Scholar-athlete: Diante Mitchell sets stats on and off the court

Diante Mitchell, starting guard on the men's basketball team, has posted some powerful stats. Last year he ranked second in three-point percentage (nailing 46 percent from the arc) and fourth in free-throw percentage (85.2 percent). Keep in mind, those rankings aren't just for UAA, but for the entire 11-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

That level of accuracy only comes from solid dedication and an efficient routine, something that benefits him off the court as well.

Want one more impressive stat? Just ask his coach, Rusty Osborne: "Diante is the most organized and efficient student-athlete I have coached in my 28 years."

Dang.

So what motivates him? He credits his support network, including family and friends, and the wise Twitter words of pro baller Damian Lillard.

"A tremendous example of a balanced student-athlete"

Diante arrived in Anchorage last year, transferring from two-year junior college Western Nebraska. In Nebraska, away games often required a daylong bus ride across the prairies. But in Alaska, away games are multi-day, multi-flight events. The change in distance called for some immediate re-adjustments to his routine.

Diante likes to keep things organized, striking a balance between athletics and academics. "I'm big on time management," he says, detailing his daily routine; weights and practice in the mornings, class in the afternoons (mostly 400-level accounting courses... plus calculus), homework at night and, if possible, another round of late-night shots at the arena.

That discipline comes largely from his parents. "They're the main reason I am where I am today," he said, citing the nonnegotiable house rule that homework trumped friends and the gym. "I always got my homework done right when I got home," he said.

"On the court or off the court, no matter what, my family has always been big supporters," he added. "As a kid, you kind of wish your parents would get off your back, but you get to this age and you're very thankful for the things that they did."

He's carried that efficiency into college, as evidenced by a Coach Osborne anecdote. Coach emailed a reminder to his team two days before the summer class registration deadline. The only athlete he didn't remind was Diante, only because he'd just gone through shoulder surgery that morning. When Coach called to check in, Diante reported A) he was fine and B) he'd registered for summer. He was the first of Osborne's athletes to enroll, despite total shoulder reconstruction (and, on top of that, he locked down a summer internship back in Utah).

"Diante is a tremendous example of a balanced student-athlete," Osborne added.

Trailblazer advice

So what happens when your successful routine is completely derailed?

Last year, a season-ending foot injury forced Diante to the bench with 10 games to play. For someone who sticks to a rigid schedule-a schedule that revolves around basketball-losing his ability to play was a definite challenge.

"It was really hard mentally," he said of the shake-up. So, naturally, he reached out to Damian Lillard, the starting point guard for the Portland Trailblazers.

Diante had met Lillard in the gym before (his high school is only a dozen miles from Weber State University, where Lillard played in college). While at Weber, Lillard also suffered a season-ending foot injury. "I messaged him and said, 'Look, how did you do it? How did you get through it? Because I am losing my mind,'" Diante recalled. Lillard's advice: Be patient, your doctors know what they're doing. Listen to them and you'll come back stronger. "It was cool of him to do that," Diante added.

#WhatcottStrong

A major motivator for Diante, both on and off the court, is the memory of his late friends, the Whatcott brothers. "Two of my closest friends-I considered them my brothers-they passed away in a plane crash," he said.

Growing up, Diante and his classmate Daulton Whatcott played every sport together-basketball, football, baseball, soccer. Diante spent so much time at the Whatcott house he was practically a member of the family. In July 2014, Daulton, a licensed pilot, was flying his younger brother Jaxon to a basketball tournament in Las Vegas. He invited Diante to hop in but, returning from a junior college showcase game in Dallas, Diante had to pass.

"That was probably one of the hardest things to go through," Diante said of the news, "especially when I just talked to him 24 hours [before]."

Diante, like the Whatcott family, dons #WhatcottStrong gear in memory of his two close friends. "That's been a personal motivator for me... playing for them and knowing they're always watching," he said.

He also sports their memory on his shoes, which he custom designs each season. This year's model, like last year, sports the number 55-a combination of Daulton's #50 and Jaxon's #5 jerseys.

Kicking off his senior season

Diante's shoes tell his story-mountains to represent his Utah roots, Band-Aids to recognize his season-ending injury and, importantly, a symbol for preparation.

When he speaks to high school players, his message is simple: "When you get to this level, it's all about time management." How else could he get 500 shots in at practice while taking full semesters? "One thing I've learned-the more you procrastinate, the worse things get," he noted. "If you can get stuff done as it's handed to you, that'll make your life 100 times easier."

Thanks to his custom shoes, these formative experiences-his family, his friends, his injuries and his hardships-will literally be with him during his senior season.

But he has a bright future off the court, too. "Diante is going to be a success in any area he chooses because of his discipline in following through on tasks," said Coach Osborne. "He makes it easy to coach him and he will make it easy on his future supervisors as well."

Look for Diante-and those storytelling shoes-to hit the court for exhibition games Oct. 21 and 28. The regular season home opener is Nov. 4.