“The Michael Jordan of Delaware” wasn’t meant as a compliment.
Coined by Jay Wright and dripping with sarcasm, the nickname was rooted in Donte DiVincenzo’s overconfidence transferring to a bad habit during a practice.
Something to the effect of, “Who do you think you are, the Michael Jordan of Delaware?” The name stuck. And after you hear about DiVincenzo’s background, it makes sense.
DiVincenzo, the red-headed guard from Newark, Del., was a God of basketball in his state.
A hero in high school.
His games at Salesianum, a small Catholic school in Wilmington, became local events that crossed racial barriers.
“It was the destination,” Salesianum’s coach at the time, Brendan Haley, says. “Our games were suddenly packed. We’ve had big crowds, but mostly it’s been a Caucasian population, and so forth. Suddenly we had this very diverse crowd.
“Because of Donte.”
DiVincenzo was called “The Worm” at the time because of his slithery style, but Delaware’s MJ, in retrospect, was more appropriate. His senior year at Salesianum, DiVincenzo single-handedly led the team to a state championship.
He just flipped a switch after a .500 regular season and utterly dominated the 2015 postseason tournament.
It’s documented in “Donte Destroys the DI-AA State Tournament” on YouTube, a 6 ¹/₂-minute clip that underscores the atmosphere that DiVincenzo encountered — and conquered — as Delaware’s basketball star.
“It was bigger crowds than the stands could hold,” DiVincenzo said. “There are people standing in the doors. … The whole entire city embraced me. It didn’t matter, old, young, black, white, it didn’t matter.”
Wright summed it up.
“He was a rock star.”
And a freak athlete.
“One day in practice, he says to me, ‘Coach, look at this,’ ” Haley recalls. “Then he threw it off the wall that’s behind the basket, it hit the American flag that was on the wall, and it came back out and he caught it one-handed and dunked.
“And as a coach, you have to act like you’re not impressed. And I just said, ‘Whatever, you couldn’t do it again if you tried 100 times.’ And as he goes to dribble away, I turn to the guys, I go, ‘Oh My God.’ ”
Developing a big head is unavoidable under those circumstances, and DiVincenzo handled it better than most teenagers while straying from the trappings of the social media hype machine.
But problems can arise from being that much better than everybody else. Holding a defensive stance, for instance, isn’t necessary when DiVincenzo could just jump a passing lane for a steal. As Haley says, “I didn’t have the luxury of putting him on the bench.”
Wright did.
Plus, the Villanova coach had the benefit of recruiting the ultra-focused Jalen Brunson to the same class. They quickly became besties.
“Donte and Jalen immediately, immediately became extremely tight. Even in high school they started communicating with each other. And it was the perfect mix,” Wright says. “Jalen was a straight-laced guy, committed to academics. And Donte was the super talent. Jalen was highly touted. But Donte was the freak athlete, super talent that had the same competitiveness as Jalen. But he didn’t have the work ethic yet. And when they lived together — Donte was so good in his state, everything kind of came easy to him. As soon as he got with Jalen …”
DiVincenzo learned, for instance, the importance of controlling his body by jumping and playing off two feet. Brunson set a strong example as the footwork master.
“I didn’t understand basketball that much. I was athletic. I was better than everybody on the court. So I got away with jumping off of one foot, gambling and all that,” DiVincenzo says. “I still do that. … Playing off of two feet wasn’t my strong suit. But learning — how can I mix it in? Just because guys are so athletic in the NBA, if you go off one foot all the time, they’re going to block your shot. If you watch Jalen, he’s always off two feet. So I think it was more that … more eye-opening.”
Villanova was quickly humbling. DiVincenzo learned to keep his feet on the floor for a few reasons. He came off the bench and fractured his foot, redshirting as a freshman while watching the Wildcats win the national title. MJ of Delaware was suddenly overlooked.
Payton Pritchard, a four-star recruit, was ready to commit to Villanova despite playing a similar position to DiVincenzo. They hit it off during Pritchard’s official visit and played one-on-one-on-one with Brunson, which eventually rerouted Pritchard to the University of Oregon.
“We thought we were getting Payton Pritchard,” Wright says. “We thought they could play together like [Ryan Arcidiacono] did with Jalen. And they played one-on-one, and I think Payton was like, ‘Oh my God, we didn’t know about this guy [DiVincenzo]. And then after that, they were like, ‘We’re still going to look around.’ ”
It worked out for everybody involved. Pritchard is with the Celtics, having recently signed a $30 million extension. Brunson is the toast of New York and a first-time NBA All-Star.
DiVincenzo became the Final Four Most Outstanding Player with Villanova in 2018, parlaying that performance to a first-round spot in the NBA draft. Now he’s the $50 million man of the Knicks, a strong fit for the role of gunner because of that swagger that was on display in high school.
Since Dec. 30, no Eastern Conference player has attempted or made as many treys as DiVincenzo. It’s not even close. He stepped into a starting spot vacated by Quentin Grimes — plus the offensive holes left by RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — and has occupied it with supreme confidence.
DiVincenzo is letting it fly like it’s Delaware.
“I thought he was going to play for money, but I didn’t think it was going to the NBA. I thought it was going to be Italy or something,” Haley says. “But he just kept getting better and better. And keeps betting on himself and keeps winning.”
