for myself and for my development and to grow my game. I wanted to play at the highest level."
Baylor, Pittsburgh, Nevada, Minnesota and Seton Hall were among the programs that showed the most interest, but Duruji knew on his UF visit that he was destined to be a Gator. The coaches promised him nothing relative to playing time, but it just felt right. Everything about the place.
"I came here and loved it," he said. "There was just something about Florida. About the legacy and the culture. The brand."
Duruji committed in April 2019. Three months later, Cleveland State point guard Tyree Appleby transferred to UF, also facing a sit-out season. Together, the two bonded during the '19-20 season, working out and hanging out when the Gators were on the road, and providing invaluable experience and depth to a scout team during practices, all the while being woven into the program's culture.
But there was more.
Despite having to sit out the season, Duruji was named by his coaches (along with sophomore guard Noah Locke) to the first-year Gator Leadership Experience council, a group of athletes from all UF sports that met once a month with Athletic Director Scott Stricklin and various guests to talk, brainstorm and share ideas about the art of leading.
"That meant a lot to me," he said.
It was endeavor that was in Duruji's wheelhouse. Thoughtful beyond his years (Duruji meets regularly with a spiritual advisor), this was another opportunity to further enlighten his ability to influence; to grow and mature on a different front.
Duruji soldiered for the scout team during his NCAA sit-out season in '19-20 and was a passionate cheerleader (and sometimes dancer) on the bench during games.
"One of the things that stands out about him is his character. He relies on it so much," Appleby said. "When someone is slacking off, he'll say something. When he's slacking off, he wants us to tell him. He wants that type of talk — welcomes it, encourages it — between teammates. Honest talk, both giving and taking criticism."
The fact that his voice carried so much weight, with no minutes on the floor to back it up, spoke as loudly as anything Duruji might say. And he has a lot to say.
"It's the stuff he says and the way he says it and challenges his teammates," White said. "He leads at a high level in that regard. Always the voice of reason."
Now, finally, comes a chance to lead through actions.
PLAYING HIS ROLE
So, what will an Anthony Duruji stat line look like for the Gators?
An accurate answer is difficult to project, right now. The Florida rotation — which is expected to start with returnees Johnson and either Omar Payne or Michigan transfer Colin Castleton up front, with Lewis, Locke and Tre Mann on the perimeter — will work itself out during the non-conference season, but Duruji will be solidly in the mix as the first or second guy off the bench.
The UF coaches, right now, would gladly take, say, eight points and five rebounds, mixed with the occasional splash play that'll makes O'Dome fans (even if it's just 2,200 of them) gasp with wonder. But he certainly can provide more than that.
For now, his he coaches want to see him more activity on the glass and a more consistent motor. Those are things Duruji can control. His desire to play at the highest level of college basketball come with expectations to play, one day, at an even higher level than that. But he also has expectations for this team.
"Both of those expectations matchup. If I play my role, do my job and have success, I can help us max out as a team," Duruji said. "I'm a competitor, so obviously I want to start. That's what I've trained for, but I'm also not here just to get mine. At the end of the day I want to win and do what I can to put this team in position to succeed."
That means defense. That means rebounding. That means energy.
Ask the UF coaches and they'll say it also means an appearance (preferably a consistent one) from "Nasty Duruji."
"I like it when he gets mad. He plays better," associate head coach Al Pinkins said. "We saw it the other day."
Oh yeah. That was when Duruji and forward Osayi Osifo, the 6-7, 225-pound junior-college transfer, mixed it up and eventually went nose to nose before cooler heads prevailed.
The Duruji family surrounds Anthony at his graduation from St. Andrew's Episcopal in Potomac, Md. Though 6-7, he's still the baby in a very close-knit family.
That may not be the way Duruji is used to acting out on the floor, but it may be what he needs to do sometimes and what's best for the Gators most times. And, yes, he can do it and still be true to the person he sees in the mirror each day.
As his mother said: "I've told him to be calm out there. I've told him to not be showoff … but also don't be chicken."
Duruji definitely won't be that guy, either. His track record suggests he'll be one who figures things out along the way, while remaining true to his nice guy/good kid background.
With a dash of nasty.
"My passion is different than some other guys on this team and looks different, as well," Duruji said. "I'm not a real rah-rah guy, but if there are ways to get better and become more of a killer on the court I'm going to have to do that, if that means maxing out my potential, for me as a player and for this team."
