After winning state as player in '92, SOC great makes name as coach

08:25 PM CDT on Sunday, April 17, 2005

By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News

As Derrick Battie strolls the creaky halls of South Oak Cliff, reminders of his past are everywhere.

A giant-sized photo of his 1992 Class 4A basketball state championship team hangs in the hallway. The 6-8 Battie was MVP of the title game, with 29 points on 14-of-17 shooting and 12 rebounds.

He waves at his former teachers. Even the desk he inherited when he became director of security at the school is plastered with two peeling, faded bumper stickers celebrating the '92 team.

TOMMY METTHE / Special to DMN

As a volunteer assistant coach, Derrick Battie (right) got a front-row seat during DeSoto's run to a regional championship.

But Battie (pronounced buh-TEE) didn't return to SOC after more than a decade to relish his past. After playing at Temple and professionally overseas and assisting his NBA-player brother Tony, Battie returned to his roots hoping to begin a career in coaching.

Battie, 30, was an assistant at SOC in 2003-2004 and spent this season as a volunteer assistant at DeSoto, under former SOC coach Chris Dyer. This season, SOC won the 4A title and DeSoto advanced to the 5A title game.

"To have both teams I worked with go to the state championship," Battie said, "I felt pretty good about that."

After at least another year learning in the high school ranks, he hopes to catch on with a college program.

Battie is quite comfortable working at his alma mater, where he made some life-changing decisions. Dyer said he still has the paper he had Battie write about "his transformation."

Battie went from being a special education student to an honors student. In the same hallways he now patrols, he went from being in a gang to getting troublemakers to attend class.

The kid who first played organized ball as a freshman went on to play in two state tournaments and earn a scholarship to play for John Chaney at Temple.

Battie played in four NCAA Tournaments at Temple and left after his senior season but wasn't picked in the 1996 NBA draft. He spent the next two years playing in Italy.

AP

Derrick Battie, a 6-8 forward (with ball), played in four NCAA Tournaments at Temple for John Chaney.

While there, Derrick started receiving videotapes of younger brother Tony's play at Texas Tech: "I said, 'This guy's spectacular.'"

When he returned to the states, Derrick began helping Tony, first in Los Angeles and after a trade in Boston. Tony, now with Orlando, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 1997 draft.

Derrick tried to continue his playing career too, but he blew out his knee playing for the Celtics summer-league team in 1999. After undergoing surgery, he landed briefly with the CBA's Connecticut Pride, but the league closed. He developed an arthritic condition in his knee and knew it was finally time to hang it up.

"God has a way of directing us to where we need to be, not necessarily to where we want to be," Derrick said.

He became involved with coordinating security for Tony and his Celtics teammate Paul Pierce after Pierce was attacked at a nightclub and stabbed numerous times.

"I was the one that carried him to the hospital," Derrick said. "I told him, 'From this day forward, you'll never have to worry about anyone watching your back.' "

Derrick eventually returned to Temple to finish his degree, as he had promised his mother he always would. He decided to get serious about coaching and took the advice of then-Celtics coach Jim O'Brien, who told him he needed to "go back to the lowest point."

"If you really want it, you'll take that advice," Battie said.

That spurred his return home two years ago.

He said he had "personal differences" with SOC coach James Mays II after one season as an assistant, which led to him coaching at DeSoto this season. Battie is coaching DeSoto's spring league team.

While Battie prepares himself for the next phase of his career, life with girlfriend Yanika Daniels in their Mesquite home on a golf course is about to be transformed, too.

Daniels, a former DeSoto basketball player, is pregnant with Derrick's first child. A boy, he's expected any day.

E-mail khairopoulos@dallasnews.com

Derrick Battie was the first Battie brother to earn acclaim on the basketball court.

But his little brother, Tony, turned out to be the one bound for an NBA career.

Tony, the former Texas Tech star who is currently with the Orlando Magic, is wrapping up his eighth season in the league this week.

Not bad for a player once labeled "El Busto" after he was the No. 5 overall pick by Denver in the 1997 draft.

In his first season with the Magic, the 6-11 Battie has played mostly as a reliable frontcourt reserve, averaging 4.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 23.1 minutes. He started 30 games. Orlando won't qualify for the playoffs.

Battie, 29, is expected to return next season, in the final year of his current deal.

"He's loving the weather," Derrick Battie said. "It's easy on his knees."

Tony Battie has been with five NBA teams and played for four. He was traded to the Lakers from Denver in 1998-99 but never played for LA before he was traded to Boston in the lockout-shortened season. Battie was traded to Cleveland during last season and then to Orlando last summer.

Derrick Battie said his brother has a young daughter and still spends most of his off-season in Dallas.