By james art DJ Irving couldn’t believe his eyes. Apparently they had proved unreliable.
Yet did his ears fail him too?
It was 2018. and Irving, now an assistant coach at the University of Miami, had just joined the Roman Catholic coaching staff.
And he could have sworn someone said the wiry 6-foot-9 kid galloping down the court, hitting shots and diving with disdain toward the rim was a freshman.
“Honestly,” Irving said with a laugh during a phone interview Wednesday, “I thought Matt Griffin, the head coach, was trying to make a fast one. I’m like “Matt, there’s no way this kid is 14. You can let me in on the secret if you’re trying to get someone older.”
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Some six years later, Detroit Pistons 6-foot-11 center Jaylen Duren’s size, skill and tenacity — just as they did when he battled big-name recruits as a freshman in Roman — still belie age his.
His performance Wednesday night, however, may give Detroit fans pause.
First-year Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said Duren has anchored Detroit’s defense well, but added that Duren’s energy is needed on both ends.
Duren, a Sharon Hill native, finished with zero points, six rebounds and no shots in 10 minutes before fouling out with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 105-95 victory.
But if Pistons fans have questions about Duren, who won’t turn 21 until November, people in the Philly area seem to have answers.
“What you see now is all of that [Duren] that I worked for,” said Irving, who was a star at Archbishop Carroll and Boston University. “And he still has a lot more to show in his game. He’s just scratching the surface of how good he’s going to be.”
There are no scratches in the champagne-colored Chevy Malibu that Irving, a Chester native, used to transport Duren, who lived in nearby Delaware, to practices.
“Every time he went out,” Irving said, “the next guy that would get in the car would go back in, but he fit in pretty well.”
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On the court, Duren’s combination of size, skill and aggression produced similar form.
In one of his first high school games, Duren faced DeMatha Catholic’s Hunter Dickinson, then a nationally known 7-foot-1 junior. Dickinson is now an All-American at Kansas.
That game, however, is when current Rome assistant coach Kyle Bernard realized Duren was different.
“Obviously we knew he was very, very good,” Bernard, who is still an assistant at Roman, said by phone, “but this was super special against a guy like Hunter Dickerson.”
The Cahillites lost to DeMatha, but Duren finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“I would say that [Duren] outplayed [Dickinson]Bernard added. “He overtook him; got up and down the floor.
About a week later, Duren dominated perennial Community League power Imhotep Charter, finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds and several emphatic dunks en route to the win.
Duren also helped the Cahillites defeat La Salle in the Catholic League championship that season.
According to Irving, however, Duren’s dominance next season at Roman Catholic is a byproduct of hard work and skill, not just raw strength and size.
Sometimes Irving and Duran’s sessions follow a grueling workout at Roman or continue at local gyms in the area.
For several days they worked on post skills. On other days, Duren developed guard skills during practices with Justice Williams, now a guard at Robert Morris.
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It seems then that Düren learned to love the process of refinement.
“That’s the part I remember the most,” Irving said. “He just kind of fell in love with training. Once he saw it improve, that’s when he really got it.
If those who helped mold him into the player he is today are correct, expect Duren to bounce back from Wednesday night’s performance with pizza.
“Like I said,” Irving added, “he’s not even 21 yet. He still has a lot more room to grow.