Sports Info: “Freshman Men’s Basketball Player Maxwell Dubois Finds Friendly Faces at Penn State
Nittany Lion Enjoying First Summer in Happy Valley
State College, Pa. – July 27, 2005 – There is a big difference between the metropolitan feel of south Florida and the calm yet bustling Penn State community during the summer. For Nittany Lion basketball freshman Maxwell Dubois (Hollywood, Fla.), the difference has been both surprising and satisfying.
‘I’ve been surprised at how friendly everyone has been,’ Dubois says quietly, answering innocuous questions in his reserved and patient manner. ‘You see someone on campus or on the street downtown and they wave and say ‘hi.’ It’s the biggest difference between home and here.’
Dubois doesn’t look at this difference as a negative about home, which is Hollywood, Fla. Hollywood, essentially a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, is a fine city. Dubois believes it’s the size of the place that makes it seem like more people here are apt to be outwardly welcoming. Perhaps it’s just a percentage thing.
Max is a 6-4, 195-pound, guard who played high school ball at powerful Dillard High School in Ft. Lauderdale. If his mannerisms off the court are any indication of how he plays, Penn State fans can expect to see a very deliberate and careful guard on the perimeter. He is calm and pleasant and you can see him thinking carefully about everything he says, and with Dubois, you get very straightforward and succinct answers. Consider him the opposite of the overflowing, fast-talking, type.
Dubois chose Penn State for a lot of reasons, he says, beyond the obvious chance to play Big Ten basketball. He is an intelligent young man, with his sites set on a career – perhaps – in marketing. For Max, college is a big responsibility and he takes it very seriously. His family, and helping his family out, is his driving force.
‘Whatever I accomplish here at Penn State, my goal is to be able to help my family out financially,’ he says with a serious look. ‘If I can play ball at another level after Penn State, that would be great. If not, I will leave here with a degree that will allow me to take care of my family anyway.’ Max is the oldest of four children, having two younger brothers and a younger sister.
Sporting the ‘Family’ wristband that the entire team (and support staff, coaches, and anyone who works with the program) wears constantly, Dubois says that his teammates have formed a very close-knit group. ‘We’re close, very close,’ he says. ‘We hang out together, and we can push each other on the court.’ Max also notes that he enjoys the fact that there are so many different personalities on the team.
One has to remember what a transition going to college can be for anyone, let alone a quiet and reserved kid from south Florida who is thrust into three new communities at once (team, school and town). Dubois is making the adjustment very well and has found his comfort level growing each day.
The friendliness of all three communities has been key to his adjustment and will allow him to focus on class and court with more ease. And with his ultimate goal of helping out his family firmly stated and in mind, one can’t help but root for him, hoping for the best and expecting nothing less.”