Former Richards Basketball Standout McDaniel Shining Example of Making Most of Circumstances

Demetrius McDaniel doesn’t like to think about what his life would be like today if he hadn’t played basketball at Richards High School.

The 1998 graduate lost count of the addresses he had growing up in shady parts of Chicago and longed for stability.

“Playing basketball at Richards meant the world to me,” McDaniel said. “It saved my life. It gave me something to love besides myself. It changed my life because I found people that loved me, were wonderful role models and father figures.”

McDaniel’s life changed for the better when he moved from the city to Robbins and lived with his brothers, including stepbrother Dwyane Wade, who would go on to become an NBA star with the Miami Heat.

McDaniel's new address offered him a sense of security. At his new high school, Richards, he found a sense of “home.”

“Robbins can be pretty bad itself, but it didn’t even compare to where I lived in the city,” McDaniel said. “It was a little bit of an adjustment period. I didn’t have any friends before. I always had basketball to lean on. Since I was pretty good, people wanted to play with me and I made some friends. My social life got a lot better.”

McDaniel, with the support of current Richards head coach John Chappetto, former coach Jack Fitzgerald and longtime assistant Gary Adams, emerged as one of the top players in program history.

He was a three-year varsity starter and is the school’s second all-time leading scorer (1,432 points) and ranks third in rebounds (504).

“When I got to Richards, I just wanted to make the team,” said McDaniel, who is currently Chappetto’s varsity assistant coach. “I just wanted to be a key contributor. After my sophomore year, John Chappetto, who was my (sophomore coach) when I was a freshman pulled me into his office. My grades were not good at all. He told me, ‘You’re the best player in the school.’ Once he told me that, I started getting good grades and was more cocky and confident as a player. I decided I wanted to try and make a life out of basketball.”

McDaniel responded to the pep talk by becoming an all-conference selection his junior season and then earned all-state honors as a senior when he led the Bulldogs to their first sectional championship.

“I’ve never seen anybody that loves basketball like he loves it,” Chappetto said. “It makes him happy and, because of that, everyone around him gets a piece of that happiness.”

Lingering Memory of Richards Basketball

Richards finished 28-2 in McDaniel’s senior season, but the second loss haunted him for a long time.

The Bulldogs lost to Joliet Township 64-63 in the East Aurora Super-Sectional to fall one win shy of their first state appearance.

Richards anticipated a rematch with Hillcrest, which handed the Bulldogs their only regular-season loss, but Joliet edged the Hawks 85-83 in Joliet Township Sectional final.

“We felt like we were the better team,” McDaniel said. “We were looking forward to playing Hillcrest again, but they lost to Joliet and that kind of deflated us. It was a difficult situation. It still sits with me today.”

Despite the loss, McDaniel knows he played a key role in putting the Richards basketball team on the map.

He remembers walking through the halls of Richards and marveling at the numerous photos of the all-state football players lining the walls until he joined the club as the first all-state basketball player.

“All I wanted to do was start something special,” McDaniel said. “Richards was known for football and people didn’t know about basketball, but they know about Richards basketball now.”

Put me in Coach: Wade's Rise to Fame

Throughout the memorable 1998 season, fans were clamoring for the promotion of a sophomore sensation to the varsity.

Dwyane Wade was dazzling crowds at the sophomore level, but couldn’t crack the senior-dominated varsity roster.

“He was smart about it,” McDaniel said. “He knew if he got called up early and didn’t get playing time, he wasn’t going to get it late. It was tough for him, but he didn’t want to be the reason we lost. He didn’t want to make mistakes that cost us. I think if coach (Fitzgerald) played him early he definitely would’ve helped the team. He could’ve played a little point for us. He understood the coaches’ thinking and knew we had a lot of guys that had been there a while playing together.”

Wade, who starred at Marquette and is a seven-time NBA All-Star, grew four inches in the summer before his junior year and averaged 20.7 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. As a senior, he averaged 27.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, setting single-season records for points scored (676) and steals (106), but still ranks behind Cody Yelder and McDaniel in career scoring.

Wade was a talented football player and believes he could’ve had an NFL career, but the influence of McDaniel changed his mind about what sport to focus on.

McDaniel, who was the "big man on campus" as a senior, says he had a bigger influence on his younger brother off the court.

“He sat back and watched the things I did and the things I shouldn’t have done,” McDaniel said. “He took the good and accepted the bad things I did. He knew I messed up at times and he couldn’t do that. I tried to help him since I didn’t always have that along the way.”

McDaniel recently returned from a trip to Miami to help at Richards’ summer basketball camp.

He didn’t attend any of the Miami Heat playoff games this season, but has talked to Wade since Miami was upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

“He’s fine,” McDaniel said. “He said it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. They got to go to the NBA Finals in their first year together (with LeBron James and Chris Bosh). Now they know the pieces they need and they’re going to go for it next year.”

COMING THURSDAY: Log on at 6 a.m. Thursday to learn more about what Demetrius McDaniel is doing nowadays. Richards coach John Chappetto talks about the attributes that make him an ideal assistant.