After a final college season in which he seemed to lose – and then regain – his love for basketball, Donovan Dent appears to have reached the finish line of his career.
“I’m done with pro basketball,” the former UCLA point guard told the Albuquerque Journal while also revealing that he intended to become a basketball trainer for kids in his adopted home of New Mexico.
One person close to Dent confirmed his decision to the California Post on Sunday while speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
There’s always a chance that Dent could change his mind given that he also said he intended to play alongside several former New Mexico teammates in The Basketball Tournament, which will award $2 million to the winners of the 16-team field this summer.
Dent’s retirement caps a stunning sequence for the former Lobos star who was an honorable mention All-American before transferring to UCLA for his senior season. At the time of the move, Dent was widely considered an NBA prospect who would likely lead the Bruins on a deep NCAA Tournament run.
That never happened.
Struggling with the heightened expectations that accompanied a bigger stage and a massive NIL paycheck while also playing for a defensive-oriented coach, Dent was rarely the same player as a Bruin that he was as a Lobo.
An early season foot injury and torn abdominal muscles combined with better defenders at the highest level of the college game compounded his problems.
“I was at rock bottom, for sure, during the start of the season,” Dent told the Big Ten Network several months ago.
His shooting percentages plummeted and he had trouble finishing at the rim. Josh Giles, who continued to be a confidant after having coached Dent at Centennial High in Corona, told the California Post in March that the point guard no longer felt universally loved like he had been at New Mexico.
“Now all of a sudden you’re getting text messages and DMs where people are saying like, ‘I hope you kill yourself, I hope you tear your ACL tomorrow, I hope you blow out your Achilles,’ ” Giles said, “and you’re reading those things, I think it screws people up sometimes and I don’t know if Donnie would admit it – he might just shine it off – but I think it was harder for him than he may have realized.”
Dent finally started pulling out of his funk after a midseason conversation with UCLA coach Mick Cronin following a loss to Ohio State.
Cronin told his point guard to “go down swinging” in an effort to end his college career without regrets. That was also around the time that Dent began to feel fully recovered from his injuries.
Starting with a 23-point, 13-assist, 2-turnover breakthrough against Purdue, Dent went on to become one of the nation’s most efficient players over the season’s final few months.
“I was just kind of in a different mindset from then on for sure,” a smiling Dent told the Post during the Big Ten Tournament.
But Dent’s shooting struggles reemerged during the NCAA Tournament, when he made only 6 of 26 shots (23.1%) before UConn eliminated the Bruins in the second round.
Barring a change of heart, Dent has accepted a more absolute end of his basketball road.
Moving back to Albuquerque has allowed him to live with girlfriend Katelyn Estrada, a native of the New Mexico city and a medical school student there. It might also help him spark a new love for his old game in the kids he teaches through his clinic.
“I wanted to start it here because Albuquerque gave me so much,” Dent told the Journal. “I feel like this is the perfect place for me to start training the youth and give back to them.”
