‘In a position to be successful’: Patience is paying off for UNC guard D’Marco Dunn
North Carolina’s fifth-year senior Leaky Black said he’s never quite witnessed a player as patient as sophomore D’Marco Dunn during his time in Chapel Hill.
Dunn, a 6-foot-5 guard from Tucson, Arizona, was only used in spots last season. He didn’t play in the Final Four. In fact, he only played a combined five minutes during the Tar Heels’ six NCAA tournament games.
But he never wavered on what he needs to do. He never considered the transfer portal. He never felt like he had to speed up his journey.
“He’s like someone I’ve never really seen before honestly, just because his pace and understanding of the process,” Black said. “You preach it’s a process to a lot of guys, but everyone wants what they want like right now. He literally just comes in every day, does what he does — it’s like a routine — and every day he gets a little better and better.”
UNC coach Hubert Davis has made it a point to develop more depth off the bench than he used last season. Dunn figures to play a big role in those plans.
Dunn appeared in 23 games for UNC last season, but only played more than 10 minutes in a game once. He has already started in place of R.J. Davis during Carolina’s exhibition win over Johnson C. Smith and logged 13 minutes in the Tar Heels’ season-opening win over UNC Wilmington on Monday.
Dunn said he focused on just trying to improve and wasn’t concerned about how much, or little, he was playing because he figured it would eventually take care of itself.
“It never changed my preparation,” Dunn said. “Right when the season ended, even during the season last year, I was out to get better. No matter what coach was going to do, I was going to get better regardless. That was my plan as a basketball player, but now I can help this team and hopefully have an increased role.”
Honing his craft
Dunn had a similar journey during his recruiting process. He played his first two years of high school while living in Tucson. UTEP was the first school that showed interest in him, and he was far off the radar of the hometown Arizona Wildcats. (The Cats were one of the last scholarship offers he received.)
It wasn’t until his mother moved him to Fayetteville, to be closer to her family, that he began to take off at Westover High School. Dunn helped lead the Wolverines to a 30-0 season and the 3A co-state championship in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
“He needed competition,” said Sean Roebuck, who coached Dunn in junior high and as a freshman and sophomore in Arizona. “Here in Tucson, there’s not much, so you have to travel to play to get competition. That was the only way you’re gonna get better.”
Dunn always had a knack for scoring, but when he got to Fayetteville he became a better shooter.
Westover coach George Stackhouse had what he calls the “green-light” test. In five minutes a player has to make 50 3-pointers in practice if they want to be able to shoot them during a game. Stackhouse uses it as a way to make sure he doesn’t have lower percentage shooters taking those shots. But Dunn passed every time.
“When he was in Arizona, talking to his dad, he was more drawn to driving to the basket,” Stackhouse said. “Our system allowed him to use his ability, and he shoots with confidence because he’s put the work in.”
It all comes down to the work. Dunn said he learned in high school from Stackhouse exactly how to work and train with a purpose.
“In Arizona, I was just trying to play basketball, I really wasn’t really focusing on one thing, wasn’t really trying to hone my craft, I was just trying to go out there and hoop,” Dunn said. “(Stackhouse) really gave me a structure. He said, ‘Hey, if you do A, B, C, D, this is going to be effective at the next level. This is what colleges want to see.’ And so we worked on that delivery and it paid off big time.”
Dunn is hoping the same process of staying patient will pay off with the Heels.
Davis said Dunn was taken by surprise by his start in the exhibition game, but that he was ready for the opportunity. And although he was billed as a shooter in high school, where he shot in the mid-40s percentage from 3-point range, Davis touts how great of a defender he thinks Dunn can become.
“One of the biggest challenges coming from high school to playing at this level is the pace and the manner in which you have to play just to put yourself in a position to be successful,” Davis said. “And those are just some things that I think D’Marco has improved on greatly from last year to this year, and it’s just really nice to see.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 6:10 AM.