DeShawn Painter: The Story Behind the Story

DeShawn Painter's name came out of nowhere about a month ago when a few things suddenly changed. Once thought to be attending Florida as a member of the 2010 class, Painter got his act together, pulled up his grades and began looking for a school where he could contribute immediately. Enter NC State where Sidney Lowe was looking to bring in some upper echelon ACC talent and well, you know the rest of the story. What you may not know is the story behind the story on DeShawn Painter.

Painter grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, 20 minutes outside of Virginia beach where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. Painter always had the size and the upside that made college coaches salivate, but early on it was about getting an opportunity to get the ball in his hands. As a freshman and sophomore he was not the focal point of Mighty Bookers' offense even though he was a 5 star prospect at the time. That role belonged to Myles Holley, a 6'5 combo guard who ended up taking the JUCO route and will be joining the Nebraska Cornhuskers next season as a sophomore. After the departure of Holley, the Mighty Bookers, scouts, and college coaches everywhere were waiting to see what Painter could really do now that he had the lead role. That is when things started to unravel.

Coming into his Junior season, after a great showing for Team USA over the summer, Painter was ranked as high as #11 in the nation by some scouting services, college coaches were calling and the offers were starting to pile up. With the pressure mounting, his team ranked #3 in the nation, along with all of the other things that come with being a nationally recognized player, Painter had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He wanted to stay close to home to attend college but the pull from outside influences began to wear on him. His work in the classroom began to slip and his game wasn't far behind, as he averaged a very human 14 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks per game on the public school circuit. These numbers were on the low end of the scale of what many felt Painter was capable of. After his Junior season, with pressure weighing on the young phenom, he decided he needed to make a move. He was too good to let this happen, so he talked to those close to him and made an announcement.

Deshawn announced that he would not attend Booker T. Washington for his senior season and that he would enroll at Hargrave Military Academy.

“I talked to Vernon Macklin, and I talked to a couple of other people about it, and they told me Hargrave would be a good fit for me,” said Painter. “I know going there will get me ready for college. Plus, there’s just too many distractions around here with people coming at me from all angles. I just want to get away and just focus on basketball and school. I think this will help me as far as my future,” said Painter, who was first-team All-Eastern District but did not make first- or second-team All-Eastern Region or All-Tidewater as a junior.”

The announcement of the transfer to Hargrave, a Military Academy that many prospects use as a way to ready themselves for the rigorous lifestyle of a college athlete, seemed to be just the medicine that Painter needed. That summer Painter blew up the way scouts all over the nation had envisioned as he led his Boo Williams AAU team to the title at the Boo Williams Invitational.

“I thought that I played good and had a solid weekend,” said Painter. “On a scale of ten I was probably a seven and a half of eight. I rebounded, hustled and just worked hard. I was just having fun out there and working.”

He entered Hargrave with an new attitude and a new work ethic. Deshawn joined a team that was all ready littered with D-1 talent including: Freddie Riley (UMASS), Maurice Creek (Indiana), Adrien Lucienne (Cincinnati), Evan Gordan (Duquesne), Luke Hancock (George Mason), Chris Braswell (UNC-Charlotte) and Alex Newsome (Navy). With all those stars it was surely going to be interesting to see what kind of impact Painter would have, and would give college coaches a better idea of what they can expect at the next level. To say the least, Painter did not disappoint on the court, or in the classroom. With prior grades that had many thinking he'd need to reclassify as a 2010 prospect, Painter turned it up a notch and get his grades right and is on track to graduate on time in 2009. Here a the stats we were able to track down for Deshawn.

11-3-08 Guilfod Tech CC (8pts, 8rbs)
11-11-08 Roanoke College (10pts)
11-13-08 Louisberg Tourny (12pts)
11-14-08 Louisberg Tourny (9pts, 6rbs)
11-18-08 Patrick Henry CC (12pts, 15rbs)
1-11-09 Averett University (11pts, 9rebs)
1-26-09 Virginia Wester CC (10pts, 10rebs)

That is only a small sample, but as you know, tracking down high school stats is no easy task. However, the stats Deshawn put up were impressive to say the least as he showed that he could contribute on offense, while utterly dominating the boards against some pretty good talent. Night in and night out Hargrave plays other big time prep schools and Community Colleges as well as national tournaments. The play of Painter, considering the talent he was facing and the amount of talent on his own team, showed college coaches that DeShawn is the player they once envisioned but his upside might be no where close to being reached.

ESPN had this to say about the Pack's pick-up of Painter:

"In Painter, N.C. State has a big man that gives a good amount of effort and has tremendous upside. He uses his good, quick leaping ability to rebound the basketball, especially on the offensive end, and finish above the rim in traffic."

Painter is developing an outside game which could make him a matchup nightmare over the next few seasons.

"DeShawn has an emerging perimeter game with his rapidly improving ability to connect on jumpers. He also uses his leaping ability and high motor to block shots and take charge of the lane defensively. As he improves his footwork and moves with his back to the basket, Painter could develop into a very good interior player in the ACC."

Now that the wild ride of his recruitment has come to an end, Painter looks for a new beginning at NC State, under a coach who he feels can help mold him into the NBA talent he believes he can be.

*quotes from Virginian-Pilot article, and ESPN blog