Feature Story: Damian Chong Qui Adds Another Chapter to his Story With Game-Winner
Tom Davis
You really can’t fault Wright State for allowing Damian Chong Qui a full three seconds to rip the Raiders’ hearts out last Sunday at the Gates Sports Center.
Just like you can’t blame Cleveland State last season for leaving the Purdue Fort Wayne point guard four seconds in which to knock off the Vikings.
Shooting down skeptics is as natural of an act by Chong Qui as breathing.
“He has more belief in himself,” Mastodon assistant coach Mike Wolf said of Chong Qui, “than anyone that I have ever been around.”
Chong Qui must possess an Everest-like amount of self-confidence because there has been an endless list of people in the world that never believed in him.
There was never a doubt.
— Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (@GoMastodons) February 20, 2023
Damian Chong Qui is No. 1 on the @SportsCenter Top 10!#FeelTheRumble #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/d6j3cvMySu
A rough start
It would be difficult for any person to comprehend the road that Chong Qui has traveled.
Before he was in kindergarten, Chong Qui lost his mother, Lisa Renee Brown, in a shooting incident in their native Baltimore, leaving him, and his father, Edward Chong Qui, to navigate life together.
Before Damian was a teenager, Edward, was shot – for the second time in his life – in a drive-by shooting, which left him paralyzed from the waist down.
That incident left Damian as a caretaker for his father, a role that continues to this day.
“Damian had to carry his father up the stairs in their apartment when he was 12, 13 years old,” Wolf explained.
When most kids are worried about playing video games or hanging out with friends, Damian was having to help his father bathe and get him dressed each morning. The situation created an unbreakable bond between the two, who often feel that all they have in the world is each other. So, you’ll have to forgive Damian if being asked to execute “Sprint 2,” which is an incredibly unlikely play to actually succeed, but nonetheless, was the play Purdue Fort Wayne ran to knock off Horizon League-rival Wright State, causes him stress.
“It has put into perspective,” Wolf said of Damian’s life, “what adversity is. Basketball has always been Damian’s outlet. He doesn’t associate basketball with a true struggle.”
No belief
Damian graduated from McDonogh High School in Baltimore as the basketball program’s all-time leader in assists (518) and had earned First Team All-Conference honors as a senior. All of which got the 5-foot-8 speedster zero interest from NCAA Division I programs.
His high school coach reached out to more than 100 D1 coaching staffs on behalf of his star player and batted a perfect 0-for-100 in securing any scholarship offers.
Damian spent a year at Our Savior Lutheran prep school in New York City, in hopes THAT would attract some Division I interest.
Nope, again.
In August, just weeks before the school year was to begin, Mount St. Mary’s, an NCAA Division I basketball program in Maryland, with a new coaching staff and a depleted roster, extended an offer to Damian – to walk on.
“We knew that we needed players,” Wolf, who was a graduate assistant with the Mountaineers, explained, “but we didn’t have scholarship money. We knew about Damian and knew that he was solid, but (the head coach) told him that there was no chance that he would be given a scholarship (at Mount St. Mary’s).”
That was a dumb statement.
In that first season, with a 1-7 record and facing a road game at Big East foe St. John’s, the Mountaineers’ coaching staff threw caution into the wind and gave Damian a start.
He played 33 minutes, scored 10 points, and dished out five assists.
“They had told him that if he was good enough,” Wolf recalled, “then they would put him on the court and play.”
Damian was “good enough.” He’s always been “good enough.”
Climbing ‘The Mount’
Damian started nearly 80 games over three seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, where he was named All-Conference and led the NEC in assists as a junior. His 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in the 2021 Northeast Conference Tournament championship game propelled the Mountaineers into the NCAA Tournament.
Having conquered that challenge, Damian sought out a bigger one.
“After the NCAA Tournament,” Wolf, who has mentored Chong Qui since his first day of college, said, “he wanted to see if he could play at a higher level. He wanted to see how good he actually was.”
Damian entered the transfer portal and drew some interest, but none at the highest level of Division I like he felt he had earned.
“There had been some kids (at Mount St. Mary’s), who had transferred to high-major programs,” Wolf said, “and putting up the numbers that he had, I don’t think that he really took into account that he was still 5-8.”
Not only does Wolf have faith in Damian’s future, but Coffman does, as well. “I have no doubt that we will finish strong (this year) with Damian leading us,” Coffman said. “He’s as relentless as anyone I’ve ever coached. I also have no doubt that he will be playing professionally next year. We’ve had 20 pros in my time in Fort Wayne, and I know what it takes. He’s got it and more. He is one of the greatest competitors that I have been around and finds a way to win. He never has an excuse. I look forward to selling who Damian is to the next level when the time is appropriate but right now, I’m anxious to watch him lead this group to a phenomenal finish!”
Put five more minutes on the clock thanks to Damian Chong Qui.#HLMBB #FeelTheRumble pic.twitter.com/XWn3oSPKVc
— Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Basketball (@MastodonMBB) February 15, 2022
“Damian isn’t confident, like, ‘Yeah, I think I can make it.’ He KNOWS that he is going to make the shot.”Mike Wolf - Mastodon Assistant Coach
No pressure
While at Mount St. Mary’s, Damian had several moments in which he performed perfectly in high-pressure situations.
He banged in a 3-pointer to force overtime with 5.5 seconds left in regulation in a Mountaineer win at Saint Francis, as well as hit a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds at Farleigh Dickinson, which forced overtime.
So, to Wolf, what Damian did on Senior Day last year (and this year), was not a surprise.
A year ago, against the Vikings, the Horizon League regular-season championship was hanging in the balance between the Mastodons and Cleveland State. In that pivotal game, Purdue Fort Wayne coach Jon Coffman made an “unforgivable coaching error,” according to Coffman, and called a timeout, which his team did not have, with the score tied and just six seconds on the clock.
When the huddle broke, none other than Damian tapped Coffman on the head and said, “I’ll fix this.”
As usual, Damian did.
Following three Viking free throws in the final seconds, Chong Qui buried a 3-pointer with no time remaining to force the first overtime, which eventually led to a three-overtime win, and a share of the conference championship.
“When it is a moment like that,” Wolf said, “Damian isn’t confident, like, ‘Yeah, I think I can make it.’ He KNOWS that he is going to make the shot.”
Ask Wright State about that.
The Raiders thought they had a road win sealed when they scored with three seconds remaining on Sunday, but Damian took the inbound pass, sped up the court, and buried a 35-foot winning runner from just across half-court.
“In his career,” Wolf said, “Damian has hit multiple game-winners, game-tying shots, and buzzer-beaters. He’s been doing this for a long time.
“He has no doubt that he is going to go score.”
Next step
The Mastodons (16-13, 8-10 Horizon League) still have a pair of regular-season conference road games to play before next week’s Horizon League Tournament.
After that, Chong Qui aspires to play professionally, following his graduation from Purdue Fort Wayne in May.
There will be cynics and skeptics along that path, which won’t surprise Damian, his Mastodon coaches, or his father, who Wolf said: “Is as hard on Damian as anybody.”
“Damian has an unbelievable will to push through,” Wolf said. “His mental toughness on the court is a product of his going through (struggles in life). He has already seen so much and been through so much, that missing shots or getting tired or getting coached hard, that stuff doesn’t faze him.”
Not only does Wolf have faith in Damian’s future, but Coffman does, as well. “I have no doubt that we will finish strong (this year) with Damian leading us,” Coffman said. “He’s as relentless as anyone I’ve ever coached. I also have no doubt that he will be playing professionally next year. We’ve had 20 pros in my time in Fort Wayne, and I know what it takes. He’s got it and more. He is one of the greatest competitors that I have been around and finds a way to win. He never has an excuse. I look forward to selling who Damian is to the next level when the time is appropriate but right now, I’m anxious to watch him lead this group to a phenomenal finish!”
