Rocket Spotlight On ... Dante Maddox Jr.

Dante Maddox Jr. is a junior guard who is averaging a career-high 15.6 ppg and ranks third in the MAC with a 42.0 three-point field goal percentage. A Chicago Heights, Ill., native, Maddox is majoring in media communication.

On family and growing up in Chicago
Family is super important to me. It has always been one of the most essential things in my life. They are the reason why I am where I am today and the reason that I continue to try to be the best that I can be. My dad is a high school basketball coach in the Chicagoland area, and basketball has been in our household for a long time. Seeing him coach, play, and be around it all the time since I was about two or three years old is how I developed a love of the game. I also have two sisters. One is eight years older than me. My younger sister is a junior in high school who is being recruited by Division I programs.

On being coached by his father
Growing up, my dad would always give me his input, but he started being my coach in high school. He was very tough on me. He was someone who didn't allow a lot of messing around. He wanted me to be the best that I could be and held me to a standard of understanding that if I wanted anything in life, I was going to have to work hard for it.

On other sports played growing up
I played football, basketball, and baseball growing up. I stopped playing football going into high school, and I stopped baseball around seventh grade. I played all three at a high level. I played center field on my travel team, and we went to the Cal Ripken World Series. One of my former teammates was drafted out of high school by the Chicago Cubs, another went to the University of Houston, and another went to Arizona State. A lot of them ended up being great players.

On basketball players he looked up to growing up in Chicago
Without a doubt, it is Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose was everything. I had a connection to the high school basketball circuit in Chicago with my dad being a coach. I watched Derrick when I was around five and six, and I remember how big he was. Believe it or not, the first person that I can remember having a lot of publicity growing up was (former Rocket) Juice Brown. Juice was the first person I saw play in person in a summer league when I was about seven or eight and he had 40 points. It was amazing.

On developing his shooting abilities
My dad would just take me to Bloom High School when he went to work there in the summer when I was in around third, fourth, and fifth grade. I would have a shooting gun and shoot all day. We would have a plan about what I wanted to accomplish by the time I was in sixth or seventh grade. I would get up around 1,000 shots a day for multiple days in a week. It got to a point where I would try to make 1,000 shots a day instead of just shooting 1,000. My shooting ability just comes from a lot of hard work. I put a lot of effort and time into it over the years.

On studying the history of basketball
I've been interested in the game since I was a little boy. I was a child who had already watched basketball films and documentaries by the time I was five years old. My dad showed me Pistol Pete. I had already seen Magic Johnson's run in the '80s and how good he and Larry Bird were. At seven years old, I watched Michael Jordan's tapes and saw how well he played in college and in the NBA. I knew about the game at a young age, because I was so interested in it. I knew I wanted to be like the best players.

On interests off the court
I'm someone who does a little bit of everything. I love music. I come from a musical background. My mom is somebody who acts and sings. My whole family can sing, and dance, and are all musically inclined. My granddad even had a music group. They were called the Windy City 4 and they would rehearse and perform at my house every Saturday. I was around music my whole life and it became a big part of me. I have done talent shows and been in plays growing up too. When I was in junior high school, we came together as a team, wrote a play, and then performed it.

On the culture within the basketball program
I love being surrounded by genuinely good people and that's what I have here in Toledo. They are honest with you and want the best for you. That's been the biggest thing for me. They have provided the space for me to be my authentic self, to find myself, and try to become the best version of me that I can be. I am very appreciative and very thankful for that because they have done so much for me in the trajectory of my life in general. I am very grateful.

On what he wants to do in the future once basketball is finished
I want to be involved in sports broadcasting and analytics. I want to be the person who can go on ESPN or have his own show and talk about sports in general. I am a true historian for all sports, and I want to one day make that my career and have my own segment on national television.

Players Mentioned

Dante Maddox Jr.

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