BALTIMORE — After Maryland men’s basketball practice earlier this season, Donta Scott sat inside an empty Xfinity Center and took it all in. Thirty pounds lighter and wiser beyond his years, he leaned against a foldout chair placed behind the basket and reflected on life. He didn’t dwell too much on the future, only on the present and how his past helped him get to where he is now.
Scott is only 22 years old, yet he understands that life is an unpredictable journey with many twists and turns. At age 3, he was rushed to the hospital after getting hit by a car. In elementary and middle school, he struggled academically and was getting in trouble in class until basketball gave him a purpose.
Most recently, Scott learned life is about adapting. Last September, Scott’s longtime family home in Norristown, Pa., was flooded as the remnants of Tropical Depression Ida tore through the Northeast. Three months later, former Terps coach Mark Turgeon unexpectedly stepped down at the beginning of a turbulent 15-17 season.
“Life is going to change how it wants to,” Scott said. “You just want to be the type of person that can adapt to your environment.”
Throughout Scott’s journey, he has displayed a special kind of perseverance that makes him the perfect player to help start a new era of Maryland basketball under new coach Kevin Willard.
Scott has always been a quiet person. Growing up, he was an observer who watched how things played out before speaking his mind. But as one of just two players on the roster to spend four years at Maryland, Scott has embraced the leadership role. He understands the challenges of playing in the Big Ten and has helped pass on that experience to the seven new players on the roster.
“[In] the next chapter of my life that I want to step toward, I’m going to have to be more vocal and do things others don’t want to do,” Scott said. “It’s better to embrace it now than wait until it’s too late.”
Freshman forward Noah Batchelor said Scott has taken him under his wing, teaching him the intricacies of the game. Senior guard Hakim Hart called the years playing with Scott a “blessing” as the two pushed each other in the weight room and on the court.
After Scott’s junior season, he had every reason to leave the program. Maryland had just completed its first losing season in 29 years, the coach who recruited him to College Park was gone and there was no telling how the first season under Willard would unfold. But he decided to stay.
‘When I lock in on something, I don’t change’
Loyalty means everything to Scott. He never wanted to change high schools and even played with the same Amateur Athletic Union coach, Howard Hudson, since he was 10.
“Some kids went to other teams [and] some kids dropped off because they weren’t good enough, but Donta stuck it out,” said Hudson, who coached AAU for 25 years and helped introduce Scott to basketball.
At Maryland, Scott found a family atmosphere and teammates he would call his brothers. There was no way he was leaving.
“When I lock in on something, I don’t change,” he said. “No matter the ups and downs or how hard things get, I don’t switch up. There’s no [turning against] you or having conversations behind your back.”
Scott trusted Willard’s vision for the program and himself. Willard believed Scott was an All-Big Ten caliber player, but for the 6-foot-9 forward to reach that level, he had to take a hard look at himself in the mirror.
Scott weighed 247 pounds when Willard took over the program in March, and the former Seton Hall coach knew that had to change. “I asked him if he wanted to be a pro,” Willard said. “[Scott] said he did and I brought up the weight and body fat of every [shooting] guard and small forward in the NBA.”
Scott took Willard’s advice and recommitted to his fitness. He replaced his go-to meal at Wendy’s — a Baconator and chicken sandwich on the side — with a Chipotle bowl. He worked out four times a day during the summer, ran in 95-degree heat, shot baskets at one of the fraternity courts on campus and scrimmaged with former Maryland stars like Jalen Smith, Aaron Wiggins, Kevin Huerter and Jake Layman.
When Scott arrived at the team’s media day in October, he looked like a new person and was ready to keep up with Willard’s up-tempo style of play.
“When he got out of shape, I was pissed off,” Hudson said. “The kid can deadlift [a program-record 645 pounds]. I told him, ‘You know what to do and you need to go do it.’ ”
With his senior season coming to a close, Scott’s loyalty and commitment to his weight loss have been rewarded. The Terps are in a better position than most expected at 19-9, a strong contender to make the NCAA Tournament and perhaps compete for a Big Ten Tournament title. Scott is third on the team in scoring (11.5 points per game), second in rebounds (6.1) and more explosive than in previous years.
“It was good that [Willard] came in and pushed me to be a better player on the court, but a better man off the court,” Scott said.
‘He’s grown 100 percent’
Scott never had any expectations going into the season. In fact, he didn’t have any expectations about his college career when he committed to Maryland in 2018. Scott lives in the moment because he understands tomorrow is not guaranteed.
As a toddler, he was struck by a car before being taken to the hospital to have some teeth surgically removed.
Last year, Scott’s Pennsylvania home, where he had been living since middle school, was destroyed, forcing his family to grab whatever they could and evacuate on boats.
Maryland helped raise nearly $60,000 for Scott’s family on GoFundMe, which he would send to his mother, Sandra Campbell, to help get them back on their feet. They ended up moving two blocks from their original home. “It meant the world to me to help my family in more ways than possible,” he said.
Throughout that whole situation, Campbell never wanted Scott to worry about what was happening at home so he could focus on school and basketball. The youngest of eight siblings, Scott was raised to fend for himself. He knew his mom would do the same.
“She’s my rock,” Scott said. “She’s the one who got me into basketball. Being a chubby kid who didn’t have anything going for him in life, she put me into a sport I never knew would become my lifestyle.”
Hudson nearly comes to tears whenever he sees Scott talking to reporters. He remembers taking Scott to get his first pair of basketball shoes. He remembers watching Scott shovel snow out of his driveway so he could shoot baskets. He remembers Scott struggling in school before earning a scholarship that has the family sciences major on the verge of receiving a college degree in the spring.
“He’s grown 100 percent,” said Hudson, who still gets on Scott about taking too many 3-pointers.
Campbell said her son amazes her every day. “Any obstacles [Scott has faced], he got over,” she said. “He is the only one of my children that completed four years [of college].”
There’s no telling how the rest of the season will play out for the Terps. But when Scott wears the Maryland uniform for the last time, he wants to be remembered as someone who gave it his all and never quit on the program.
“You are always going to have your ups and downs in life, from relationships to on the court,” he said. “It’s about how you push through it.”
