Darnell, Tribe, make history

DAVID DRIVER / Stafford County Sun
Published: March 12, 2008

But Darnell did not catch a break when he signed up to play for coach Tony Shaver at William and Mary.

So how are the two coaches alike-

"Coach Shaver is a perfectionist when it comes to execution. My dad is like that," said Darnell, who just finished his third season with the Tribe.

Shaver and the Tribe weren't perfect this past weekend, but they came close. William and Mary won three straight games in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament - all on last-second shots.

But William and Mary lost Monday night 68-59 at the Richmond Coliseum to George Mason in the CAA title game. Darnell came off the bench and had two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes for the No. 5 seed in a game nationally televised on ESPN.

The No. 3 seed Patriots gained an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament while the loss ends a historic year for Darnell and the Tribe.

It was the first time William and Mary ever advanced to the title game of the CAA. The Tribe has never appeared in the NCAA field.

The Tribe beat No. 12 Georgia State 58-57 in the quarterfinals on Friday at the CAA tournament as guard David Schneider hit a long 3-pointer with two seconds left. Last year Georgia State beat William and Mary on a last-second shot in the first round of the CAA tourney.

"What goes around comes around I guess," Darnell said after the game, standing outside the William and Mary locker room Friday. "David made a huge shot for us." Darnell, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, had one rebound in 10 minutes off the bench against Georgia State.

The Tribe advanced to play No. 4 seed Old Dominion on Saturday and won again on a last-second shot, this time by David Mann, in a 63-60 win over the Monarchs.

Darnell had three points and six rebounds in 20 minutes for the Tribe and his 3-pointer gave William and Mary a five-point lead midway through the second half.

William and Mary beat No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth, 56-54 in the semifinals. Last year, the Rams beat Duke in last year's NCAA Tournament.

William and Mary was 14-15 in the regular season and 10-8 in CAA play. The 10 wins in the CAA was just the second time William and Mary has done that.

Darnell averaged 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in regular-season play. He started 13 games and averaged 23.5 minutes per outing. Darnell, 21, averaged 2.6 points per game as a freshman and 1.9 as a sophomore in Williamsburg.

Shaver, named coach of the year in Colonial Athletic Association on March 7, has been impressed with the development of Darnell.

"Chris has had a good year," said Shaver, in his fifth season at the school. "He is a very versatile player, which I like. Offensively he is confident with the ball on the perimeter or inside. His future is very bright. He could be one of our key players next year."

"He is very skilled for his size," said Jim Corrigan, an assistant at Old Dominion. "He can shoot it."

Darnell was recruited by other schools but found out quickly William and Mary was the right fit.

"When I came down and visited the summer before my senior year I got a real good feel for the school," he said. "It is a great place for an education and a high level of basketball. I just wanted to be a part of that."

William and Mary is the most demanding academic school in the CAA.

"It is tough. You have to find a good balance with what works for you," Darnell said of balancing athletics and academics. "You have to manage your time well. There is not a lot of time for messing around and doing nothing."

"It is definitely what I hoped for," Darnell added. "When Mason made the Final Four (in 2006), our league really took off. It is always nice to play Mason, being from that area. I have a lot of friends from Mason."

The Tribe was 8-20 in his freshman season but improved to 15-15 last season.

Darnell scored a school-record 1,464 points and averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds per game for his father as a senior at North Stafford.

He also holds the school record for rebounds and blocks and was named an all-state selection by the Associated Press in Virginia at the Class AAA level.

His brother, Matt, was a standout this season for North Stafford in basketball.

Darnell has a grade-point average around 2.5 and is studying economics. He plans to spend part of this summer working out in Williamsburg and preparing for his senior season.

David Driver is a freelance writer who occasionally contributes articles to the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at .

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