Senior guard DaShaun Wiggins is a long way from home.
Wiggins grew up in a tough neighborhood in the Bronx, New York. It was not very clean, and it was dangerous. And from the time he was young, the sociology major, who is on track to graduate at the end of this year, saw sports as a way out of those circumstances.
As a high school senior, the 6'2" Wiggins committed to Seton Hall, a perennial contender in the Big East.
"I didn't have the grades, so I decided to go to community college," Wiggins admitted. His family was really supportive as he struggled to decide if he could handle college level academics.
He took six months off and caught up academically "but I still wasn't sure about the academics. I considered joining the army."
A friend introduced him to the coach at Eastern Utah Junior College.
Even though he'd spent a year away from home at Bridgton Academy in Maine, "I was really home sick. I wanted to turn right around and go home the minute I got there. I've been away from home my entire college career," Wiggins said wistfully. He's very close to his family, mother Angela Wiggins, brothers Donte and D'andre (a nine-year-old who is following in Wiggins footsteps on the court—"he's going to be better than me") and sisters Sade and Tysheka.
Since he came to PSU, his family has been able to follow his career through live streamed games on the internet (www.WatchBigSky.com) but they've never seen him play in person.
"I don't think my mom has ever been on a plane. I hope she'll be able to come see me graduate," he said.
Always a hard worker when it came to basketball, Wiggins redoubled his efforts and averaged 17.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists during his year in Utah. It was there that "I decided I had to get on top of my studies, had to be on top of my grades and started taking school seriously."
Then, his coach died. Already considering moving on to another school, that passing helped solidify Wiggins' decision.
"I wasn't finding the level of competition high enough anyway and wanted to find a program where the competition was stronger," he recalled. So, he decided to look around for a bigger challenge.
And, he found it in spades.
At Howard (TX) Junior College, he played on a team that was ranked fifth in the nation and featured seven players that would go on to Division 1 basketball programs. His scoring average dropped to 8.2 points and he found himself coming off the bench.
He looked at several options as he finished his time at Howard. The Xavier University coach was going to visit, "but something happened to my transcript and he never turned up."
Meanwhile, Howard assistant coach Jase Coburn accepted a position as an assistant offered by Portland State Head Coach Tyler Geving.
"I was interested because I was told this is a guy who knows how to score," said Geving, who added that he really liked Wiggins' work ethic. "He really likes to work on his game in the off season. He's always in the gym and is trying to be the best basketball player he can be."
Because of the strength of the Howard program, Wiggins didn't find the transition to Big Sky basketball that difficult.
"The main difference was that you need to be more disciplined on and off the court. When I'm off the court, I'm more responsible. I take care of class. I work on my homework and on being more responsible, more of a leader…of course, I still have work to do," he said.
Nor did he find it that difficult coming off the bench, because of his time at Howard.
As a junior, he was the Vikings leading scorer (12.9 points per game) and was named Big Sky Conference co-6th Man of the Year and honorable mention All-Big Sky. He averaged 2.8 rebounds, had 43 assists and ranked third on the team in steals with 31.
Last year "he gave us offense coming off the bench and since that's where he was last year, we just sort of started that way this year," Geving said.
Then injuries hit the Viking backcourt and Wiggins got worked into the starting lineup. "We decided it didn't make much sense to have our best scorer coming off the bench," Geving added.
Wiggins didn't mind coming off the bench, but prefers starting. And it shows in the numbers he has put up this season. Once again, he leads the team in scoring at 15.4 points per game, averages 3.8 rebounds, leads the team with 29 steals, and has also been the top three-point shooter (34-78, .436).
"When you're coming off the bench, you have to go in and be aggressive immediately. You sit out for seven or nine minutes, watching the progress and flow of the game. Then you have to go and fit right into what's there, be aggressive when you get the ball. When you start, you get to help set the pace… and, you get more minutes," Wiggins said.
Geving and Wiggins agree that his overall game has gotten stronger over his time as a Viking.
"Since I've been here, I've learned to be more patient and my shot has gotten better. Also, I've gotten stronger," Wiggins said.
Geving said Wiggins "has improved from day one. He wants to learn and wants to get better. It's been fun to watch his improvement."
The secret to that improvement is hard work. Besides playing some video games, he spends most of his spare time in the gym putting up 500 shots a day because he loves the game and wants to get better.
"I just love the game. I love competing. It's great to go in and show people the fruits of all that hard work I've put in. Playing is like my own sanctuary. It's total concentration, everything else goes away."
It wasn't always a given that Wiggins would find himself with hopes of a basketball career at the next level following college.
He started playing basketball at the age of nine, but he also played baseball, and was equally good on the diamond. He played first base and pitched.
"I really liked both, but decided to switch completely to basketball when I was 11. I played a baseball game one morning and a basketball game later that day and I thought 'I've got to quit doing this'," he said. He was closer to his basketball teammates and that helped him make the decision. "But, I was good at both, I think I could have been a pretty good baseball player."
The highlight of his career so far at PSU was the recent win over Weber State (69-63 in Utah). Weber was another school he considered upon leaving Howard.
"They passed on me. They didn't want me. It was satisfying to beat them," he said. "The sixth man award and honorable mention were nice, too. It's nice to be recognized for what I'm doing."
Geving expects Wiggins to continue improving.
"Our expectations are for him to be a good scorer. He's such a good threat that he opens up opportunities for his teammates. He's just continuing to get better on defense and with regard to his rebounding," Geving said.
Wiggins' journey through different US cultures hasn't been lost in his concentration on being a better basketball player.
"I've noticed the different cultures, the different ways people are brought up," he said. And, he likes Portland. "I really like Portland. It's clean and you don't have to worry about violence. In New York, it's tough."
Wiggins wants to play professional basketball. He also wants to own a gym, a dream sprouting from his days growing up in a rough Bronx neighborhood.
"I want to own a gym for youth where they're not on the street, where there's no danger, where then can come into the center and do their homework and play ball," he said.
