Donovan Whitehead looks and acts like a college freshman, not a high school freshman.
The Durango forward is 6-foot-6 with a muscular build not often seen with a 15-year-old freshman.
“He’s an athletic small forward that can hold it down and can guard to all positions and uses length and its foot speed and he can definitely be that type of lockdown defender,” Durango coach Alan Batiste said.
Batiste still remembers the day Whitehead walked into the first open gym of the summer and shook every player’s hand. Whitehead moved to the area from the Indiana-Kentucky border because of family and the increased competition level.
Whitehead’s leadership led him to becoming a captain in his first year with the Demons.
Whitehead credits his parents, Deantwon Whitehead and Yuliya Tokova, with giving him the tools and guidance needed to succeed at the high school level and beyond. Whitehead’s father played football at Louisville and his mother played basketball there as well.
He picked up basketball in third grade but didn’t start taking it seriously until seventh grade. Whitehead has always been tall and his coaches early on put him in the paint because of it. But this past summer, his coaches have given him the freedom to play more on the perimeter.
“Every player on our team has a role,” Whitehead said. “Me being on the perimeter doesn't mean I'm still not going to do my job that I did when I was younger which is going to get rebounds, be aggressive and take it to the basket.”
Both Whitehead and Batiste said Whitehead needs to work on his ball-handling and his jump shot to take his game to the next level as he spends more time on the perimeter.
To work on his game, Whitehead doesn’t watch pro or college players highlights.
“I do watch high school players but I don't watch what they're doing in the game,” Whitehead said. “I watch the practice. I want to see how hard they're going, what kind of reps they're doing. What tempo are they going? Because all of those highlights, those are the good moments. Those are all the moments where this is the best part of their game. Of course, it's good to see all that sometimes. But I want to see the part where they're messing up. They did, why did they mess up? How do they fix it? How do they act when they messed up?”
Leadership comes naturally to Whitehead, he gets to know his teammates and the best way to push each of them individually. His maturity shows through with his dedication to the game. He doesn’t have any other hobbies besides eating right, sleeping, watching film and stretching when he’s not on the court.
Although he’s his first year of high school, Whitehead enjoys going to school and wants to pursue a college education. He wants to play high-level Division I basketball as well at some Pac-12 schools or Gonzaga, LSU or Alabama.
“The sky's the limit for him,” Batiste said. “You can't teach 6-6 and that athletic. The doors will open he's got to get his handle better and we’ll get his shot better, but the sky's the limit coming in at that age and that height and that length and that athleticism. Now you've just got to polish it up and polish up the skill set that he wants to achieve So once that's the case, it could look a little scary. But overall, his demeanor and the way he likes to lead and his mindset, that mental aspect of the game, he's definitely ahead of a lot of a lot of people in that category.”
Batiste said any coach in America would be excited with a player like Whitehead to walk into their gym. He recognizes how big of an impact Whitehead has had with the Demons.
However, Whitehead won’t be satisfied until his team reached the state playoffs. Whitehead’s maturity on and off the court may just push them there and him into the stratosphere.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
