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Douby's Faith Repaid in Kind: Rutgers Rolls: Leaving Seemed Tempting Last Season. Now He Leads a Resurgence

Posted on: Wednesday, 11 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Shannon Ryan, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jan. 11--Quincy Douby did not just hear whispers suggesting he should transfer from Rutgers after a dismal 10-19 season last year. People were loud and clear when they told him he should retreat for greener, more successful pastures.

Why stay at Rutgers? You'd be a star on another team. Don't you want to win?

Douby admits it all sounded appealing. Rumors grew rampant, but he decided to stay.

Now, everything those so-called advisers told him he would find at another school he has achieved at Rutgers.

Douby, a 6-foot-3 junior shooting guard, leads the Big East with 23.2 points per game. He has helped Rutgers (11-3, 1-0 Big East) already surpass its win total from last season.

"You know it's going to be in your head when the season is going that way," Douby said about leaving. "You see teams where you would do good, but I wasn't just going to abandon my team. I feel like I made the right decision."

What could get better? A win tonight, when the Knights host No. 3 Villanova (10-1, 1-1) in a conference game at the sold-out RAC, which is likely to be another hostile arena for the Wildcats.

The Cats are coming off their first loss of the season, a 91-87 defeat at home to No. 24 West Virginia. The Knights are hoping to win their third straight and remain undefeated in the conference, not to mention prove themselves a legitimate turnaround team.

Villanova's shooters, including the Big East's second-leading scorer in Randy Foye (21 points per game), take turns ripping up opponents.

There is no doubt Douby is the Knights' go-to man. Students wear "I Douby-lieve" T-shirts as an expression of faith in the thin player, whose big shot is matched only by his big smile.

Another who had confidence in Douby is associate coach Fred Hill Jr.

Word that Hill, who was an assistant at Villanova the previous four years, was joining the staff helped influence Douby to stick around this year.

Through the summer, Hill worked on developing Douby, known mostly as a long-range jump shooter.

"It's all Quincy," Hill said. "He has become a complete player. People ask me to compare him and Randy Foye. They're both great kids, hard workers, coachable, and put the time and effort in to improve their game."

After Douby averaged 15.1 points per game last season, his shooting is up from 39 percent then to 47 percent this season. He scored 27 points in a 67-53 win over Temple this season.

While bumping his rebounding from 2.4 boards per game to 4.5 this year, Douby has already matched his steal total (35) from last season.

That could be key, considering Villanova turned the ball over 22 times against the Mountaineers.

Villanova coach Jay Wright is not surprised at Douby's play. As Hofstra's head coach, Wright recruited Douby out of Grady High in Brooklyn.

"I was just immediately amazed at a young age how well he could shoot the ball," Wright said. "I'd watch him at practice make 15 threes in a row... . He's continued to improve."

Last year, in a 94-61 win over Rutgers, the Wildcats shut down Douby, who went 0 for 7 from the floor.

Such off games frustrated Douby. In addition, the Knights suffered a 2-14 conference record, Douby came off the bench, and he had a rough relationship with some coaches.

"Last year was just not good," he said. "We didn't have the pieces we needed. There were off-the-court and on-the-court issues."

On a young team that starts two freshmen, Douby has flourished with added responsibility. Coach Gary Waters says Douby is in the best shape of his career -- both mentally and physically.

"He's committed to his development," Waters said. "The young guys defer to Quincy. It was hard last year, when sometimes we didn't know who to defer to. This makes him realize he's a leader on the team."

Contact staff writer Shannon Ryan at 215-854-5503 or sryan@phillynews.com.

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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