Senior guard Darrin Govens entered Saint Joseph’s as one of four Philadelphia-area guards joining the team from his recruiting class.
Since then, Jawan Carter and D.J. Rivera have transferred, and Hawks coach Phil Martelli has hit a dry spell in local recruiting.Govens and fellow senior Garrett Williamson are left as the only local players on the team.
Govens and Williamson are the only players to have started all 18 games for the Hawks this year, and Martelli leans heavily on them to be leaders, both on and off the court.
Martelli said that beyond the usual off-court responsibilities expected of a senior, Govens — whose aunt, Theresa Govens, is a Big 5 Hall of Famer from her playing days at Temple — has a role in carrying the tradition of the Big 5 to his younger teammates.
The Big 5 history and the chance to stay close to home were big factors in his recruitment out of high school.
“You’ve played your whole career, you’ve been raised in basketball with your family and those closest to you watching you play,” Martelli said. “Now you’re going to play on the biggest stage, college basketball. Why would you change that unless there’s an overwhelming reason?”
On the court, Govens is primarily a threat as a shooter. Although his field goal percentage has decreased since his freshman year, the Chester, Pa., native still leads the team with 12.7 points per game. (Williamson, the Hawks’ team captain, is not far behind with 11.7 points per game.)
Meanwhile, the other local talent that Martelli cultivated has taken their scoring abilities elsewhere. Carter currently leads Delaware with 17.4 points per game, including a 35-point outburst against Penn earlier this season. Rivera led Binghamton with 20.0 points per game last season but was dismissed from the team with five other players for disciplinary reasons.
Despite all of the talent that the 2006 recruits have demonstrated, Martelli said that he had never really thought about the team’s potential if all four seniors were still on this squad.
Last year, Govens buried Penn with a game-high 20 points, including three trifectas, in an 80-68 victory. Since the Quakers have struggled to contain opposing guards all season, Govens will likely have a chance to repeat his shooting touch tonight.
If he does have a big game at the Palestra, Govens will likely do so in front of family and friends. And if not, he’ll still have a chance to shine against Temple and La Salle later this year.
“One of the advantages of playing in the area is that every game isn’t going to be a great game for you,” Martelli said. “So those nights when you don’t have a great game, I can’t hug every kid and tell him it’s going to be all right. He needs family there, he needs friends there, to tell him, ‘You know what? The next game will be better.’”
Govens could not be reached for comment.
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