Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMBB | Unlikely leader: Mac Koshwal earns surprising role as DePaul's 1st freshman captain
By Brian Tahmosh
Posted: 1/28/08, 10:39 PM EST Section: Sports
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"On one possession I got the ball, and I didn't know what to do, so I just traveled," Koshwal said. "But from that moment I said 'I don't want to be embarrassed, and I'm going to get better.'"
Koshwal has only played basketball for just more than five years, but he's improved enough in that time to sufficiently impress DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright.
When the Blue Demons (9-10, 4-3) host Syracuse at the Allstate Arena on Wednesday night, they will likely start at least three seniors in an attempt to stay over .500 in the Big East. It's of little surprise two of them - Draelon Burns and Cliff Clinkscales - were named captains for this season.
The decision to elevate the freshman Koshwal to the same status seems less obvious.
Before the season, Wainwright named Koshwal the first freshman captain in team history. It's an honor befitting the maturity of Koshwal, a native of Sudan whose family fled the war-torn country while Koshwal was still young.
"At first, I was confused," Koshwal said regarding his selection as team captain. "I wasn't sure why he picked me. I was just usually cheering people on and just making noise and helping people when they were down."
Now, the 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man has backed up Wainwright's confidence thus far in the season. Koshwal leads the team with 8.1 rebounds per game and is third on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game on 55.5 percent shooting from the field.
Even Loren Jackson - Koshwal's legal guardian and former coach at Julian High School and Boys To Men Academy in Chicago - was somewhat shocked when he heard the news.
"Any kid that's named captain as a freshman surprises any coach that's been in the business as long as I have," Jackson said. "But I think one of the things that he brings to the table that coach Wainwright is trying to bring to his program is hard work and toughness."
Even with Wainwright's support and his early success on the floor, Koshwal maintains that he does not consider himself different from any other freshman on the team. He sees Burns and Clinkscales as the real leaders on the team.
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