DePaul’s track and field athletes competed in their final meet of the season at last week’s Georgia Tech Invitational, but for freshman high jumper Durrell “Nugget” McDonald, the event marked the end of an athletic odyssey that began back in August 2012. Prior to his entrance into the track and field program, where he earned a personal best mark of 7-0, McDonald debuted as a combo guard for the men’s basketball team and received playing time in every game of the season.
“His transition from finishing up with the basketball team to begin working with us was seamless,” said Dave Dopek, head coach of the track and field team. “I think my initial impression, and my lasting impression from this first year is that he’s a great young man and he’s very motivated.”
McDonald displays this tenacity and sense of purpose daily as he simultaneously faces the demands of dual athletics and academia. Though he confesses to some initial adjustment issues with his rigorous schedule, he confidently states that he has “managed to overcome them.”
McDonald is a born athlete, the son of former professional basketball player Darryl McDonald and Vernessa Reed, the latter of whom Durrell credits with giving him his “high passion for track and field,” having been a track athlete herself.
However, it was his father’s influence that led Durrell to basketball. The elder McDonald played professionally in the now defunct Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1990-1993 before a storied career in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). With a patriarch like Darryl McDonald, Durrell’s household was naturally dominated by basketball. “It was all I was around basically,” he said. “Basketball has always been something that I just felt that I was born to do.”
Durrell’s father also comically noted that his son’s head was shaped like a McDonald’s chicken McNugget when he was a child, and gave him the nickname by which he is still known to this day. “I love the nickname, I can’t even lie,” he said. “It’s just something I can be identified as. When you hear somebody say, ‘Nugget,’ it kind of strikes them and sticks with them.”
Nevertheless, McDonald has made a lasting impression throughout his athletic career with much more than just his distinctive nickname. As a senior at Green Valley High School in his native Henderson, NV, McDonald earned first team class 4A All-State Honors from the Las Vegas Review-Journal after averaging 21.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game as a senior, and also earned MVP honors for the Sunrise Region and All-Southeast League Team. He was also one of the country’s top high jumpers, with his personal best mark ranking seventh highest nationally in 2012.
Following his successes in high school, McDonald found himself drawn to the up-tempo style of DePaul’s basketball program, and committed to DePaul in January 2012. Though he expresses dissatisfaction with last season’s results, McDonald looks forward to contributing to the program’s continued improvement in the near future.
“We thought we would have an impact last year, but evidently, what we did didn’t amount to what we said (we would) … but this upcoming year will be better.”
Dopek also plans to cultivate McDonald’s talent and competitive spirit as an asset to the program.
“I’m very aware of the schools that are going to be in our conference in this upcoming year, and the way that the Big East Conference is going to be newly configured,” said Dopek. “My expectation is that all of our groups will step up…and I expect Durrell to be at the tip of that spear.”
In the meantime, McDonald says he is looking forward to the summer, not just for relief from the “dramatic weather change” that he experienced after his move to Chicago, but also for the chance to hone his skills for the coming year.
“I’m basically just going to stay in the gym,” said McDonald. “Summer is the best time … I just can’t wait to work on my game and perfect my craft.”