When Shane Dezonie injured his right hand in early February 2023, he struggled with not being able to practice and play with his teammates.
Two weeks after suffering his injury, the Temple Men’s Basketball guard decided to run up and down the bleachers of The Liacouras Center every practice to stay ready for when he got his opportunity back on the court.
Dezonie didn’t have to wait long, as Temple lost five of its top six leading scorers through the transfer portal last offseason. Dezonie stepped up when the Owls needed him, seeing nearly a 400-minute increase, and has played noticeably better this season than his limited playing time in 2023.
“You saw a kid that wanted to be back out there with his teammates,” said Temple assistant coach Chris Clark. “He was doing all the things he could control to stay ready for when he got his opportunity. [Dezonie’s] a hard worker he works hard on his craft. He loves the game he loves the process of getting better.”
After Temple head coach Adam Fisher was hired on March 29, he spoke to Dezonie and harped on ensuring Dezonie knew how to do the little things, like hustling and playing tough defense.
Dezonie averaged nine points and five rebounds in the final 10 games of the regular season. He’s also been crucial to the Owls’ unexpected postsxeason run, giving quality minutes off the bench and averaging 10 points per game in both of their wins against UTSA on March 13 and SMU on March 14.
While the stats don’t seem flattering, they don’t tell the full story. The team has played noticeably better on both ends when he is on the floor, the offense moves smoothly and the defense looks significantly better.
“For [Dezonie], he makes winning plays,” Fisher said. “It’s defending, it’s rebounding, his versatility is his key. He can make shots, but for me, it was ‘You gotta show us you can guard, and can you rebound and play bigger for your size?’ And I think he has done that.”
Dezonie transferred from Vanderbilt before last season, and when he initially got to Temple there were more talented players in front of him, like guards Khalif Battle and Damian Dunn, which led to his lack of playing time.
The Pocono Mountains native played just 85 minutes in 12 games last season. Dezonie was frustrated with his limited minutes under former head coach Aaron McKie, but after some self-reflection he understood if he wanted to play more minutes, he needed to prove it in practice.
“Last year, when I wasn’t playing the minutes I wanted, I would pout,” Dezonie said. “It wouldn’t show up on the court, but I would pout and get in my head. But then I learned instead of pouting, shutting down and not putting in more work. Why don’t [I] put in the extra work and see where that heads? Since then, I just continued to trust the work that I was putting in and I feel like it’s starting to pay off.”
Fisher has repeatedly emphasized how practice influences the time players see on the court. Dezonie has practiced extremely hard this season, and that’s a major reason for his uptick in minutes, Fisher said.
It wasn’t always easy for Dezonie to focus. He would constantly overthink what he was doing, hindering his play, but realized he was just playing a game and needed to think less.
“I had to switch to a mode where I could play freely,” Dezonie said. “That way I could just think of it as a game. A mistake may happen, but you just gotta push through it.”
Dezonie’s defense has been the main focus of improving his game since arriving at North Broad. He attributed his defensive improvement to one of the better defenders on Temple’s roster: guard Jordan Riley.
Riley transferred to Temple from Georgetown this offseason. While this is their first year playing together, Dezonie and Riley have known one another for years. They played each other throughout middle school and high school in tournaments in the tri-state area, and when Riley arrived at Temple this offseason, they clicked right away.
The pair have late-night workouts for hours on end with each other, pushing the other to get better. The two are also on opposite squads for practice and will normally guard each other.
“It was surprising when he came to [Temple], how quickly we gelled together,” Dezonie said. “Every day in practice I want to guard him because I know he’s going to get the best out of me every day. It doesn’t matter if I’m tired or if I’m hurt, he’s going to go at me.”
Dezonie has improved immensely in just one offseason with Fisher and his staff and established himself as a key player moving forward.
While Dezonie still has to work on being more consistent offensively, the coaching staff is confident that he can do all the right things to make even more progress in the future.
“We don’t worry about [Dezonie],” Clark said. “When we’re coming in the office at 7:30 in the morning and we hear that ball bouncing in the gym, most of the time it’s [Dezonie]. He does a really good job of staying in the gym and he’s been consistent with that since he’s been here.”
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