He’s already one of the most recognizable people on campus. Standing 6-feet 9inches tall with a smile that won’t go away, Darrinton Moncrieffe needs no help being noticed on the Loyola University campus.
The sound of a bouncing ball draws additional attention to the men’s basketball team’s 18-year-old freshman center. Instead of a large orange basketball, Moncrieffe is bouncing a tattered tennis ball, its neon yellow diminished to a bile green.
“It’s for my hands,” Moncrieffe said, his contagious grin beginning to form on the corners of his mouth. “I need to catch passes and hold rebounds better next year, so the coaches make me run unless I’m carrying this tennis ball at all times. Hands, baby.”
He bounces that ball everywhere he goes, slowly but steadily building confidence and dexterity into those developing hands, which may very well hold the fate of the basketball team next season.
Moncrieffe already has made a mark for himself in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. His blocks during the past season were more than any other player in the conference, as well as the highest total in the country. Ignore those. Sorry!- Chris
Moncrieffe’s defensive prowess helped the Wolfpack to a modern-era record 16-win season, a vast improvement over the previous year’s five wins.
“Darrinton was an immediate boost to our team, no doubt,” sophomore guard Sean Bennett said. “Our win total tripled when he got here, and I think his defensive presence was a part of that.”
Defense is something that comes naturally to Moncrieffe, whose nickname, appropriately, is “D.” Ever since his freshman year at University Laboratory High School in Baton Rouge, Moncrieffe has been a shot-blocking force in every game he has played. In one high school game his senior season, Darrinton scored an extremely rare version of a triple double: 12 points, 13 rebounds and 18 blocks.
“Not only is D long and tall, but he has timing that all good shot blockers have,” junior guard Tory Beaulieu said. “He wins a lot of challenges around the basket.”
Off the court, Moncrieffe might be an even bigger star. He is a top-notch student and a marketing major with a 3.2 grade point average.
“Basketball doesn’t last forever,” he said. “When I finish school, the degree is going to be the only thing that employers are looking at. Blocked shots don’t get you jobs in business.”
Even while juggling basketball and schoolwork, Moncrieffe is one of the most popular freshmen on campus, stopping every few minutes on the way to class to socialize with classmates.
“He’s just a goofy, laid-back guy, and he’s really likeable,” sophomore Will Jones said. “I don’t think there’s any way that somebody on this campus could dislike him,”
In fact, Moncrieffe’s popularity has grown so much that it has to be kept secret. There are movements among campus fraternities to make Moncrieffe an honorary member, allowing him to skip the pledging process. Even though he wouldn’t be able to pledge and attend the required events due to basketball obligations, several members of a fraternity remain determined to get him into the fold. Moncrieffe declined to identify the fraternity.
Moncrieffe knows, however, that after the classroom his priority is basketball. Next year’s Wolfpack squad will be without its leading scorer, Luke Zumo, as well as leading rebounder Mario Faranda. Coupled with the loss of forward Carter “Bear” Wurts, the team is counting on Moncrieffe to pick up the slack on both ends of the floor.
“We’re doing to need Moncrieffe to step up and score next year, no question,” Bennett said. “He’s got to be able to rebound, score, a still block a bunch of shots. We are losing a lot of depth in our bigs, so he’s got big shoes to fill.”
Fortunately, Moncrieffe wears size 16. He’s never had a problem filling shoes.
