Maryland men’s basketball senior Donta Scott recently chatted with PressBox about slimming down this offseason, his relationship with Kevin Willard and more. The 6-foot-8, 224-pound forward averaged 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game during the 2021-22 season for the Terps. Scott is a native of Philadelphia and graduate of Imhotep Institute Charter High School.
PressBox: How did you become interested in basketball?
Donta Scott: It’s all thanks to my mom, [Sandra]. I wasn’t the kid that liked to go outside and experience other things, and I was a little bit on the chubbier side. My mom thought it’d be good for me to at least try sports, and then I got into basketball.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
DS: My biggest influence was my AAU coach, [Howard Hudson], because he pushed me every day. Even when people didn’t see the potential in me, he’s always seen the potential since Day 1 and pushed me every day to get better and better.
PB: Why did you choose to come to Maryland?
DS: I chose to come to Maryland because I saw the real big family base behind it. It wasn’t just I, I, I. They treated me like family as soon as I came in. It’s not too far from home, so my family gets to see me. The coaching staffs before were really great guys and great coaches and great mentors.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Maryland?
DS: We went paintballing my freshman year. We went paintballing as a team. A lot of those guys had fun. It was good exercise for us. We had to speak a lot and make sure people weren’t flaking us. It was good exercise and good team bonding, so a good memory from that one.
PB: You dropped 20 pounds this offseason. What was your offseason workout plan? Why did you choose to go that route?
DS: It was really the coaches — also me trying to just think about the next level and also just prepare for the season, try to make sure I slim down and give myself the best opportunity to be in shape. The coaches really got on me and just told me they wanted me to make sure my body was down, and I had no problem doing that. Working with strength and conditioning coach [Kyle Tarp], he put me in the right place by doing a bunch of different exercises, from conditioning to core workouts, so it was real key.
PB: Kevin Willard recruited you when he was at Seton Hall. What are your memories of that? What are your impressions of him now?
DS: When he recruited me, he was a real upstanding guy. He was always checking up on me and making sure I was cool and making sure my family was cool, asking to see if my mom was cool. I actually took a visit to Seton Hall, so when I got to take a visit to Seton Hall, he was just a joyful guy, even though on the court he was a little more locked in and a little bit more tough on the guys. He just pushed them and got the best out of them. Even here, he’s a little tough on the guys, all of us, but it’s just to make us better and try to have a great season this year.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about the University of Maryland?
DS: My favorite thing about the University of Maryland is the fans. You’ve got to love the fans. They give us our energy. It’s electric in the gym, especially when we have our big games. A lot of fans show up. It’s electric.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about College Park?
DS: My favorite thing about College Park is it’s not too far from home but also College Park has a lot of things around it like D.C., Baltimore, all those areas, so you’re just not [limited] to College Park, basically. It has a lot of things around it.
PB: What’s your favorite cheesesteak place in Philadelphia?
DS: I grew up in Philly, but I moved to Norristown, so my mom took me to a place called [Papa Guido’s Pizzeria & Beer]. They serve really big cheesesteaks, so they’re really pretty good.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
DS: I feel like all these guys are my best friends, but I’ve been around [fellow senior Hakim Hart] the most, so I’d consider him. We actually kind of grew up a little bit together because we played AAU together. We played against each other in high school. So just being around him, even throughout these four years because we never left — we just stuck to Maryland — so being around him for the most time, I’ve kind of built a bond with him. Those are the types of guys that have your back coming from the same area, too.
PB: Who did you look up to early in your college career?
DS: I would say [Anthony Cowan or Jalen Smith]. Ant was always of the mindset of, “Oh, I’m not losing this year. I’m not doing this. I refuse to lose.” Stix was always one of those hard-working guys. He’d always be in the gym. And also Aaron Wiggins, he was a guy that always tried to make sure he did things right.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
DS: Just fight. Life’s going throw a lot of things at you. The most important thing is to never give up and just keep fighting. … You could be down by 20 and you could try to inspire your team to just keep fighting. As long as they’ve got your back, you’ve got their back, anything is possible.
PB: What are your goals for after basketball, whenever it ends?
DS: For after basketball, I would like to get back into maybe something basketball-wise, if it’s just talking to kids or training kids or doing some stuff around Maryland maybe. Even just working with animals, maybe — that’s a little thing that I could do, too.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox