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Article from our new assistant's playing days
Posted on: August 16, 2016 at 08:32:16 CT
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http://www.dailyeasternnews.com/2005/02/02/topcat-tough-neighborhood-spawns-tough-panther/
Senior Guard Emanuel Dildy grew up in a rough neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, but instead of falling into the way of the street, with the help of his family, Dildy chose to make something of himself.
Dildy turned to basketball under the guidance of his father and three uncles who all played college ball.
The 6-foot senior guard has two younger brothers who both play basketball at King High School in Chicago, and he said he calls them up and gives them advice on their games.
“I’m hard on them,” Dildy said. “Just like my uncles and dad were hard on me.”
Dildy said all his dad and uncles’ coaching did was make him stronger.
Assistant coach Mike Church said the strongest part of Dildy’s game is his overall toughness, something Dildy said the streets of Chicago helped him acquire.
Being Dildy’s size on the south side of Chicago, he had no choice but to develop some type of toughness.
“You always hear that ‘you’re the shortest guy on the team thing’ around campus,” Dildy said.
What those people don’t realize is that he’s played basketball with bigger guys all his life. He said all the time spent playing with bigger players forced him to develop ways to succeed on the court.
“Us small guys gotta have some tricks in the bag,” he said.
A couple weeks ago Dildy’s tricks didn’t seem to be working as he found himself in quite a slump.
Last week Dildy broke out of that slump and scored 19 points against Samford and 22 points against Jacksonville State.
In those two games Dildy shot over 50 percent from the three-point field. He made eight of his 10 free-throw attempts and had 10 assists and only three turnovers.
“When we came back home, it helped a lot,” Dildy said. “We had a lot of fan support, and it’s cool to play in front of a nice crowd.”
Dildy’s played in front of plenty of crowds. He went to three different high schools: Mt. Carmel in Chicago for his first two years, King for his junior year and then a prep school in Boston for a summer.
“I’ve been all over the place,” Dildy said.
Before he got used to playing in front of the Blue Crew, he played at New Mexico State University.
Dildy started about half of the games as a freshman for NMSU, but in his second season his minutes decreased when his coach brought in another point guard from Phoenix.
Dildy said that’s when he and his coach started to have a difference of opinion, and they both felt it would be best if Dildy went elsewhere.
“Elsewhere” turned out to be Eastern.
Dildy had to sit out a season before he could step in last year and start 17 games for the Panthers. But it was hard for Dildy to adjust. He said NMSU didn’t really run motion; it ran more set offense.
“It was a huge adjustment to be a point guard in Eastern’s system,” Dildy said. “Last year was a learning process.”
Dildy said the offense wasn’t the only thing that was hard to get used to.
Even though he is from Chicago, he said he got used to New Mexico weather.
Senior Guard Emanuel Dildy grew up in a rough neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, but instead of falling into the way of the street, with the help of his family, Dildy chose to make something of himself.
Dildy turned to basketball under the guidance of his father and three uncles who all played college ball.
The 6-foot senior guard has two younger brothers who both play basketball at King High School in Chicago, and he said he calls them up and gives them advice on their games.
“I’m hard on them,” Dildy said. “Just like my uncles and dad were hard on me.”
Dildy said all his dad and uncles’ coaching did was make him stronger.
Assistant coach Mike Church said the strongest part of Dildy’s game is his overall toughness, something Dildy said the streets of Chicago helped him acquire.
Being Dildy’s size on the south side of Chicago, he had no choice but to develop some type of toughness.
“You always hear that ‘you’re the shortest guy on the team thing’ around campus,” Dildy said.
What those people don’t realize is that he’s played basketball with bigger guys all his life. He said all the time spent playing with bigger players forced him to develop ways to succeed on the court.
“Us small guys gotta have some tricks in the bag,” he said.
A couple weeks ago Dildy’s tricks didn’t seem to be working as he found himself in quite a slump.
Last week Dildy broke out of that slump and scored 19 points against Samford and 22 points against Jacksonville State.
In those two games Dildy shot over 50 percent from the three-point field. He made eight of his 10 free-throw attempts and had 10 assists and only three turnovers.
“When we came back home, it helped a lot,” Dildy said. “We had a lot of fan support, and it’s cool to play in front of a nice crowd.”
Dildy’s played in front of plenty of crowds. He went to three different high schools: Mt. Carmel in Chicago for his first two years, King for his junior year and then a prep school in Boston for a summer.
“I’ve been all over the place,” Dildy said.
Before he got used to playing in front of the Blue Crew, he played at New Mexico State University.
Dildy started about half of the games as a freshman for NMSU, but in his second season his minutes decreased when his coach brought in another point guard from Phoenix.
Dildy said that’s when he and his coach started to have a difference of opinion, and they both felt it would be best if Dildy went elsewhere.
“Elsewhere” turned out to be Eastern.
Dildy had to sit out a season before he could step in last year and start 17 games for the Panthers. But it was hard for Dildy to adjust. He said NMSU didn’t really run motion; it ran more set offense.
“It was a huge adjustment to be a point guard in Eastern’s system,” Dildy said. “Last year was a learning process.”
Dildy said the offense wasn’t the only thing that was hard to get used to.
Even though he is from Chicago, he said he got used to New Mexico weather.
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Article from our new assistant's playing days - FIJItiger MU - 8/16 08:32:16