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Shorter's Darius Steger flourishing in role with top-ranked Hawks
By Jim O'Hara
#1 Hawks (17-0) vs. #4 Southern Poly (14-2)
Tonight • 8 pm • Winthrop-King Centre
ROME – He will have the best seat in the house when the No. 1-ranked Shorter University Hawks host No. 4 Southern Poly during a historic showdown inside what will surely be a packed Winthrop-King Centre.
But after about six minutes following the tip-off between the two Southern States Athletic Conference powers, senior Darius Steger will give up his seat on the Hawks’ bench and assume his role on the court – a role he gladly accepts. Like many of his teammates, Steger has excelled in his role to help the Hawks rise to the nation’s top ranking.
As far as Shorter head coach Chad Warner is concerned, the Hawks could not have gotten to where they are without their sharpshooting guard from Alabama.
“Darius came to me before the season began and said he would do anything to help the team” Warner said about Steger, an All-State standout at Guntersville (Ala.) High who, after playing his freshman season at NCAA Division I Coastal Carolina, transferred to Shorter. “He’s become a guy who wants to see us win. He’s a team-first player and you can’t win without guys like that.”
“Once I got here I felt like I belonged here,” said Steger. “I enjoyed the Division I experience, but at the same time I wanted to be part of a team that had cohesiveness. That’s what we have here.
“We all know our roles and how we can help the team. On any given night, anyone can step up.”
One look at the numbers bears witness to that.
Boasting a perfect 17-0 record and an 8-0 mark in the SSAC that makes it the NAIA’s lone unbeaten squad, Shorter has seen more than a handful of players step up.
The popular belief is that if team’s can contain All-American Walter Hill, they have a shot at knocking off the Hawks. That has not been the case.
Despite drawing the undivided attention of opponents, Hill leads Shorter at 18.6 points a game, pacing an offense that averages more than 80 points a game. Two of the newest members of the team, Anthony Banks and C.J. Davis, are connecting for respective 15.9 and 14.5 points an outing, while center Dante Harvey is pouring in 10.9 points a game.
While Steger has that kind of double-digit scoring potential – the 6-footer averaged more than 21 points in his senior season in high school – he is now the sixth man and averages nearly five points a game while hitting on 36 percent of his 3-point attempts for a team that ranks No. 1 in the country in 3-point shooting.
All in all, that role is just fine with Steger.
“I get more of a feel for the game seeing it for the six or seven minutes before I go in,” said Steger. “I can see what the other team and the other players are doing, so I have an idea of what’s going on.”
Steger and the Hawks are excited about the challenge presented by Poly’s Hornets, who are 14-2 overall and 7-0 in the conference thanks in part to a 10-game win streak.
“They have a very good team and every time we play them, it’s a tough game,” said Steger. “But this time it has more hype than ever. This is what college basketball is all about.”
The Hawks realize that they must continue on the same path that has taken them to the top and given the program its first-ever No. 1 ranking.
“We have to stay humble and hungry,” said Steger. “The bulls-eye is not on our back any more. It’s on our forehead. Our motto has been to come out every day and practice hard, and we’ll keep doing that.”
“I want them to be relaxed out there,” said Warner. “We know that teams will come after us and we want to go after them. Being No. 1 doesn’t change what we want to do. We should be fine.”
Steger is fine with that as well and while he knows that the game against Poly is the biggest in Shorter’s history, he knows that the team has to remain focused on the end goal – a berth in the NAIA national tournament.
That overall outlook extends even further.
A two-time SSAC All-Academic selection who will graduate in May with a Sports Management degree, Steger hopes to follow in the footsteps of his dad by becoming a coach.
“He’s a great player, but he’s also a great student who comes from a great family,” Warner said. “We were excited to get him here. Darius is a consistent person. Everyone on the team respects him.”
And Steger respects his role with the Hawks and, more importantly, how Shorter has strengthened his Christian faith.
“Shorter has transformed my life and how I carry myself,” he said.
