Redshirt sophomore transfer Myles Douglas spent his summer navigating the NCAA waiver process before he was finally granted a waiver on Oct. 12, making him immediately eligible to take the court with the Hawks this year.
Douglas transferred from the University of Central Florida and committed to St. Joe’s in April, which is when he began the process he described as “tedious.” Douglas has had a reunion of sorts on Hawk Hill with Assistant Coach Brendan Straughn, who he has known since he was an eighth grader. Straughn coached him on the AAU level throughout high school.
“This is a guy who was highly sought after coming out of high school,” Straughn said. “Everybody has different paths. His path took him a couple different places, but now he’s here and we’re going to make sure we make the most of that opportunity. He’s bought into the coaching staff, he’s bought into the program, and now he’s got to go out there and play his game.”
For Douglas, it was difficult training not knowing whether he would be able to take the court this season, but when he got the news, there was a certain switch that was flipped in how he approached and prepared.
“It put a lot of things into perspective, turned my focus up a little bit,” Douglas said. “The intensity of what I bring to practice and the way I approached the games and practice was a lot different.”
Douglas and Straughn both pointed to one specific aspect of Douglas’ game that will be especially valuable: versatility. Douglas is a 6 foot 7 inch tall guard that will play a lot of point guard this year, but will also be moved to the wing and the post, according to Straughn.
“As a program we’re going forward with a big emphasis on size and versatility,” Straughn said. “With Myles going forward and his versatility, big long versatile players are going to fit the style of basketball going forward, and St. Joe’s will definitely be at the forefront of that.”
The relationship Douglas has with Straughn has flourished into a similar relationship with the rest of the coaching staff, which was one of the main reasons for Douglas’ decision to call St. Joe’s home.
“Coach Lange, with his history of coaching the Sixers and him telling me that I’d be able to have the ball in my hands a lot and be a point guard here,” Douglas said. “That was the biggest thing, me being able to play my game here, be comfortable.”
From Straughn’s perspective, he saw a similar dynamic unfolding throughout the preseason.
“Coach Lange does an awesome job cultivating relationships both on and off the court, so it’s a situation where he’s going to be pushed hard to be the best player that he can be,” Straughn said.
Douglas playing this year would not have been possible if it weren’t for the St. Joe’s compliance staff in the athletics department, who worked tirelessly to help Douglas and ultimately get the waiver granted.
“Our compliance staff members, Renie Shields and Ken Krimmel, have great expertise,” Jill Bodensteiner, J.D., director of athletics, said. “All of the credit goes to them for working closely with Myles and his family and the NCAA staff to get to what is the right result under the waiver rules. I really appreciate Renie and Ken, and am very happy for Myles.”
Douglas has experienced a dramatic shift in culture from UCF to Hawk Hill both on and off the court and one that he thinks he is handling fairly well so far.
“It’s a lot different [from UCF],” Douglas said. “Coming from UCF it’s 77,000 students so it’s different school wise. Then playing style wise, not playing a lot and not being a main focus in the offense and not having the ball in my hand, to now having the ball most of the time. There’s a lot of things I’m getting used to, getting adjusted to, but I think I’m adjusting just fine.”
