Special Night for Wallace
The Mission Viejo boys’ basketball team called timeout with just under two minutes remaining Tuesday night against Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills and, for the first time in four years, Dunovan Wallace was left empty handed.
One teammate pried the tray of water bottles from his hands as another began handing out towels. Nobody had to tell the rest of the Mission Viejo team it was time for Wallace to enter the game.
Wallace is a 19-year-old team manager for Mission Viejo who suffers from polycystic kidney disease, a disorder in which cysts form in the organ and multiply over time, contributing to the deterioration of normal function.
After getting the nod from Mission Viejo Coach Troy Roelen with 1:53 remaining and the Diablos leading, 66-51, Wallace reported to the scorer’s table as the crowd rose to its feet. He looked up and smiled at his parents in the top row, then nervously paced behind the team huddle.
He then stood at a pre-determined spot in the far corner of the court, took a pass from teammate Lance Ortiz and banked his three-point shot off the support behind the basket as a defender rushed at him. Mission Viejo called timeout, and Wallace left the game to another round of cheers before the Diablos finished off a 69-57 victory.
“D is the hardest worker on the team,” said junior forward Jed Collins. “We had tears in our eyes when he finally got a chance to play.”
About seven hours before Tuesday’s game, Roelen informed Wallace during a team meeting that he would be suiting up. Roelen handed him a new jersey, bearing No. 1 with the letter “D” stitched onto the back.
“I thought he was going to break down crying,” Roelen said. After accepting a round of high fives from his teammates, Wallace sprinted to the school parking lot, where his father, Don, was waiting to pick him up.
“Dunovan told his father he would be playing tonight and his immediate reaction was, ‘What, the violin?’ Roelen said. “Dunovan was like a kid in a candy store.”
Trabuco Hills Coach Rainer Wulf was aware Mission Viejo hoped to enter Wallace into the game. Wulf said Roelen proposed the idea to one of his assistant coaches before Mission Viejo’s first game against the Mustangs on Jan. 17. Wulf and Roelen exchanged e-mails this week to discuss the circumstances.
“My whole thing [was], it would be nice to do as long as it does not affect the integrity of the game,” Wulf said. “Our idea was to make it a special night for the young man, so he can do what he always wanted to do but wasn’t physically able to do.”
Wallace was diagnosed with the condition as a baby but didn’t require dialysis until about a year ago, when his strength and energy levels began to deteriorate. He requires thrice-weekly dialysis sessions, each of which lasts 3 hours 15 minutes.
He needs a new kidney, which one of his parents hopes to provide within the next month if he or she is determined to be a compatible donor. Wallace’s developmental disorders, which affect his cognitive skills, surfaced years after his kidney disease and have slowed his learning to about a sixth- or seventh-grade level. Before his condition took a downturn, Wallace played shooting guard in a youth league for developmentally disabled boys in San Juan Capistrano. That was the last time he played in a game until Tuesday.