He’s so easy to hate. The smile, the upside down headband,
the swagger.
But for USC’s Desmon Farmer, it’s all just part of
his game.
“I just love the game of basketball,” he said.
“I’m not trying to be cocky, it’s just how I
enjoy myself on the floor. … It’s just how I express my
love for the game.”
That love has taken Farmer from the playgrounds of Flint, Mich.,
to the Los Angeles Sports Arena, where the Trojans will face
crosstown rivals UCLA Wednesday evening.
Although Farmer has emerged as the Trojans’ strongest
player this year as a senior, he is best known for his on-court
persona.
Farmer’s lethal nature lies less in his ability to tally
30 points a game, as he has done multiple times this season, and
more on his on-court persona, which opposing fans love to hate.
But his confidence ““ some may say, cockiness ““ on
the basketball court emerged from his desire to make a mark in the
Pac-10 when he first arrived as a freshman from the Midwest.
His decision to come to Los Angeles stemmed from his desire to
play for a school which utilized the same type of up-and-down style
he was used to, which is a benchmark pattern of play in the
Pac-10.
An injury allowed him to start immediately as a shooting guard
his freshman season. Benched after the starter healed, Farmer
wanted to create a trademark for himself.
After seeing UCLA’s Jason Kapono sport a headband on the
court, Farmer decided that was the first step, and brought the look
to USC.
“I wore one in high school as well,” he said.
“It’s just as a rival thing. That’s just what I
want to do. I just want to be different.”
It’s fair to say he’s succeeded: Any UCLA basketball
fan can pick him out of the cardinal and gold line-up, not only as
the guy wearing the upside down headband, but as the one player who
plays better with every taunt and plays harder with every boo.
When the Trojans visited Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 29, the student
section’s relentless badgering only encouraged Farmer, who
played all 40 minutes and tallied a game-high 28 points.
“I like the crowd taunting me,” he said after the
game.
Unlike most college players, who break down or at least get
frustrated with a crowd’s jeering, Farmer capitalizes on
it.
“It makes me play better and harder,” Farmer said of
crowds’ ire. “I already feel like I have confidence, it
not like I’m going to lose it. … It makes me focus
more.”
With his final collegiate basketball season drawing to a close,
Farmer hopes his play will prove to others that his basketball
career shouldn’t end now. After graduating, he hopes to enter
the draft ““ and it doesn’t matter who, or where, just
as long as he can continue to play the game he loves.
“Farmer’s had a big year,” UCLA point guard
Cedric Bozeman said. “He’s their best
player.”
There is no question that if he does go pro, the smile, the
swagger, and the headband will go with him. And the opposing fans
will learn how easy it is to dislike Desmon Farmer. He is also
hoping that if they take a closer look, they will see that his
on-court persona isn’t arrogance; it’s simply pure love
of the game.