Making the grade
Jose Dominguez is a single father who didn’t go to college; that’s why he wants his son — Tolman star Dyondre Dominguez — to realize that doing well in school can unlock a lot of doors
Two or three years from now, if all goes as planned, Dyondre Dominguez will be on TV, playing for a toptier Division I college basketball program. Picture the 6-10 dynamo as he rains deep jumpers and regularly dunks on poor, unsuspecting defenders.
All that is off in the future, if indeed it comes to fruition for young Dyondre.
He is a mere high school sophomore and holds down a part-time job at the same Providence-based gym where his father is the general manager. Like most boys his age, he likes video games and talking to his friends on Snapchat. Given his projected height and penchant to score in a variety of ways, it’s no surprise that Kevin Durant ranks as Dyondre’s favorite NBA player.
Enter Jose Dominguez, a 42- year-old single dad blessed with a firm understanding of what it means to be a kinda/sorta basketball prodigy in the year 2017. Getting labeled as the 15th-best prospect in the Class of 2019 by New England Recruiting Report, which Dyondre was, is a recognition that starts the conversation. What can kill the dialogue with prep schools and colleges are subpar grades.
To illustrate just how serious Jose is — he’s now four months into having full custody of his son — when it comes to Dyondre’s studies, there was a tenuous situation where the Tolman High boys’ basketball team nearly took to the court for a home playoff game minus its leading scorer.
Dyondre’s grade in English had slipped just enough to make Jose concerned. Seeking to heighten the awareness to Dyondre about why doing well in school is paramount, Jose felt sitting out Tolman’s Division II preliminary-round contest against Westerly was an appropriate consequence. He also didn’t want Dyondre to become comfortable with the idea of jumping on the credit recovery wagon, a schoolbased safety net afforded to students after an unsatisfactory test score.
“Train yourself now to get it done,” Jose said.
Dyondre remembered walking into Tolman upset. He pleaded and begged for his dad to reconsider, to not take away basketball. To Dyondre, the scare was indeed real. “I felt so down,” Dyondre said. Eventually, Jose softened his original hard stance. Dyondre was permitted to suit up for the Feb. 26 game versus Westerly. He scored 27 points in the Tigers’ 61-55 loss.
“Deep down, I didn’t think he earned the right to play,” Jose said, “but (Tolman) has done so much for him.”
To further prove the point that school must always come first, Jose has dangled a hoopcentric incentive in front of Dyondre. He’ll get to travel with the Expressions Elite AAU program to a tournament in Virginia later this month providing he maintains a solid B average.
“I want him to go to Virginia, but it’s up to him,” Jose said, the dad who understands that all the highlight reel plays in the world won’t mean a darn thing if Dyondre doesn’t take care of business in the classroom.
For the record, Dyondre currently carries a 3.3 grade-point-average.
Dyondre Dominguez grew up with his mother Michelle in Wareham, Mass., before going to live with his dad as a seventh-grader. The prep schools already had Dyondre on their radar after netting 37 points in a sixthgrade national tournament.
“He wasn’t getting into trouble in Wareham, but he wasn’t doing anything productive,” Jose said. “He had a lot of maturing to do.”
Jose’s teenage years saw him brush up against trouble, going from playing point guard at Framingham High to spending time in jail for selling drugs. Armed with a past that he’s worked especially hard to distance himself from, the last thing Jose wants to see is Dyondre become yet another sad statistic.
Jose came of age in a household where his dad wasn’t around and his mom worked two jobs. With Dyondre, Jose saw an opportunity to become the type of father that was missing from his own childhood.
“I told him that I don’t want to be that way, but he’s the type of kid who needs someone to stay on top of him,” Jose said, referencing the verdict he rendered in response to Dyondre’s English grade dipping right before this year’s playoffs. “My dad wasn’t like that with me. Where did I end up?
“What I say to Dyondre all the time is that he saved me just like I’m trying to save him,” Jose added.
Father and son lived in North Attleboro before moving to the Tolman section of Pawtucket. The relocation gave Jose a shorter commute to his job at Blast Fitness and enabled him to remain on top of Dyondre’s studies. When Dyondre enrolled at Tolman in the fall of 2015, Jose signed him up for daily progress reports.
Jose would send those updates to Michelle. The Dyondre Dominguez she remembered had always struggled in school, particularly with reading and comprehension. Now he was getting good grades, a sign that the mantra Jose was preaching was resonating.
“Right from when he moved in with me, I always stressed the importance of doing well in school,” Jose said.
Such an approach stemmed from what Jose was told as Dyondre’s name began circulating more and more in basketball circles. As an eighth-grader, Dyondre stood at 6-5. He was already blessed with an impressive lefthanded jump shot. Today, he’s 6-8 and 200 pounds. At a recent checkup, the doctor told Dyondre that his growth plate is still open, hence the earlier reference to a possible 6-10 college contributor.
“He knows kids through AAU who are going to college. He’s also seen kids get their (scholarship) offers pulled off the table,” Jose said. “I tell him that I never knew anybody who went to college. I wish I went to college, but I believe he wants it badly.”
Dyondre went through an unnerving episode when his availability for a high school game was placed in jeopardy. Imagine the hurt that would come if he continued to earn notoriety on the recruiting trail, but the schoolwork didn’t measure up to admission standards.
“I would be so disappointed … crushed,” Dyondre said. “For me to work hard for that offer and lose it by not showing enough interest in school, I would have no one to blame but myself.”
“His AAU coaches have already told him that they’re not going to promote him if they call the high school and someone in guidance says, ‘He was doing well, but …,” Jose said.
Holding out his hands to demonstrate his point, Jose makes a series of waving motions. Schools don’t want to see grades go up and down.
“They want to consistently see good grades,” he said.
There’s a whole big, exciting world that’s calling out to Dominguez. He’s fresh off a 10th-grade season at Tolman High where he averaged 25.5 points per game, earned regional and all-division honors, and captivated audiences in person and on social media with gravity-defying moves. URI, DePaul and LIU-Brooklyn have already expressed interest. Given his height and unique skill set, more schools figure to follow.
As a 16-year-old who doesn’t turn 17 until September, Dyondre Dominguez finds himself between boyhood and adulthood. Spending Friday nights watching football at Pariseau Field is totally acceptable, but what about the next day’s homework assignments? Did they get done?
“Prep schools and the NCAA, they don’t want to hear that he’s being a teenager,” Jose said.
The plan calls for Dyondre to enroll in a prep school this coming fall. He’s already visited several, with Jose bringing a copy of his son’s grades.
“He’s not a disrespectful kid, and that’s important,” Jose said. “It’s just that every prep school wants to know if you’re going to come and not be a risk.”
Peeking into the life of a local basketball prodigy, it reveals a youngster who is starting to get it. If you’re falling behind in school, go to homework club. Upon arriving at Blast Fitness, stay off the phone and concentrate on that night’s assignments. If you have some spare time and dad’s shift hasn’t ended, either grab a rag and wipe down the exercise machines or mop the floor.
Just remember, not much in the grade department is going to slip past dear ol’ dad. Parents of Tolman students can go online to see if an assignment has been missed or not.
“He can’t use any excuses with me,” Jose said.
Jose Dominguez thinks about his son’s future a lot. Maybe that stems from enduring his own fair share of pitfalls and realizing Dyondre has a golden chance to use basketball as a vehicle for a better life. There are still plenty of bridges to cross before Jose can live out his dream of turning on the television and … there’s his boy, skittering on the hardwood. A real baller who made it.
For now, Dyondre Dominguez is focused on honoring his dad’s simple yet poignant request.
“I’m very appreciative of what my father has done for me,” Dyondre said, “but he tells me all the time to not say it to him. Show it in grades. Show it in basketball.”