Keller is simply 'Unique'

For more on UI men's basketball, click here to watch video of coach Bruce Weber discussing Thursday's matchup against Northwestern.

CHAMPAIGN – When Dominique Keller was a kid, his mother worried about him.

"We used to joke around because all he did was sleep," Tonita Keller said Wednesday from her home in Port Arthur, Texas. "We'd say, 'This boy ain't never gonna have a job. All he does is sleep.' "

And Dominique's first nickname – his first of many – was born.

"We used to call him Ol' Yeller. We called him Ol' Yeller all the time," Tonita said. "School let out at 3 o'clock. And when it hits 6 o'clock, Dominique was asleep."

Since then, the list of nicknames has grown. (Though he still loves to sleep.) Ask one of his teammates on 22nd-ranked Illinois, which plays today at Northwestern (8 p.m., ESPN2), and you'll get a different one.

Some call him "D.K." That's what he prefers, and what he went by as a youth in Port Arthur. Others, like next-door neighbor Demetri McCamey, call him something else.

"Crazy Man," McCamey said, "Or Dennis Rodman, or junkyard dog. He's got a lot of nicknames. He's just crazy."

But the tidiest description, the name that might encompass the UI (19-5, 7-4 Big Ten) junior better than the others, came from within his family.

"His dad (Keith Keller) would call him 'Unique,' " Tonita said. "And he was very unique. He's always been unique. He's always been different."

There's little about Keller, a 6-foot-7 forward, that screams normal. Everything's bigger in Texas, and that includes his personality. That's the beauty of a 20-year-old who doesn't fit in the cookie-cutter world of big-time college athletics, where everyone takes it one game at a time and gives 110 percent.

(The next time Keller says, "We're just taking it one game at a time" will be the first.)

He's the only Illini who, during an interview session Tuesday, shook the hand of every media type wielding a recorder. (His next nickname won't be "Shy.") After reading that teammate Trent Meacham is writing a diary for The News-Gazette, Keller asked The News-Gazette if he could have one, too.

"I've got a lot to say," he explained.

And he has something to say if you make fun of his unorthodox, goofy-looking, straight-off-the-playground shooting form, too.

"There is no one on this team that could beat me in H-O-R-S-E," Keller said. "Chester (Frazier) made a move: a left-handed shot, off the left leg. It's an awkward shot.

"Everybody was trying for like 30 minutes to make it. I went and made it on my first try. I am the awkward king. No one on this team could beat me in H-O-R-S-E."

The origin of his shooting form can be traced to the ninth grade, he said. That was the first time he played organized basket- ball.

"My coach saw me play and I had a funny shot. He tried to change it five or six times," Keller said. "I would always miss when he changed it. So when I went back to my old form, I was always making it."

Last week in a game against Iowa, he shook heads across the Assembly Hall crowd with what has become a patented move. He goes right and lofts a high-arcing half hook shot off the backboard... and into the net.

From the sideline, coach Bruce Weber looked at his assistant coaches with a mouth-open, "What the heck was that?" kind of look.

"I say that every time: 'Ohhh!' " McCamey said with a laugh. "Then it goes in and you can't say nothing."

Though other coaches tried to change Keller's shooting form, the Illini knew they were getting an eccentric type of player out of Lee College in Baytown, Texas.

"If you watched him play, it's crazy. He did those hooks and all that," Weber said. "I told you he was unorthodox when we were recruiting him. It's the same flying hooks he does now."

Keller's role within the playing rotation gradually has expanded. He's averaged 8.5 points and 18.1 minutes during the past six games, up from 6.3 and 12.3 on the season. His scoring average in the team's Big Ten wins (7.3 points) are greater than in its losses (5.2).

"I always tell him, 'If you're in there for one minute, you play that one minute with pride and grace,' " said Tonita, a sweet woman with four boys, who drove from her Houston-area home to the South Padre Island Invitational to watch Dominique play in November. "You've got your gift, you've got your talent, do the best with your ability. If you do that, no one can take it away from you."

Weber would like to see his rebounding numbers increase, as well. The most physical big man on the roster is averaging 2.3 rebounds per conference game, the seventh-best mark on the team.

"The one thing he hasn't done is rebounding. It's kind of baffling to me," Weber said. "I know it wasn't his priority in college, but he did get rebounds."

Keller acknowledged his rebounding numbers need work.

"Coach called me right after the game (on Sunday against Purdue), even though we won," Keller said. "He called me around 11:30. He was like, 'I need you to join the (rebounding) bandwagon.'"

Back to the name thing, since his various nicknames seem to tell much about Dominique Keller. And his mother is a basketball fan in her own right.

"He's named after Dominique Wilkins," Tonita said. "I loved the way he played the game. He played the game with a smile on his face, and no one knows if you're mad or not. I tell Dominique, 'Play the game with grace and a smile on your face.' "

But the one that really strikes you is his middle name. It's particularly unique – no surprise there – given the fact he plays basketball for Illinois.

"His middle name is DePaul," she said, and DePaul was in the midst of six straight NCAA tournament berths when he was born in 1988. "I loved the DePaul basketball team because they dominated."

Plenty in reserve
Wisconsin guard Jason Bohannon was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year last season. He averaged 8.2 points with two starts. Here’s a look at the top sixth-man candidates among the teams in the upper half of the
Big Ten standings (with their stats in Big Ten play):

B.J. Mullens, Ohio State (zero starts, 10.8 ppg)
Chris Allen, Michigan State (one start, 8.8 ppg)
Paul Carter, Minnesota (zero starts, 7.0 ppg)
Dominique Keller, Illinois (zero starts, 6.5 ppg)
Calvin Brock, Illinois (zero starts, 6.0 ppg)
Danny Morrissey, Penn State (zero starts, 4.5 ppg)
Marcus Green, Purdue (one start, 3.6 ppg)

pklee@news-gazette.com

Comments

Add a Comment