DEAFENING SILENCE
Hushed and hidden, all senses on full alert, Derrick Higgins waits. He watches. He listens.
It was his way as a child growing up in Los Angeles, where he was the introvert among six siblings, the compassionate one who bonded with his invalid great-grandmother.
It was his way at church, where he silently absorbed the message preached by his father, the pastor and a gifted orator. From his place in the choir, Higgins’ eyes stayed glued to the organist’s fingers, and by the age of 14 he played hymns by ear.
And it is his way on the basketball court, where Higgins is Cal State Northridge’s only senior, the captain and reluctant leader who prefers the background, the baseline and the back door to the basket.
Wait. Watch. Listen. And when it’s time for action, there is no hesitation.
With the stealth of a big cat, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Higgins springs into motion at the first sign of opportunity, using his superior quickness on defense and his 37-inch vertical leap on dunks.
He leads the Big Sky Conference with 54 steals and is challenging his school record of 74.
He leads Northridge with a scoring average of 13 points and is shooting 56%, with most of his shots coming on fast breaks, alley-oops and offensive rebounds.
But the statistic sheet is meaningless to Higgins. He performs by feel, not formula.
He recalls phone numbers by studying his fingers while they tap an imaginary keypad. He doesn’t read music, yet he plays the drums, the piano and the organ.
On the court, as with the choir, keeping harmony is his game.
“I try to get everyone involved, I try to get everybody happy,” he said. “I can score, but I figure I can get that shot later.”
Higgins communicates best nonverbally. Often he trails off in mid-sentence, unable to say what he can convey with a turn of his cheek, a twist of his hands or a wiggle of his shoulders.
During practice, he is quick with a pat on the back--a contrast to his coach, Bobby Braswell.
“Derrick is one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve known,” said Braswell, the recipient of a Higgins hug at particularly stressful moments. “He doesn’t like conflict. He wants everybody to be happy. If I’m on somebody, he goes over and picks them up.”
Higgins is the only Northridge player Braswell did not recruit. But they bonded quickly.
Two years ago, Braswell’s father and brother died during the season. Braswell missed practice the day his brother passed away, and when assistant Mike Johnson brought the team together, Higgins turned ashen-faced.
“Who in Coach’s family died?” Higgins blurted out.
“Derrick knew something was terribly wrong and he was devastated,” Braswell said. “He called and stopped by my house. It took a lot out of him, knowing I was hurting. There is a sensitivity about him you don’t see in many people.”
Rarely is a basketball player unselfish to a fault. Higgins can be.
“He was making turnovers on passes when he should have shot the ball,” Braswell said.
Message received. Higgins is shooting 78% in the last six games, is averaging 15.5 points in Big Sky play and has consistently made big plays.
Against Northern Arizona, he made a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the baseline to force overtime.
Against Idaho State, he tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to give Northridge a two-point victory.
Against Portland State, he blocked a shot at the buzzer to force overtime.
Against Eastern Washington, he made 10 of 13 shots and scored a career-high 26 points.
Against Cal State Sacramento, he made all eight of his shots. The next night, against Weber State, he made four of five shots and had three steals.
Sharing his senior season from the top corner of the Northridge stands at home games are Higgins’ parents, four brothers and sister.
“We enjoy the games tremendously, not just watching Derrick, but all the Northridge players,” said David Higgins, Derrick’s father. “Basketball is nice because it enables us to continue doing something together.”
The emphasis placed on family by David and Valerie Higgins, who celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary on Christmas, shaped the character of their children.
“Mom and Dad brought us up to stick with family life,” Higgins said. “I isolated myself from other people to stay out of trouble. That’s why I am so to myself. As I’ve grown, I’ve learned to mingle with everybody.”
“I was around gangs and drugs. My closest friends from elementary and junior high, I’d see them at the park when I’d go there to play basketball. They respected me saying no to that stuff because I played ball.”
Higgins’ older brothers, David and Keith, preceded him as basketball stars at Locke High. Derrick was the center on a league champion team his senior year and continued to play the post at another winning program, L.A. City College.
He was recruited to Northridge by Pete Cassidy, Braswell’s predecessor. Keith was not happy at Colorado and transferred to Northridge before the 1995-96 season, which Derrick sat out with a broken left foot.
Braswell replaced Cassidy and cranked up the tempo on offense and the pressure on defense, much to the delight of the Higgins brothers. After struggling early, the Matadors nearly qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 1997, advancing to the Big Sky Tournament final and losing in the final minute to Montana.
Keith went on to play professionally in China and the Philippines and is living with Derrick in Northridge while recovering from a back injury.
“We brought excitement to Northridge,” Keith said. “Our fans saw us diving for balls, making steals and dunks, doing things they’d only seen on TV.”
Derrick was off to a good start again last season until he broke his right foot in the fifth game. Both of his foot injuries came from the stress brought on by his superior leaping ability.
While sidelined, Higgins, 23, finished the course work for his degree in child development. He contemplated not playing basketball this season. But when word came from the NCAA that he was granted a sixth season of eligibility, he changed his mind.
“I could exhale then,” he said. “Sitting out the first time I was injured was OK because I was observing to see what was up. It’s good to look. But the second time was frustrating.
“The reason I came back is that you get one chance at this stuff. There is always that dream of going to the Big Dance. And I believe we can do it this season.”
Becoming a vocal leader might not be comfortable for Higgins, but he knows it might help his dream be realized. He called a players-only meeting two weeks ago, the day after a loss at Montana State, and told his teammates to wake up.
Northridge (13-8, 5-4 in the Big Sky) beat Montana that day, starting a four-game winning streak.
“Because I’m captain, I have to be more verbal,” Higgins said. “I like to lead by action. Now I have to change it up. Coach shouldn’t have to be the one to say things all the time.”
Higgins was on the receiving end of a pep talk recently--from his father, who began his own church, the New Fellowship Ministry, two years ago.
“We talked about how to be vocal without coming out of character,” Higgins’ father said. “Derrick can still be mild-mannered, yet be a leader.”
His father’s words are taken to heart. After all, Higgins loves to listen.
“This is the stretch run of my college career and I don’t want to lose any more games,” he said. “With my degree and basketball, I’ve done everything I came to Northridge to do except make it to the [NCAA Tournament].”
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DERRICK HIGGINS BY THE NUMBERS
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YEAR GAMES FG-FGA PCT FT-FTA PCT REB AVG TP AVG AST BL 1998-99 20 100-179 .559 57-84 .679 98 4.9 260 13.0 47 12 1997-98 5 21-39 .538 8-13 .615 27 5.4 51 10.2 17 3 1996-97 29 138-265 .521 43-72 .597 90 3.1 336 11.6 72 12
YEAR ST 1998-99 50 1997-98 12 1996-97 74
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