With the shot clock turned off and her team comfortably ahead of Archbishop Molloy, Darius Faulk was still directing traffic. Even before the ball was inbounded the Nazareth junior point guard was calling a play and motioning players into position when she could easily just wing it and dribble out the clock.
“That’s part of being a leader,” Faulk said. “We had the last shot so we wanted to get a good shot out of it.”
She has brought that kind of presence to the floor every night for the Lady Kingsmen and it’s one of the big reasons coach Apache Paschall, who called her the player they could least be without, was happy to have her back this season.
Paschall was unsure whether Faulk was going to follow her former St. Michael Academy teammates to Brooklyn, as she thought about attending Baldwin, which is closer to her Hempsteaid, L.I., home. It would had have left Nazareth to rely on freshmen Bianca Cuevas and Shiclasia Brown at the point.
“We needed someone who was experienced,” Nazareth forward Taylor Ford said. “Darius was there freshman year. With Darius coming back it just gave us a lift more knowing we can win.”
This is a role Faulk has been groomed for. She was a freshman when Janine Davis, now at George Washington, helped lead the Eagles to their first ever New York State Federation Class AA title two seasons ago. Last year she was the backup to current Kentucky guard Jennifer O’Neill, a McDonald’s All-American. Both were stars and the team’s unquestioned leaders.
“I’ve taken a lot of Janine and Jen from playing behind them,” Faulk said. “I learned how to be a leader. I have to lead my team. They led me. I have to be an example to the freshmen girls. I just want to come out and play and be consistent.”
So far she has been the model of steady play.
Faulk, who has interest from St. John’s, Kentucky, Louisville and Syracuse, scored 13 points and dished out a handful of assists in a win over Molloy this week and had 10 points as Nazareth beat Mary Louis in Jamaica Estates last week.
Her point totals will never tell the whole story of her impact on the court. Faulk is a pass-first point guard, almost to a fault. She can lead a fast break flawlessly and can fire a pinpoint feed to a cutting teammate with ease. Paschall believes up to 10 times a game she will pass up a good look or a possible drive for a better opportunity by a teammate.
“She is doing everything that we projected and asked her to do,” Paschall said. “Regardless of all the accolades everyone else gets, she is the engine. She runs the show. She can lead this team without scoring a basket.”
He and the coaching staff are pushing for her be more aggressive offensively, especially in the beginning of games. Faulk placed some of the blame on herself for the slow start by Nazareth (7-1), ranked No. 7 in the country by USA Today, against the Stanners.
One thing she hasn’t had a problem doing is attacking when her team needs it most — head down and a full head of steam. As a game against St. Frances (Md.) got close at the Breezy Bishop Showcase in Maryland in early December, Paschall said he felt comfortable because Faulk and Cuevas were on the floor and would make a play to keep it that way. Faulk did just that, sparking a run to secure the win.
“She can always go to the basket and get that layup,” Ford said. “It lifts you up to know that she went through four people and still made a layup. That’s going to make you work harder.”
It’s what leading by example is all about.