On Tap with... Mack Darrow

Q: What is your role on the basketball team at Princeton?

A: I’m kind of the sixth man and head cheerleader. I like to give a lot of high fives to pick guys up and compliment them on what they do well. Most of that involves inflating Ian Hummer’s ego. Also, I just try to work hard and get rebounds.

Q: What are some of your athletic accomplishments?

A: I was all-conference [and all-area in high school] in basketball. We won the Ivy League title last year.

Q: Who is your professional athletic role model?

A: It used to be Steve Nash, but I’ve now settled on Brian Cardinal of the Dallas Mavericks. He hits lots of threes off the bench, so I try to model my game after him.

Q: How did you get started playing basketball?

A: My friend’s dad noticed I was tall when I was five or six, so I joined one of those junior YMCA leagues.

Q: How tall were you when you were five or six?

A: Definitely above average. The kids always thought I was a couple years older. The parents were kind of nasty. They were of course being protective, so you can’t blame them.

Q: If you didn’t play basketball, what sport would you play?

A: I’d like to think I could be a bullpen catcher in baseball. That seems like a job I’d like to have someday.

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Q: Where are you from, and what is it like there?

A: I’m from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Lake Barrington, Ill. It’s nice — a small Midwestern town with a lot of great people. It’s not the greatest place in the world, but it suits me just fine.

Q: What was your “welcome to college” moment?

A: Probably freshman fall writing seminar — the combination of my not being a great writer, me laughing at everything the professor said because he had a British accent and the professor having gone to Penn. That created a perfect storm of events for things to go perfectly wrong, and they did.

Q: What are you studying at Princeton?

A: I’m a politics major slash Woodrow Wilson School reject.

Q: What has been your favorite class at Princeton so far?

A: I’ve enjoyed my introductory Russian classes with Stanislav Shvabrin. [WWS 461: China’s Foreign Relations] with Professor Thomas Christensen has been a really unbelievable class, too. Professor Christensen is really an incredible professor.

Q: Can you dunk?

A: I can. It’s not pretty. I had one against Cornell. It was off of my right foot with my right hand, so for anybody who knows anything about basketball, it was painfully awkward-looking. I think after I dunked it, the announcer said that only Mack Darrow could make something so beautiful look so awkward.

Q: What’s your favorite basketball video game?

A: Probably “NBA Hangtime.” Catch on fire, burn the nets down. It’s old school — good fun.

Q: Tell me about your former coach Sydney Johnson ’97.

A: He’s great, and like all great coaches, he’s a little bit crazy. He’s just so smart and he can account for so many things at the same time. Obviously it was tough to see him go, but you wish him nothing but the best. Coach [Mitch] Henderson [’98] has done a great job since then.

Q: You’re really tall. Tell me what that’s like.

A: It’s ok. It gets a little tough because people like to tell you how tall people they’re related to are after they ask you how tall you are. It’s not as tough as being a tall girl. I know a lot of them become frustrated with the question. I’ll never be frustrated with the question, but at the same time, I know the heights of a lot of people’s fifth-grade nephews who I never would have asked about.

Q: Who is the quirkiest member of the men’s basketball team?

A: It’s probably Ian Hummer. His diet is Dr. Pepper and meat. That’s it. It’s disgusting. He has never touched a vegetable, and he probably never will. Yet, he’s one of the most amazing basketball players I’ve ever been around.

Q: Are you involved in any other groups on campus?

A: I’m involved in PFA, Princeton Faith and Action. I’ve met a lot of great people that way and it’s a great way to branch out. I’ve been very thankful for that.

Q: Are you getting excited for March Madness? Does Princeton have a shot at the title?

A: Looks like we shot ourselves in the foot one too many times. Usually you can only do it once, but we managed to do it three or four times this year, it seems. It doesn’t look like we’ll be in it, and it’ll be a little hard for me to watch. I don’t know if I will.

Q: What’s the best thing about being an athlete at Princeton?

A: Trying to get into an eating club, there is at least a 50 percent chance I might be able to overcome the bouncer, whereas smaller kids don’t have a chance.

Q: What’s the worst thing about being an athlete at Princeton?

A: Most professors are great, but many don’t always give you the benefit of the doubt.

Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals?

A: When warming up, I like to be the last one off the floor. I like to make one three after everyone else has left the court. Being from Chicago, I like to do the Sammy Sosa right-field sprint onto the court. During the national anthem, I like to pray, and after that, I’m good to go.

Q: If you were a T-shirt, what color would you be?

A: I’m trying to think of the dullest color there is. It’s probably one of those shirts you wear to paint in.

Q: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

A: I wish I could remember everything I’ve ever read. I guess that’s not exactly a superpower. I would prefer that over flight, which would be great when playing basketball. I already stand out because I’m tall, so I would be an even bigger freak if I could fly.

Q: What’s the most embarrassing song on your iPod?

A: “Right Back Where We Started From” by Maxine Nightingale. It’s kind of awkward to have on your iPod.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not playing basketball?

A: I’m big on sleeping. Junior Brendan Connolly is my roommate — he’s the other center on the basketball team — and we’re kind of boring. We’re like a 90-year-old married couple. I like to sit and read New York Times articles while he completes puzzles. He just completed a lovely Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post puzzle. It’s a great way to wind down the week.

Q: Was it a 500-piece puzzle?

A: It was a 1,000-piece puzzle. It was incredible. I just sat there reading to fulfill my side of the boring 90-year-old couple. He did a great job, and I’m very proud of him.