Feb. 19, 2008

The Nova Notebook, by Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan, appears during the basketball season with features highlighting the men's basketball team. In this out-take we spend time with Dwayne Anderson, a junior whose role has expanded in recent weeks.

Of Villanova's four captains, the role of mentor may come most naturally to Dwayne Anderson. Dante Cunningham is the youngest in a family of two and Scottie Reynolds has older brothers and sisters. Shane Clark has always looked to Kyle Lowry as an older brother.

But Anderson is the oldest of Dwayne Anderson Sr. and Michelle Anderson's three children. And when the minutes did not come in his first two seasons on campus - he averaged just 7.1 mpg in 37 contests as a freshman and sophomore - his two younger brothers, David and Darian, were never far from his thoughts.

"I just had to keep pushing," he says of the moments, particularly in 2006-07, when he contemplated his basketball future. "I have two younger brothers and I didn't want them to see me as a quitter."

There were, in fact, voices encouraging Anderson to move on at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. After a debut campaign of watching the likes of Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry in the backcourt in 2005-06, Anderson believed that his turn would come as a sophomore. But after an early 18-point explosion against Iowa in the U.S. Virgin Islands in November, Anderson's role shrank as the campaign unfolded - he played just 41 minutes in nine BIG EAST games and made his last appearance of the season on Feb. 28 at Connecticut.

With an outstanding crop of three freshmen who all play on the perimeter - Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Corey Stokes - ready to arrive in the fall of 2007, there were questions about what kind of role the 6-6 Anderson could expect to play in his final two seasons at Villanova.

"There were a lot of people that thought I should leave," Anderson recalls. "But I had to make the decision by myself - and I did."

Before doing so, Anderson huddled with Villanova head coach Jay Wright in his office. Most college basketball players go through a similar exercise at the end of each season. In this case there was a measure of urgency. If Anderson was entertaining the idea of an exit, he realistically needed to do so by the end of the spring semester.

Wright was direct. There were no promises about playing time made and the very real possibility existed that Anderson's role would not grow beyond what it already was.

After processing it all, Anderson, with the only vote that mattered, chose to stay.

"This place is different than anywhere else," he says, in explaining his choice. "There are so many places in college basketball that will tell you anything to get you to come there. All the coaches here are honest and they really care about you as a person - it's not just about wins and losses. It really is a family."

At the same time, Anderson made another, more subtle, decision. Wright and his staff had pushed the native of Silver Spring, Md., throughout his tenure to abandon a subdued on-court demeanor and bring constant energy. And while Anderson had always followed the rules and done his best, he had never fully abandoned his reserved nature on the court.

"We bumped heads for a while," states Anderson of his relationship with Wright as an underclassman. "My game has always been laid back. I was always trying to let the game come to me - let the action find me. That was the way I had always played and it had worked for me.

"Coach wants you to always be aggressive. I kind of had to re-create my game and it took me some time."

It wasn't long before the coaching staff took notice of the shift. Anderson's commitment and dedication became apparent in the off-season. Given his limited role on the court in his first two seasons, it was something of a surprise to outsiders when it was announced that he would join Clark, Cunningham and Reynolds, three rotation regulars, as a captain in 2007-08. Yet those in the program could see how easily leadership came to Anderson, who had the experience of being an older brother in his own family.

Though Anderson played well in practice, his role early in 2007-08 was only slightly larger than it had been a year ago. His best asset then was his versatility - the coaches used him at four positions depending on the matchup - and he made contributions. Yet it wasn't until a Jan. 19 victory at Syracuse, when he scored nine points and collected six rebounds, that Anderson's emergence began. Since that point he has averaged 22.1 minutes, 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per outing.

On Feb. 9, Anderson received his first career start. He scored 12 points that day and sank the game-winning 3-point field goal with 12 seconds left in a 72-70 victory over Seton Hall at the Pavilion. He has started both of the last two games and in each collected 10 rebounds, establishing a new career-high in that category.

"There is a long story on this," explained Wright. "Throughout his first couple of years here Dwayne was our greatest team representative off the court. I get emails all the time about what he does with kids and what he does on campus. Then when it came to on the court he was doing things his way.

"At the end of last year we talked about that and he wanted to be a part of what we're doing even if that meant he wasn't going to play a lot. We knew we were going to ride the young kids this year but Dwayne kept working in practice and has been so dominant in practice that he earned the start. We had to start him and he's been awesome."

Anderson is the first to suggest that there is work to be done. Six regular season games remain, beginning on Wednesday night against West Virginia at the Pavilion, and much can still be achieved. Yet he will concede that there is a measure of satisfaction in knowing that he has carved an on-court niche for himself on the Main Line.

"I do appreciate this," he says.

So too does his family.

"I can hear how happy my mom is for me in her voice when we talk on the phone," he says. "She always told me that things would work out for me if I just stuck with it."

Now Anderson is focused on helping guide his young teammates to success.

"We had a rough patch there for a few weeks," he says. "But we have come through it stronger. The trust is there on defense and we still have a chance to do a lot of exciting things, this year and next. We're still a young team."

One with a leader whose very college career demonstrates the value of perseverance.