VCU Ram Report

t one me, Darius James was a thorn in VCU's side. As a point guard for Old Dominion from 2007-2011, he led the Monarchs through some legendary ba les on the court with VCU. He finished his career with 960 points and handed out 454 assists – and a 6-5 record against VCU. A na ve of Virginia Beach, James received his bachelor's degree in counseling in 2011 and added a master's in higher educa on and athle c administra on from Old Dominion in 2013. This summer, he joined the VCU Athle c Department's academic advising team. RR: First of all, let's talk about what a student- athlete development coordinator does. DJ: Basically, I help with all of the community outreach for all the student-athletes for all the sports. And then I also do student-athlete de- velopment, which is includes helping them with resume wri ng and securing internships. I also teach a University 101 class called "Introduc on to College." That's for all the freshman student- athletes. Ed [McLaughlin] is really big on ge ng out in the community, so we've been doing a lot of those types of things. RR: How did you end up in student-athlete development? DJ: I graduated in 2011 from ODU with my bach- elor's in counseling. I could've gone to Germany to play. I had an offer. But I talked to Coach [Blaine] Taylor - he sat down with all the seniors and asked them what they were interested in doing next – and I told him I was interested in working in athle cs, something along the lines of athle c administra on. He said if I wanted to do that, I should go get my master's degree. So, I went straight through, got my master's in higher educa on and athle c administra on. I kind of wanted to get out of Old Dominion because I wanted to see something else, and so I applied a lot of places. The last place I applied was actually VCU. I looked at this posi on and said, this is a good posi on…I said, once I go there, I'm pre y sure I'll run into somebody that I know or that knows me. I'll take that as a plus. Some people might take it as a minus. I'll take it as a plus. RR: Why is student-athlete development so im- portant to you? DJ: That's something that I like doing, because I have two older brothers, and they always used to tell me, use basketball. Use it as a tool, as something that can get you somewhere to do different things. A lot of student-athletes come to school and they're thinking they're going to be here, and it's going to be a long me, and they don't realize the me is going to go like this. It's going to go by so fast. You go, you have fun, but at the same me, you've got to use the different experiences you get as a student-athlete to your advantage. RR: What are some of the more rewarding events you've been involved in since you came to VCU? DJ: For the Student-Athlete Advisory Commit- tee (SAAC), we've been to over 10 elementary schools to speak and read to them. That's some- thing that's always rewarding. I created these Ram Na on wristbands. Those are going to be at all the different home events .You donate $1 to SAAC, and with that money we're going to buy gradua on medals for senior student-athletes to wear at their gradua on ceremony. Also, we're going to take a part of the money and donate it to Ginter Park Elementary School, which is one of the schools we visited. Their blacktop is damaged and their basketball goal is damaged. It's really bad. They have a goal of raising $3,000 for new blacktop and basketball goal. I challenged SAAC to try to raise this money for the school because they opened their doors for us many mes to go and talk to their kids. We've raised money for the Massey Cancer Center. We raised canned goods for the Central Virginia Food Bank. RR: What do you sense the student-athletes get- ng out of these experiences? DJ: It's different reac ons. We have a lot of student-athletes that are interna onal students. So, for them to come and go to schools and see certain things that they're probably not used to seeing, I feel like it's good for them to see it so they can see how good they have it as a student- athlete at VCU, because the student-athletes are treated pre y well. So, for them to see the needs of the community, I think is good. And I think the student-athletes from here, from the Hampton Roads area, they know. They know that it's beneficial to the kids, talking to the kids. It means a lot to the kids, who look up to all the VCU student-athletes in this area. They look at them as stars. So, for them to go out and talk to them, it's means a lot to the kids, and I look forward to doing it more. RR: You used to come into this building and get booed. What's it like working here? DJ: It's new. It's crazy because I've been here so many mes. I'm used to coming in here and all eyes were on us. Now, I'm here, and I'm on the other side, and it's kind of like I've got diploma c immunity. They kind of look and say, 'Is that really him?' I tell everyone, I have a different view for VCU. I understand how things work. But, I talked to Coach Smart. He was one of the first people I talked to when I came. He said, we shared a lot of ba les, but he's happy I'm here. He's happy to see a student-athlete, even if it's someone from a rival school or it's someone you competed against so much, doing something good. He said, you know, but you've got Old Dominion coming here Dec. 8. So, you just want to keep that in mind. RR: You played during the most heated periods in the VCU-ODU rivalry. How good were those games? DJ: That was when it was at its best, man. We had so many ba les. It was just fun. We always got up to play them, no ma er what. No ma er what type of season they were having, no ma er what type of season we were having. When we went to go play against VCU it was 0-0. I always tell everyone, all the games I played in, the VCU games were always the most fun. Because the environment was just crazy, especially coming here. The Siegel Center was my favorite place to play because of the fans. RR: What was your favorite VCU-ODU game from that period? DJ: My junior year (2009-10) in the CAA semifi- nals. We were down 12 with about seven min- utes le and we came back and won in over me (73-69) and then won the championship. They had us up against the ropes. DARIUS JAMES Student-Athlete Development Coordinator, SAAC Advisor Q+A STAFF SPOTLIGHT

• Cover