DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Bid Farewell to Five Stalwart Seniors
3/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S BASKETBALL
CHICAGO - The five Blue Demon seniors are coming down the home stretch of their final season, signaling the culmination of their collegiate careers.
Billy Garrett Jr., Chris Harrison-Docks, R.J. Curington, Darrick Wood and Peter Ryckbosch have done all they could to help create a winning culture at DePaul. Along the way, they have endured grueling practices together and shared in all the time-management challenges and academic demands that student-athletes encounter in higher education.
They have also banded together through individual and team adversity, always trying to have their teammate's back and pushing towards a common goal. And now that the end is near, they will load up for one final run into the postseason as each game presents an opportunity to extend their careers.
Here are profiles of the Blue Demon class of 2017.
Billy Garrett Jr.: Epitome of Leadership and Character
Billy Garrett Jr. has been the face of DePaul basketball since he stepped onto the court in 2013. He has carried this team through wins and losses and been a great leader both on and off the court.
Garrett was in demand as a college prospect, and despite being recruited by other schools, he always seemed to have a soft spot in his heart for DePaul.
"I know a lot of people think it, but my dad being here wasn't the reason I came to DePaul," Garrett said. "I like everything DePaul has to offer. It's a place where I can reach my full potential athletically and academically. There was the chance to be good right away and make an immediate contribution to a program striving for a big turnaround. I liked the atmosphere and it felt like home."
His accomplishments are quite impressive and the list goes on and on. To start off his senior season, Garrett Jr. made Second Team Preseason All- BIG EAST, an honor that no other Blue Demon received. He used this accomplishment to his advantage and allowed it to propel him through the season.
Throughout his career, Garrett has used the free throw line like few in program history. The Chicago native set the school career free throw record with his 529th make on Jan. 31 against Georgetown. While working his way up the career lists for free throws, free throw attempts and free throw percentage, Garrett is the only player in school history with multiple no-miss games with at least 11 free throws.
On just 12 occasions, a DePaul player has recorded an 11-for-11 effort or better from the charity stripe with Garrett holding four of those occurrences. No other player in school history has accomplished the feat more than once. Last season, Garrett went 12-for-12 at Georgetown on Jan. 9, 2016 and also has a 13-for-13 game and two games of 11-for-11. All-time great Mark Aguirre has the most free throws without a miss with an 18-for-18 effort against Illinois State on March 1, 1980.
Through Feb. 11, Garrett's free throw percentage of .913 is second in the BIG EAST and ranked 10th in the nation. A closer look at the NCAA stats shows that Garrett's 137 made free throws are more than any other player ranked in the top 15 has even ATTEMPTED this season.
"The art of getting to the line and making defenders foul you isn't something that is focused on a lot in the game today," Garrett said. "So it is kind of cool to know that I have an old school flair to my game. It is an honor to be atop any list but especially to be on the top of a list at DePaul. It is an honor to be mentioned in the same breath as Stephen Howard, Tommy Kleinschmidt, Mark Aguirre. I am humbled.
"This team means a lot. I have been around these guys practically every day for the last four years, so naturally you build relationships with everyone around. We have been in practices together and I have seen the good, the bad, the ugly. That all just builds a bond between everybody that can't be broken. It is going to be weird to not be around those guys as often anymore.
"Mentally is where I have grown the most. Coming in, I approached basketball with an attitude of work hard and everything will work out. I still use that to this day, but I have learned how to deal with the ups and the downs a little bit better. It has affected me beyond basketball, and I can use it with the way I look at life. I have gotten to interact with a lot of different kinds of people since I have gotten here and it has helped me through it all.
"Playing basketball at DePaul has prepared me for life beyond basketball. I have had to deal with some ups and some downs, and I have been able to make it through it all. It kind of lets me know that I am prepared for whatever happens next."
Adding to his legacy of "Big Shot Billy," Garrett swished two free throws with less than a second left in lifting the Blue Demons to a 67-65 win at Georgetown. He tied a career high with 26 points against Seton Hall and scored 25 points against the Hoyas at Allstate Arena.
The next steps for Garrett will hopefully lead him to the NBA. This has always been his dream, and he hopes to be on the right track to get there.
"I plan on finishing out the season and then start working out," he said. "It is one of those things where you don't know exactly what is going to happen until you get to that point. But I will immediately start working out and finding someone to represent me. If I get invited to combines or if I get invited to work out for teams, I will go and take care of that and then work from there."
Garrett will walk the stage in the spring, and he will leave behind a legacy at DePaul that will never be forgotten.
Chris Harrison-Docks: Dangerous Perimeter Threat
This Blue Demon's specialty is connecting from long distance, and he was at his best in a 75-62 Feb. 13 setback to No. 2/2 Villanova at Allstate Arena.
Harrison-Docks scored a season-high 18 points that included a 4-of-9 shooting display from beyond the arc.
"It helps that I hit my first couple of shots," Harrison-Docks said. "My teammates were getting me the ball in good situations where I had open looks. After that first three-pointer goes in, you feel good about yourself. I had been putting in some extra work in the gym, and with a start like that, you just want to keep shooting.
"I can see the effect is has on the team. When I'm making shots from the perimeter, it opens things up for Billy Garrett Jr. and Eli Cain. They don't get as much attention from the defense."
Harrison-Docks' previous season high was 15 points against Creighton two days earlier in which he was 4-of-8 from distance and also contributed four steals. He scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting (4-for-5 from three-point range) against Drake and had 12 points going 3-of-5 from three-point range at Seton Hall.
"Earlier in the season, I passed up a lot of shots," Harrison-Docks said. "I need to shoot it the right way and make plays for my team.
"By being more aggressive, it helps our offense when I play that way. It frees up Billy Garrett Jr., Eli Cain and Tre'Darius McCallum. When the defense has to guard the perimeter, it opens up driving lanes for those three."
Harrison-Docks transferred to DePaul as a graduate student last June after playing three seasons as an undergraduate student at Western Kentucky. In 74 games with the Hilltoppers, the Okemos, Mich. native averaged 10.4 points per game while shooting 36.2 percent from three-point range. He was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 2014 and finished up at Western Kentucky with 158 three-pointers---ninth in school history.
Harrison-Docks has known DePaul Associate Head Coach Rick Carter since he was fifteen years old. Carter had been recruiting this guard from the time he started playing for the Michigan Mustangs on the AAU circuit when Carter was a coach for that organization at that time. He followed him throughout high school at Okemos High School.
It was in high school when Harrison-Docks became a three-time first team All-State guard, averaging 23 points, seven assists, six rebounds and nearly four steals as a senior. He finished his high school career with 1,426 points and Carter knew he was something special.
At this point, Carter was coaching at Western Michigan.
"As I was going into my sophomore year, coach Carter started to recruit me," Harrison-Docks said. "He told me he wouldn't let me come play for him at Western Michigan and that he would help me in any way to fulfill my potential. Most college coaches would never do that, so it showed how true and honest he was and therefore we stayed in contact."
Harrison-Docks finally found his collegiate home at Western Kentucky after transferring from Butler.
"I was going to go play for him at Missouri when I decided to transfer from Butler but he told me not to do that because he was leaving. He took the Xavier job and I went to Western Kentucky.
"He promised me that before I was done playing in college that he would coach me. We always talked about if we ever got together at the same place, good things would happen. I almost played for him at Missouri and at Western Michigan. When he found out I was graduating early from Western Kentucky, he asked me to come play for him at DePaul as a graduate student.
"He has meant so much to me over the years as a friend, a mentor, almost like a big brother. He is someone who has helped me become better as a player and a man. I am truly thankful we finally teamed up together at DePaul."
Harrison-Docks has looked to make contributions in any way he can.
"I feel like I can be an example by doing the little things like being on time, being respectful to coaches and staff, and doing whatever coach Dave Leitao is asking me to do in the game," he said. "Whether that be making shots or being out there to run the team.
"At this point in my career, it isn't about scoring 20 points every night. It's about helping to change something and start something new for a program to build on. Any way that I can contribute to do that, then that's my goal."
And now he has his sights set on a strong finish to his collegiate career.
"There are so many great people here at DePaul," he said. "My teammates and everyone else are always looking out for each other. My teammates are a great bunch of guys, and even though we haven't won a lot this season, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else.
"Even though we've struggled at times, we still have the most important part of the season coming up. Everybody starts all over at the BIG EAST tournament. We've been competitive all season and were just one, two, maybe three plays away from turning close losses into wins.
"If we stay together, eliminate our mistakes and play our best basketball of the season in Madison Square Garden, anything can happen. They call this March Madness for a reason, and I truly believe we can make a run in the conference tournament."
R.J. Curington: Maximizing His DePaul Experience
R.J Curington began his journey with DePaul on April, 17, 2013. Since then he has been a three-time member of the BIG-East All-Academic Team and made an impact on the court as well.
He had a few other options to choose from when it came to college but he decided on DePaul due to the city environment.
"Chicago was the reason I came here," Curington said. "It is a beautiful city full of opportunities and I thought it would be the best place for opportunities in the future. Being close to my family was good, too. A lot of my family is based in the city and it has been nice being able to see them on the weekends and having them come to my games."
Curington made an impact right away, playing in 17 games as a freshman with three starts. He was BIG EAST Rookie of the Week after the Providence game and scoring 22 points with five rebounds.
"It was fun," he said. "I learned from the seniors and coaches at the time when I came in as a freshman. It made it kind for an easy transition. It was fun to be in the city and learn.
"My first practice was long and hard. I have matured a lot throughout my time here with both on and off the court situations. I have dealt with class and going on the road and adversity."
Curington is a sports management major who has been on the BIG EAST All-Academic Team every year and holds academics to a high standard.
"Time management has been huge because if you didn't get it done, you would get a bad grade," he said. "You had to get it done. But athletics and DePaul provide such good resources, it is just about taking advantage of those resources and using them."
Curington will graduate in March and is applying to law schools in the city such as DePaul, Loyola, Chicago Kent and Northwestern. He wants to stay in the city and hopes to become a sports agent one day.
Curington played for Oak Hill Academy in high school, and one of his favorite basketball memories comes from the Virginia prep school.
"We were always No. 1 in the country and traveled across the nation to play," he said. "My junior year we won a national championship and that was unforgettable.
"Beating ranked teams has been one of my favorite memories at DePaul. We beat Providence when they had Kris Dunn and Ben Bentil who have since gone to the NBA. And I'll always remember the buzzer-beaters. Those are always big ones."
Curington was a part of the team that took an educational trip overseas to learn about DePaul namesake St. Vincent de Paul and play basketball in France. He cherishes that trip and tells a great story of associate head coach Rick Carter.
"Traveling to France and playing against foreign players was so much fun," Curington said. "We were on a trip to Normandy, and to get there you had to take shuttle busses. There were tourists everywhere. There was a huge line for the castle tour that was easily an hour wait. But Carter got us all the way to the front of the line and it was just funny that he was able to do that and get us to the castle."
This was just one of the many things Carter and the rest of the coaching staff have done for this group of Blue Demons.
"The coaches have helped me deal with adversity, Curington said. "Things are going to happen that you don't like and people may say stuff that you don't want to hear, but they tell you that you have to change your habits or change your dreams."
Curington referenced one of his favorite coach Dave Leitao quotes: "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it."
"All the guys are like my family," Curington said. "I see these guys every day. I have spent summers and Christmas with these guys and they mean a lot to me.
"As our season winds down, I cherish the opportunity to be a Division I player in the BIG EAST which is an elite conference featuring defending national champion Villanova. Living in the moment is big, and is playing and bringing a source of pride to DePaul for everything it has done for me."
Darrick Wood: Always Ready to Provide a Spark
Darrick Wood's focus in his senior season has been trying to help create a winning culture at DePaul. To that end, he has bonded with his teammates and maintained his resolve during the tougher times this season.
He realizes what is required to build a successful program.
"You need discipline and an awareness of how to do the right things at the right time," Wood said. "It takes a lot of teamwork and a lot of accountability. At DePaul, we stress the ABC's of accountability, bonding and coaching."
Wood has played in 18 games off the bench this season with five games in double-figure scoring. He had 11 points against Marquette, career highs with 15 points and eight rebounds at Northwestern, 12 points against Drake, 12 points and four assists against Milwaukee and 13 points against Robert Morris.
"The Northwestern, Drake and Robert Morris games were probably my best performances," Wood said. "I had it going and was also playing well on the defensive end with some good rebounding. No matter what, I always try to do all the things that don't show up in the box score."
Wood has spent the last three years of his basketball career at DePaul and has made an impact on this Blue Demon team. The 6-foot, 5-inch guard originally committed to St. John's in 2012 but then de-committed and spent a fifth year at Bridgton Academy in Maine. Upon graduation, he went to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas where he averaged 13.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Wood played AAU basketball with the New Jersey Playaz under coach Jim Salmon. This was the same AAU program that produced NBA luminaries Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter. Yahoo! Sports had ranked Wood as a four-star recruit coming out of high school and the 25th-best shooting guard in the nation.
On May 7, 2014, Wood signed with DePaul. Wood and Blue Demon teammate Eli Cain both played on the New Jersey Playaz, and at different times, each had lived with Salmon when they attended prep school.
Wood said he played a role in Cain coming to Lincoln Park. At the time Cain was looking at schools, Salmon called Wood and asked if he would be a good fit at DePaul. Wood said he would absolutely fit in and help the program.
Wood brought his talent to Lincoln Park as a sophomore when he opened his career by getting three rebounds, two points, and two assists against Illinois-Chicago. He came off the bench to contribute 15 points and three rebounds against Ohio. Wood played in 27 games and had four games in double figures.
As a junior, Wood played in 29 games and was ranked among league leaders in steals (11th at 1.2 per game) He had 15 points at Providence with four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Wood also had eight points, three rebounds, and three assists against Villanova and 12 points at Creighton.
"What my DePaul experience has done is simmer me down," Wood said. "I was a little rambunctious and hyper when I got here, a young guy trying to find my way. The people and the coaching staff at DePaul helped me to establish who I was and what I want to be."
Wood is majoring in communication and media, pointing toward a successful post-college life whether in basketball or his chosen profession.
"It's like I have something worth fighting for," he said. "I'm trying to make my family happy and proud of me. That's a great motivation for me to keep on striving."
Among his best are the team's educational trip to France and simply hanging out with his teammates.
"Being a foreigner for the first time on that trip gave me an understanding of what it's like for foreigners coming to our country and starting a new life," Wood said. "I can see how difficult it can be communicating and learning a foreign language.
"Some of my best memories are going to be of the team playing video games and holding rap sessions. I've never been with a better group of guys, and I've experienced every emotion with them."
As he prepares to move onto the next stage of his life, Wood hopes he left behind a lasting impression.
"I hope people remember me as a fun-loving guy," he said. "I was always ready to help the team, whether by providing a spark off the bench or helping a teammate deal with an off-the-court issue.
"Hopefully people will think of me as a genuine person, because at the end of the day and no matter what, I'm still going to be the same guy who wants the best for everyone."
Peter Ryckbosch: Persevering Through Adversity
Peter Ryckbosch grew up around DePaul basketball. His mother, Lisa Ryckbosch, is the director of professional, corporate and community relations for the DePaul women's basketball program. Before that, she was the women's basketball head coach at Illinois-Chicago.
He attended St. Ignatius College Prep and led the Wolfpack to an IHSA regional title as a senior. After his senior year, he decided to walk on to the Blue Demon team and start the next chapter.
"I have been around DePaul my whole life and it was really special to me," Ryckbosch said. "Just being able to have that opportunity to play Division I basketball and walk on meant a lot."
As a freshman, he was named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team and played in 17 games. Although he wasn't playing a lot of minutes, he still had a special role on the team.
"Coming in as a freshman was tough," he said. "Everyone was so much bigger, so much faster, and so much better. It was hard for me to do anything positive and I had to learn a lot in a short period of time. I wasn't very comfortable out there. I would just run around and do whatever I could, as hard as I could. The speed thing was a huge transition.
"My first couple of conditioning days got me really worked up and I was really nervous about it. It was really difficult. It was fun to get to play with really good guys and it was humbling to know how much better everyone was.
"They were all the best guys on their high school team, but that means next to nothing in college. I was a lot smaller when I first got here and a lot skinnier, but I put a lot of hard work in the weight room to make up that ground."
Ryckbosch has suffered a series of injuries during his time at a Blue Demon. Between his sophomore and junior season, he took a medical red shirt after tearing his ACL in the summer.
He bounced back from that injury and became a crucial part of the team. As a junior, he played in 24 games with seven starts.
But going into his senior season, another injury took its toll.
"I was having some knee pain in the summer but rehabbed through it," he said. "But my first time back on the court after that, I broke my knee cap. Seven months later, I went back to the doctor and I had broken it again. It never actually healed and that is why it broke again. The screws snapped and they had to go in and put those back in.
"You really think about how lucky you are to play. I have appreciated more every day that I got on the court. I was going as hard as I could and would take every day as it came. You never know when your last game is going to be. Mine was in February of last year and it has been 12 months since I have gotten to play a game of basketball. But I have learned to go as hard as you can every time you are out there, and that has been my mentality and what kind of player I have become. Leitao has been more than a coach to Ryckbosch. He has believed in him and pushed him and has also been there as a mentor for this hard-working forward.
"He has always believed in me," Ryckbosch said. "I probably have had more conversations with the coaching staff about my future outside of basketball than in basketball, and it is really nice to have that kind of relationship. It's compartmentalized a bit when you are in the office and trying to hang out and talk to them. Even if he yelled at me in practice, it is different when we are up in the office talking.
"They have really empowered me and helped me get a lot better. They really showed how much they thought of me last year by playing me so much in coach Leitao's first year here. I worked really hard to prove to them that I was a good option, but they really empowered me to do that."
Ryckbosch will be graduating in March before starting nursing school at DePaul in the spring.
"There have been a lot of laughs in the past five years," he said. "I would never have had those if I didn't do this. Switching away from basketball into regular life is going to be difficult. I have been able to act like a little kid with my teammates and have fun and play the game for a long time, and it will be a hard transition away from that."
