Tuesday, July 29, 2008 | 2:31 p.m.
Darrius Banks affectionately calls former UNLV point guard and five-year NBA veteran Marcus Banks “my little cousin.”
Some in and around Las Vegas don’t share that affection, but Darrius’s little cousin is in a no-win situation with many of them.
Stay away from his hometown, and they think he’s being aloof, arrogant and distant, too good for them. Show up for some pick-up games, as he did recently, and jealous foes try to punk him, jeopardizing his future.
Darrius Banks coaches the Marcus Banks Hard 2 Guard summer tournament prep team that represents Marcus Banks’s initial effort to give back to Las Vegas.
“It’s been difficult for him,” said Darrius Banks, 33. “He’s late in doing this. He knows, but better late than never. He’s starting to get it. He said, ‘Let me know what you need. If you need me in the gym, whatever, I’ll do that, too.’
“I told him to make sure he takes care of his business in Miami, that I’ll take care of this team.”
Miami Heat president Pat Riley persuaded 26-year-old Marcus Banks, in line to start in the team’s backcourt next season next to Dwyane Wade, to work out in Florida this summer.
“Marcus did want to make sure that we have the Heat logo on our shorts,” said Darrius Banks.
Hard 2 Guard had a rough time in the adidas Super 64 tournament last week, going 1-3, but it has demolished three foes by 36, 45 and 48 points in the Nike-sponsored Las Vegas Summer Classic.
Milos Knezevic, a 6-foot-8 forward from Croatia who moved to Las Vegas with his family when he was 6, was a 3-point force against a Hawaiian team in that middle game and finished with 28 points.
Hard 2 Guard begins the knockout stage of the tournament Wednesday at 1:25 p.m. in the Spring Valley High auxiliary gym.
Knevezic, who will be a senior at Liberty High this season, committed to Bradley before the Super 64 tournament. Desert Pines guard Reggie Shaw is one of several other Hard 2 Guard players getting Division-I looks.
The team is as much about Darrius Banks’s passion as it is his little cousin’s.
Darrius had some skills when he played for the late Phil Clarke at Cheyenne High, but he skipped college to begin making money as soon as he left high school.
Darrius serves food and waits tables at the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio. During basketball season, he’s an assistant coach at Desert Pines.
He finds himself repeating lines from Clarke that once made him laugh – share the ball, the importance of sportsmanship and play the game, not the score.
“My job is to let the kids know the importance of an education,” he said. “I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I made; I want them to make something of themselves.
“I tell them, with an education you can do what you want to do as opposed to doing what you have to do.”
Don’t get him wrong. He’s grateful to the Rio. Few other employees, he said, would allow him to take a month off to coach a team in summer prep tournaments.
“They said, ‘Go ahead, Banks, do what you do,’ ” Darrius Banks said.
Marcus Banks's older cousin shouldn't be so hard on himself. By trying to help and guide a few kids in Las Vegas, he's made plenty of himself.
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