The bright shiny lights. The expensive cars and million-dollar
suits. That might have been Jordan Farmar, but it’s not
Darren Collison. As the son of a former Olympian and a probation
officer, Collison is a humble individual who came to UCLA for two
reasons: a national championship and a degree. So when the
sophomore takes over the starting position as point guard this
season and the temptation to leave for the NBA comes along, he will
not jump to a decision because he knows there is more to basketball
than NBA dollars. And money is not what the UCLA program is all
about. “I came to UCLA to win a national championship, and
that’s the only thing that matters,” Collison said.
“The other stuff will come along later, which I’m not
worried about.” In an era when point guards have become more
focused on scoring and the temptation to play for oneself is the
norm, Collison has an old-school approach: He believes the point
guard’s job is to distribute the ball among the offense.
Collison says that with the weapons the Bruins have this season, he
would be foolish to not pass the ball on every possession.
“As the point guard, I am the leader,” he said.
“I have to distribute the ball, and when I have Josh (Shipp),
Arron (Afflalo) and Mike (Roll) as scoring options, it makes my job
much easier.” To understand where Collison’s playing
philosophy is, just look at where he’s coming from.
Growing up on the track Collison didn’t have the normal
upbringing of a Division I basketball player. His childhood
weekends were spent on the track, not on the basketball court.
Growing up in Rancho Cucamonga as the son of two former track and
field All-American athletes, he didn’t have another choice.
“My parents really wanted me to do track because they knew I
would do well,” Collison said. “But track was not my
passion. I got kind of tired going to all of these track events all
the time. Basketball was my real love.” For his father,
Dennis Collison, choosing basketball over track was fine as long as
it meant Collison wasn’t spending time in the streets, which
Dennis patrolled as a probation officer. “I had been around
young men enough to know what a lack of discipline brings,”
he said. “That’s why I always stressed education and
sports to Darren when he was young.” Collison eventually
embraced his father’s advice to the point where he
couldn’t be without basketball. His father put up a
basketball hoop in their backyard, and Collison would be there late
at night shooting jumpers by himself. “At first I
didn’t understand it. Why would he be spending his time on
basketball when he obviously has the genes to be successful in
track?” said Dennis. “But after understanding where his
passion was, I let him pursue basketball,” he said. And what
a decision it was.
Taking on high school Collison enrolled in ninth grade at
Etiwanda High School. The school was in the middle of the Inland
Empire with no basketball tradition and a scant record of wins.
With Collison at the school, that quickly changed. During his
junior year, Etiwanda finished 31-3 and made it to the state
finals, only to lose to fellow Bruin Josh Shipp’s old team
from Fairfax High School. The stars of the team were Collison and
current Arizona State forward Jeff Pendergraph. “Those teams
were awesome,” Collison said. “I had been playing with
a lot of those guys since I was young, especially Jeff. To be able
to turn around our program was a great accomplishment.” The
team eventually went 62-5 during Collison’s two final years
of high school, and Collison was named player of the year in his
Southern California division in his senior season. That year,
Etiwanda made it back to the championship game and was victorious,
beating Hart High School 60-45 at Arrowhead Pond. “It was
such a gratifying feeling,” Collison said. “After
losing the year before, I worked so hard to make sure we would get
there again. Winning the … title was just the greatest
feeling.” Collison expected the success to attract college
recruiters and easily earn him a scholarship. But at just 6 feet
and 155 pounds, Collison found that college programs weren’t
pouncing on the opportunity to recruit the slightly built point
guard. Until his junior year, the only school that showed
significant interest was San Diego State. “I was a little
surprised, but I was just happy to take whatever came my
way,” Collison said. “San Diego came originally, and
they were my first choice.” But before Collison’s
senior year, UCLA came his way. Coach Ben Howland had seen a
determination in Collison that made him stand out, and he wanted
the speedy point guard. “Coach was very honest with
us,” Collison’s father said. “He said that Darren
would not be starting as a freshman, but he loved the desire and
hard ethic of his game. We knew right away coach Howland would be a
good fit for Darren,” he said. The Bruins eventually offered
Collison a scholarship and created a concern that Collison would
deal with until he arrived at UCLA.
The choice to follow Farmar When Collison first signed with
UCLA, those who followed the team were very surprised. Many people
““ his father included ““ wondered why Collison, who
could have started right away at San Diego State, chose UCLA, which
had a freshman All-Pac-10 point guard in Jordan Farmar. For
Collison, that didn’t matter. He wanted to go somewhere he
could grow as a player, not just play right away. “I wanted
to take it as a challenge,” Collison said. “I really
believed in coach Howland, and I wanted to improve and compete
every day in practice.” Collison eventually proved his
doubters wrong. His minutes steadily increased through his freshman
season, and he started to reach his potential with significant
minutes during the Bruins’ postseason run that year.
Collison’s breakout game came in the Pac-10 Tournament when
he scored a team-high 15 points in the Bruins’ semifinal
victory over Arizona, helping them eventually capture the Pac-10
title. “I definitely don’t regret my decision,”
Collison said. “Going to the national championship game as a
freshman ““ there is not much (more) you can ask for.”
Collison enjoyed the opportunity to learn under Farmar and ranked
it as one of the greatest experiences of his freshman year.
“Even as a sophomore, he was the team leader,” Collison
said. “He was very vocal and was the extension of the
coach.” Now that Farmar is in the NBA and Collison is the
starter, he realizes he has to take that same role. “Jordan
set the standard for me. As the point guard, I have to be the vocal
leader,” he said. “I have to be the commander on the
court.”
Taking over Beginning the day after UCLA lost to Florida in the
Final Four, and even more since the day Farmar announced his
decision to leave for the NBA, Collison made it his mission to
spend all his time this summer working on his game. The point guard
spent time in the weight room, adding about 10 pounds of muscle,
and worked on his outside jump shot. “I felt that I owed it
to my teammates and to myself,” he said. “The offseason
is when your hard work really shows, and I wanted my game to
improve. The only way to do that is hard work.” Collison
understands that if UCLA is to get back to the Final Four and meet
the enormously high expectations of the program, much of the onus
will fall on him. And that’s the way Collison likes it.
“If we lose, I want to lose knowing that we showed up that
night and played our hardest because we are too good of a
team,” he said. “We can only beat ourselves.”
With Collison at the helm this season, the Bruins will be more of a
run-and-gun team. One of coach Howland’s top priorities for
the season is to see the Bruins push the ball on every available
opportunity. As a former track athlete, Collison couldn’t
like anything more. “This type of system lets me use
God-given talent,” Collison said. “Run, run, run. That
is the way I like to play. And with the weapons we have, we can do
that this year.”