A NEW TEAM, A NEW ROLE
3/21/2021 8:24:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Carrington Has Provided Lady Bears Offensive Spark Off the
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
DiJonai Carrington had to leave her ego at the door when the former McDonald's All-American and first-team All-Pac-12 pick transferred from Stanford to Baylor.
A starter for the Cardinal's Elite Eight team two years ago when she averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists, the 5-11 guard was granted a medical hardship after playing just five games last season.
But, she took on a much different role this season, coming off the bench for all but one game and providing an offensive spark for a fifth-ranked and second-seeded Baylor team (25-3) that will face Jackson State (18-5) at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Alamadome in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
"It's a completely different role mentally and physically," said Carrington, who is averaging 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. "I don't think I came in with any type of expectations that anything should be handed to me or that I was going to have a specific role.
"I just had to leave my ego at the door when I walked into the Ferrell Center and just be the best teammate and play whatever role this team needs me to play."
Much like previous grad transfers Chloe Jackson and Te'a Cooper, Carrington has made a huge impact in her one season with the Lady Bears. Earning Big 12 Sixth Person and Newcomer of the Year, not only is she the team's second-leading scorer, Carrington is first in steals (45) and 3-pointers made (34-of-113) and has scored in double figures 18 times.
"DiJonai has just fit right in, like Te'a Cooper did, like Chloe Jackson did," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "She brings a dimension to our team both from an experience standpoint and from the perimeter 3, she's also a pretty darn good defender. She understands the importance of defense and she's bought into that."
That's non-negotiable when it comes to playing for Mulkey. The Lady Bears have led the nation in field goal percentage defense each of the last four seasons and rank No. 1 again at a .318 clip through the first 27 games this year.
"Sometimes, people think we're looking up at the scoreboard to see how many points we have," Carrington said. "At least me personally, a lot of times I'm looking to see how many points the player I'm guarding has. And then, a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. I take a lot of pride in getting offensive fouls, because that's a huge momentum shift. And deflections. Even when they don't turn into a steal every time, it still gets the offense out of their flow. I also like to gamble and go for steals, but I pick and choose."
After playing for her mom, Vickie Carrington, at Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, DiJonai said she has a "coach's mind." In a truly family affair, her dad, former NFL safety Daren Carrington, was the associate head coach and her older sister, Diarra, was an assistant coach.
"I know it was probably hard sometimes, but I think my parents did a great job of turning it on and off," DiJonai said. "My mom, obviously, had high expectations, and she should have. I just think she did a really good job of not being too hard on me but also not showing any type of favoritism."
A prep All-American who scored 2,000 career points at Horizon Christian, Carrington averaged 18.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game as a senior. Part of four NCAA Tournament teams at Stanford, including a trip to the Final Four as a freshman in 2017, Carrington scored 22 points in a win over Oregon in the 2019 Pac-12 tournament final.
After a postseason surgery to repair her patellar tendon, Carrington only played five games last season and decided to enter the transfer portal.
"I really wanted to go somewhere where I felt like I was valued as a player and a person," she said. "I was looking for a coach that was super honest and not the type to beat round the bush, play games, things like that. That's definitely what I've gotten here. I feel valued as a person and I get shot straight with the truth."
Unlike Cooper and Jackson, who scored the winning bucket in the 82-81 win over Notre Dame in the 2019 national championship game, Carrington didn't have the summer to get acclimated with her new team.
"Even when the team got here late in the summer and they were playing pick-up games and things like that, I wasn't able to participate or do any of that. I was still trying to get through my injury," she said. "Those first couple months of the season, I was still trying to just learn my team, learn how they play and learn where they like the ball, who likes to do what. I really didn't have a clue about any of the players on the team before coming here."
If there were any nerves or doubts about how she would fit in, those were quickly put to rest when Carrington scored 24 points in 25 minutes in an 83-78 loss at Arkansas in just her third game. After missing four games in January with COVID, she came back to score 17 points in an 85-77 win at Iowa State and has reached double figures in all but one of her last 14 games.
"I definitely see my role as an offensive spark. When I come into the game, I know one of my jobs is to score the ball. And that's what I've tried to do every single game," she said. "I think I've played well for 20 minutes here, 20 minutes in this game, but I think in March and April you have to put together 40 minutes. That's what our team is going to need going forward for me and a few other people to be able to put 40 minutes together."
Ultimately, her goal is to help take the Lady Bears further than she ever went with the Stanford Cardinal, which is ironically the overall No. 1 seed in this year's tournament.
"Obviously, I've never won a national championship," she said. "But, I have played in the Final Four and I've been to the tournament all four years. So, this is not a new experience for me. There's not really those nerves or those questions of uncertainty, just things like that."
Carrington, who is working on a master's in sport management after earning undergrad degrees in African and African American Studies and Psychology at Stanford, said "there is so much more that I'm capable of."
"I've never really had an offseason where I've been healthy and been able to just work on my game," she said. "I've always been working on an injury or get something back right. Now that I'm fully healthy, whether this is an offseason or me training for the WNBA training camp, I hope that I'm able to just work on my game for once. I think the rest will speak for itself."
Making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in 21 years under Mulkey, Baylor is facing a Jackson State team that is winless in four previous appearances. The Lady Tigers defeated Alabama State, 67-66, in last Saturday's SWAC Championship game.
"We expect to see a team that's hungry, a team that embraces the opportunity to play us," Mulkey said. "And we're going to go out there and play as if it's the last game of the season."
Baylor Bear Insider
DiJonai Carrington had to leave her ego at the door when the former McDonald's All-American and first-team All-Pac-12 pick transferred from Stanford to Baylor.
A starter for the Cardinal's Elite Eight team two years ago when she averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists, the 5-11 guard was granted a medical hardship after playing just five games last season.
But, she took on a much different role this season, coming off the bench for all but one game and providing an offensive spark for a fifth-ranked and second-seeded Baylor team (25-3) that will face Jackson State (18-5) at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Alamadome in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
"It's a completely different role mentally and physically," said Carrington, who is averaging 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. "I don't think I came in with any type of expectations that anything should be handed to me or that I was going to have a specific role.
"I just had to leave my ego at the door when I walked into the Ferrell Center and just be the best teammate and play whatever role this team needs me to play."
Much like previous grad transfers Chloe Jackson and Te'a Cooper, Carrington has made a huge impact in her one season with the Lady Bears. Earning Big 12 Sixth Person and Newcomer of the Year, not only is she the team's second-leading scorer, Carrington is first in steals (45) and 3-pointers made (34-of-113) and has scored in double figures 18 times.
"DiJonai has just fit right in, like Te'a Cooper did, like Chloe Jackson did," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "She brings a dimension to our team both from an experience standpoint and from the perimeter 3, she's also a pretty darn good defender. She understands the importance of defense and she's bought into that."
That's non-negotiable when it comes to playing for Mulkey. The Lady Bears have led the nation in field goal percentage defense each of the last four seasons and rank No. 1 again at a .318 clip through the first 27 games this year.
"Sometimes, people think we're looking up at the scoreboard to see how many points we have," Carrington said. "At least me personally, a lot of times I'm looking to see how many points the player I'm guarding has. And then, a lot of things that don't show up on the stat sheet. I take a lot of pride in getting offensive fouls, because that's a huge momentum shift. And deflections. Even when they don't turn into a steal every time, it still gets the offense out of their flow. I also like to gamble and go for steals, but I pick and choose."
After playing for her mom, Vickie Carrington, at Horizon Christian Academy in San Diego, DiJonai said she has a "coach's mind." In a truly family affair, her dad, former NFL safety Daren Carrington, was the associate head coach and her older sister, Diarra, was an assistant coach.
"I know it was probably hard sometimes, but I think my parents did a great job of turning it on and off," DiJonai said. "My mom, obviously, had high expectations, and she should have. I just think she did a really good job of not being too hard on me but also not showing any type of favoritism."
A prep All-American who scored 2,000 career points at Horizon Christian, Carrington averaged 18.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game as a senior. Part of four NCAA Tournament teams at Stanford, including a trip to the Final Four as a freshman in 2017, Carrington scored 22 points in a win over Oregon in the 2019 Pac-12 tournament final.
After a postseason surgery to repair her patellar tendon, Carrington only played five games last season and decided to enter the transfer portal.
"I really wanted to go somewhere where I felt like I was valued as a player and a person," she said. "I was looking for a coach that was super honest and not the type to beat round the bush, play games, things like that. That's definitely what I've gotten here. I feel valued as a person and I get shot straight with the truth."
Unlike Cooper and Jackson, who scored the winning bucket in the 82-81 win over Notre Dame in the 2019 national championship game, Carrington didn't have the summer to get acclimated with her new team.
"Even when the team got here late in the summer and they were playing pick-up games and things like that, I wasn't able to participate or do any of that. I was still trying to get through my injury," she said. "Those first couple months of the season, I was still trying to just learn my team, learn how they play and learn where they like the ball, who likes to do what. I really didn't have a clue about any of the players on the team before coming here."
If there were any nerves or doubts about how she would fit in, those were quickly put to rest when Carrington scored 24 points in 25 minutes in an 83-78 loss at Arkansas in just her third game. After missing four games in January with COVID, she came back to score 17 points in an 85-77 win at Iowa State and has reached double figures in all but one of her last 14 games.
"I definitely see my role as an offensive spark. When I come into the game, I know one of my jobs is to score the ball. And that's what I've tried to do every single game," she said. "I think I've played well for 20 minutes here, 20 minutes in this game, but I think in March and April you have to put together 40 minutes. That's what our team is going to need going forward for me and a few other people to be able to put 40 minutes together."
Ultimately, her goal is to help take the Lady Bears further than she ever went with the Stanford Cardinal, which is ironically the overall No. 1 seed in this year's tournament.
"Obviously, I've never won a national championship," she said. "But, I have played in the Final Four and I've been to the tournament all four years. So, this is not a new experience for me. There's not really those nerves or those questions of uncertainty, just things like that."
Carrington, who is working on a master's in sport management after earning undergrad degrees in African and African American Studies and Psychology at Stanford, said "there is so much more that I'm capable of."
"I've never really had an offseason where I've been healthy and been able to just work on my game," she said. "I've always been working on an injury or get something back right. Now that I'm fully healthy, whether this is an offseason or me training for the WNBA training camp, I hope that I'm able to just work on my game for once. I think the rest will speak for itself."
Making its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance in 21 years under Mulkey, Baylor is facing a Jackson State team that is winless in four previous appearances. The Lady Tigers defeated Alabama State, 67-66, in last Saturday's SWAC Championship game.
"We expect to see a team that's hungry, a team that embraces the opportunity to play us," Mulkey said. "And we're going to go out there and play as if it's the last game of the season."
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