PHILADELPHIA – The 20-year-old millionaire says he isn’t a college kid anymore, but he still loves talking about that one year of college. He sits here, in the visitor’s locker room at the Wachovia Center, intermittently watching game film of tonight’s opponent, the 76ers, on the big screen TV 15 feet in front of him. His teammates, at least the few who frequent the tiny locker room with a little more than an hour until tip-off, keep to themselves.

It doesn’t take much to make him feel nostalgic. Between stories, Donte Greene looks around for some attention. To his left sits Francisco Garcia, out of action with a strained right calf and fully absorbed by the headphones in his ears. ‘Everyone calls me goofy,’ Greene says, while turning to Garcia. ‘Like here, Mr. Big-Shot Louisville, Francisco Garcia.’ Garcia, who left Louisville in 2005, responds with a half smile and puts his head back down.

Spencer Hawes sees him talking up a storm and makes a move to humble the rookie. Hawes knows how it works. He left Washington early, also after his freshman year. Time to bust his chops. ‘Where’s the PlayStation?’ Hawes asks Greene. ‘You were supposed to bring it. The one from the hotel.’ Greene doesn’t know.

He misses the guys at school the most, he says. But college is over, and the locker room is a daily reminder. And for a few fleeting moments here and there, Donte Greene regrets his decision to leave Syracuse after one season for the NBA.

But that’s all.

Granted, it would be easier if he were playing instead of changing into a black blazer and dark blue jeans. Its Sacramento’s fourth game of the season and for the third time, Greene is on the inactive list.

‘Especially now, when I’m not playing, it’s hard,’ Greene said. ‘You live and you learn. A lot of times I was thinking it was a mistake, me coming here. But then sitting down with my fiancée, she’s like, ‘It’s a decision you wanted. This is your dream.’

‘Nobody said it was going to be easy.’

True. But Greene won’t go as far to say staying at Syracuse for another year would have made it easier. No, he doesn’t believe that. Remember, it was Jim Boeheim who once said he thought Greene made the decision to stay one year in school before he even arrived at Syracuse.

One minute, he yearns for a chance to hang out with the guys: ‘I was talking to Jonny [Flynn] the other day and I told him, ‘I miss Syracuse so much like its crazy.’ I wanted to go up there, but I couldn’t.’

Then: ‘It wasn’t that hard of a decision, especially when you’re doing something you love. It would be different if I had to drop out of school and work at McDonald’s. To drop out of school, go get a job to provide for you family and have a better life for you and your kid, it shows you something.’

When he talks about the lack of playing time, he plays with his black Kings long-sleeved pullover and looks down. He has a fohawk and wears two rewards for the two-year, $1.8 million guaranteed contract he received as the 25th overall pick in the NBA draft: studded earrings. He bought a place in Sacramento for his fiancée, Kissiah Johnson, and him. Oh yeah, he’s engaged to be married. Has been since January. And there’s a son on the way, too. Donte II is due around Donte Greene’s 21st birthday Feb. 21.

Syracuse assistant coach Rob Murphy will be the godfather. They still talk, almost every day. Greene calls Murphy his ‘big brother.’ Murphy likens Greene to a son. He texts him inspirational messages. He regularly checks in on Greene’s bosses, the Sacramento front office. He’s looking out for Greene during his toughest time because, after all, he promised that to his family when he recruited Greene out of Baltimore five years ago.

‘It’s different,’ Murphy said. ‘In college, you’re hanging around guys that are the same age. In his case, the guys he’s around are in their 30s, and they’re doing different things. They’re at different stages of their lives, and you may only have one guy that you can hang out with. He misses the family atmosphere and the team concept.’

When Greene scored his first NBA points four days after he sat at the end of the bench during the 34-point loss in Philadelphia, Murphy called. ‘He went to the basket,’ Murphy said. ‘I told him that’s the way to do it. No 3-pointers.’

Baby steps. Sacramento head coach Reggie Theus has said he can’t trust Greene yet, not with the way he plays defense. So until then, Greene, who has played a total of 18 minutes in eight games, has to prove himself all over again.

Yeah, it’s frustrating. Of course it is. Greene has always been ‘the man.’ And now, when he’s finally reached his ultimate goal, he has to sit back and watch?

‘I’m doing what I love,’ Greene said. ‘I’m getting paid to do what I love. So, it’s cool.’

Murphy had but one piece of advice for Greene: Once you make your decision, stick to it. Don’t look back; don’t wonder ‘What if?’ Murphy wanted Greene to stay another year. Then, he would have polished the shortcomings keeping him off the court right now.

But the assistant coach stood by his player’s final choice. And he’ll be with him every step of the way because of that promise. But Greene, at times, looks back.

He called history professor David Bennett three weeks ago to ask for a test so he could finish HST 308. Technically, he’s a sophomore in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. He will come back to Syracuse for summer school. It was his late mother, April’s, wish: Donte, you better go to school, and you better earn a degree.

He talks often to Jonny Flynn, admittedly, to ‘live through him.’ This is Flynn’s team at Syracuse. He’s the big man on a campus dying to see a winning team. That was supposed to be Greene last year, and in reality, that never happened.

‘I think he definitely misses it,’ Flynn said later. ‘He was asking me when I was talking to him what everybody was doing. When he’s asking me what everybody’s doing, you know he misses college.

‘He said it’s great, but one thing about it: Enjoy college. He really told me to enjoy college, enjoy being where it’s not really a business. Because when you go to the NBA, it’s all business.’

Donte Greene knows that now. Not to say he’d make the other choice if he had the chance again, because he probably wouldn’t. In three years, he went from lanky high school senior to the 20-year-old millionaire, engaged and about to start a family.

And he’ll always hang onto the idea of college, even if one year was all he ever wanted.

‘That was the best year of my life,’ Greene says, tugging on his shirt. ‘I miss that. Hopefully, I can get that out of my system soon. Next time I go back, it’ll be hard, but I have to be cool with it.’

magelb@syr.edu

Published on June 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm