Marin City’s Trammell shines in Seattle
Marin City’s Trammell making most of long-awaited D-I chance with Redhawks
“That’s my biggest motivation — the underestimation of me. I feel like I can play with anyone.”
— Darrion Trammell, starting point guard, Seattle University.
Darrion Trammell’s name echoed across the Bay Area boys basketball scene during the point guard’s decorated high school career at St. Ignatius in San Francisco.
Whether it was his postseason heroics, astounding dunks, ferocious defense or pure skill — the Marin City native earned firstteam all-league honors as a junior and senior — Trammell often made hoops headlines before graduating in 2018.
But despite the accolades, Trammell, who was listed at 5-feet, 7-inches tall at St. Ignatius, did not receive any Division I college offers. He was in talks with a few schools but nothing materialized.
“My height was something that coaches were nervous or hesitant about because they didn’t know if I’d be effective at this level,” said Trammel, now the starting point guard for Seattle University. “If a guy can play, a guy can play. It doesn’t matter how tall, short or skinny he is.
“That’s my biggest motivation — the underestimation of me. I feel like I can play with anyone.”
Trammell has proven that to be factual at every level.
Frustrated by the lack of interest out of St. Ignatius, Trammell decided to take a gap year and join Golden State Prep, a postgrad basketball academy working alongside Napa’s high school-level Prolific Prep academy staff. The hoops-heavy year showed Trammell he may not have been as good as he thought, he admitted, and outlined exactly what he needed to work on.
The following year he landed with City College of San Francisco, leading the Rams to a 30-0 record before being named first-team all-Coast Conference. After that season, Trammell received a longawaited D-I offer, from Seattle.
“It was a big relief and a stress off my shoulders,” he said. “But it wasn’t time to relax after I signed. I still needed to get better, keep working and prepare so I could make an impact when I got here.”
Gaining recognition
That impact has been made. Trammell has guided the Redhawks into Friday’s Western Athletic Conference opener boasting a 7-5 record, with three of the five losses coming to Pac-12 foes.
Trammell ranks first on the team (and top 20 in the nation) in assists per game (6.3). He also ranks first on the team in steals per game (1.8), second in points per game (17.5), minutes per game (34.3 out of 40) and 3-pointers made (17), and fourth in rebounds per game (3.9).
A 25-point, 13-assist outing in an 84-68 victory over Portland helped Trammell earn the conference’s player-of-the-week honors last week.
Trammell, now 5-9, said his height placed a perpetual chip on his shoulder. Seattle associate head coach Alex Pribble — a Drake High alum and former Tam High coach who worked with Trammell when he was as a thirdgrader at Hawks Hoops Camp — said that chip has been there for more than a decade.
“He’s been a kid who has worked for everything that he’s gotten,” Pribble said. “I was checking in with him in the offseason, making sure everybody was working out during COVID, and he was driving to Sacramento or the East Bay to work out every day, going the extra mile to improve his skill set. He put in so much work and has improved a ton, especially his shooting.”
Marin connection
Trammell and Pribble are not the only Marin standouts in the Redhawks’ family. Viktor Rajkovic, a former Branson School star, three-time North Coast Section champion and two-time Marin IJ Boys Basketball Player of the Year, also joined Seattle University this season. Since this pandemic-filled year doesn’t count toward student-athletes’ eligibility, Trammell and Rajkovic could have four years together in the Emerald City.
Rajkovic, who earned a starting role as a freshman, suffered a season-ending knee injury just five minutes into the opener on Nov. 25.
“My goals going into this year were to have an impact right away, and I put myself in a position to do that,” said Rajkovic, who will remain on crutches for two more weeks. “I wanted to keep that role my whole career, so now I have to rehab and get back to it. You really have to bring it each day.
“I want to make the NCAA tournament. I’m excited to see how we stack up with teams this year in our conference. We have a pretty young and new group this year, and we have a lot of really good pieces. I think we have a good shot.”
Rajkovic, a 6-6 forwardguard combo, also attended Golden State Prep after high school, one year after Trammell left.
Though the pair knew of one another and lived 10 minutes apart — Rajkovic resides in Mill Valley — they did not become close until becoming teammates at Seattle University.
A fan following
Sarah Finney, Seattle University’s associate athletic director for strategic communications, said of all the Redhawks’ players, they see the greatest engagement when they post about Trammell on social media.
Trammell credits that to his roots in Marin City.
“There’s a lot of love there right now,” Trammell said. “They’ve been watching games and posting on social media. It’s really tight-knit. Everyone is connected somehow. Everyone is family.”
Trammell said he stays in close contact with his family and friends in Marin City, and he hopes his success motivates kids growing up in his neighborhood.
Leadership role
Trammell not only has become one of the conference’s top scorers, he also has taken on a leadership role for a Seattle University team that faces the challenges of building team chemistry — an obstacle for all teams — throughout the pandemic.
Since players aren’t hanging out much, nor are they together in the locker room or team room, practices have become the tonesetter, Pribble explained, and Trammell’s competitiveness has made the entire team tougher.
“He earned his leadership role with his play on the court; that was not a given,” Pribble said. “What makes him special and what separates him from other point guards at our level is the intangibles. He’s so competitive, he plays with a chip on his shoulder and he finds a way to win. He’s had games where he’s scored a lot, games where he’s assisted a lot, games where he just locks in on defense. He’s just going to find different ways to help your team win.
“His hard work is what made him successful at SI, it’s what made him successful at prep school, it’s what made him the head of the snake at City College and it’s what has made him successful here, and I think his work ethic is what’s going to take him to the next level as well.”