Donte Has Been Dominating

Ron Bailey, Publisher

Balimore's Donte Greene, a 'Cuse commit planning to play small forward for Jim Boeheim, shooting at the line during the recent Triple Threat Shootout.

June 8, 2006 – Donte Greene, the 6’8”, 215lb Team Melo and Towson Catholic High School frontcourt stalwart, has been a very busy young man. Despite being a two-time Baltimore All-Met, Greene is continuously improving, and in the process staked a legitimate claim to being one of the best players in the nation.

At the recent Triple Threat Shootout, Greene shared his development on the hardwood “comes from long, long, very long hours in the gym, you know”. On a typical school day after he “studies for exams” Donte “goes straight to the gym and stays there until about 11 o’clock at night”. In those sessions he works on his “ball handling, jump shot, everything”.

To use a jazz term for working on one’s skills, Dante’s ‘shedding’ or secluding oneself to concentrate on improvement has been highly succesful. In his particular case, the focus has becoming more comfortable away from the basket, as he “is trying to play the three (small forward) in college”. In addition to playing in space, Greene focused on increasing his ability to finish around the hoop, through contact. “That was a thing a lot of recruiters and people told me I needed to learn how to finish with the contact” he said. “That’s why I worked with a physical trainer, with pads and everything. I got in there and got really physical. It helped me out”.

Both the ability to play away from the hoop and attack the tin has been in ample display this AAU season, with Team Melo’s recent close championship game loss to Triple Threat being a prime example (click here for coverage). In route to scoring nine points, corralling a number of rebounds, dishing assists, and rejecting three shots, Greene not only posted in the high and low areas, but roamed the baseline, at times played a point forward position, and performed well from baseline to basleling - including making back to back, coast to coast plays in the first half: The first was initiated after a blocked shot and saw him earn a trip to the charity stripe after dribbling full court, while during the second Donte nabbed a board, and subsequently advanced the ball court length, only to score in transition.

Greene, in Team Melo silks

He even illustrated a large measure of toughness, absorbing considerable contact in attempting to draw a charge. The collision injured his leg in the process, forcing Greene to limp off, only to return and almost lead his team to victory.

As a junior last season at Towson Catholic, Greene played similarly, anchoring a youth laden team and averaging 23 points, 12 boards, 4 blocks, and 3 assists per contest. He is full of optimism for next year, expecting Towson Catholic to supersede last year’s second place position in both the Baltimore Catholic League, and Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference tournaments. “We return everybody from our starting lineup”, which had no seniors, said Greene. “We are looking to be ranked in the nation, to do a lot of things. We are trying to get up there”.

On the personal front, as all players do, the young man has set his sights on playing in prestigious postseason all-star games; and he has a legitimate shot of participating in them. “I’m shooting for the Jordan (Classic) and McDonald All-American games” he stated.

In terms of immediate development, Donte feels “I’m not where I want to be as far as ball handling, but my most important thing right now is strength. Desiring to bulk up to around 225lbs before entering Syracuse University and the Big East as a college freshman next summer, Greene shared “I can feel it, I’m getting stronger, but it’s the me getting bigger part. That’s going to be hard, because it doesn’t run in my family. We will get strong, but not necessarily big”.

Helping him reach those goals this summer is the staff at Team Melo. Donte started playing at the Mt. Royal (Team Melo’s recreation center home and foundation) as a youngster, went to live in Europe for several years, and upon return started to once again play there. According to him “Coach (Darrel) Corbett has always been there”. Having worked with Corbett and Carlton “Bubb” Carrington extensively, Greene indicated Team Melo “is like family to me”.

And as with family, tough love measures are at times utilized. This includes periodically restricting media access to Team Melo players, in an effort to force the young guys to focus. “He’s (Corbett) real big on focusing” revealed Donte. “He doesn’t want a whole bunch of distractions or anything with anybody. He drives home the focus with us”.

Check back with i95Ballerz.com for updates on Greene. During a busy AAU schedule where he has played in numerous tournaments, including the Memorial Day Classic (click here for coverage), Donte plans to participate in the the Peach Jam, the Nike Camp, and likely other high profile events. To paraphrase him, he’s getting up there.