Family and faith have Ole Miss' Shuler on cusp of hoops dream

OXFORD — Devontae Shuler has always been an underdog.

The seventh of eight children, he was toughened up by three older brothers on the basketball courts of Irmo, South Carolina. As a high schooler, he noticed a spot on his chest. Within years, it was obvious Shuler had vitiligo, a long-term skin condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment.

Shuler left his native South Carolina for Ole Miss, in part because he was impressed with the role former Rebels coach Andy Kennedy had in mind and in part because his family believed he simply needed to get away from Columbia, where Frank Martin desperately wanted him to join the Gamecocks’ backcourt.

Through it all, Shuler has been driven by the three constants in his life — God, family and basketball.

On Wednesday (6 p.m., SEC Network), he’ll lead Ole Miss (19-8 overall, 9-5 in the Southeastern Conference) against No. 7 Tennessee (24-3, 12-2) at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. A win would likely punch the Rebels’ ticket to the NCAA Tournament. It would also be a crowning achievement for a family that revels in one another’s accomplishments.

Publisher’s Note: Over the course of the past week, RebelGrove.com has talked to nine people with the last name of Shuler in an attempt to profile Ole Miss’ sophomore point guard. It’s likely an affront to Associated Press style, but for the sake of your sanity, after first reference, we’ll use first names.

The name Shuler is basically a household one in Columbia, Irmo and Dutch Fork. Seven Shulers have matriculated through the schools, and they’ve all made their impact on local basketball courts. Donnella Shuler, 30, is the oldest. Several of her siblings, including Devontae, basically consider her a second mother. Dontrell Shuler, 19, is a freshman guard at Charleston Southern. He recently finished a book, A Ball and a Bible. In between, the Shuler kids were all raised the same way.

“All eight of us grew up the same,” Donnella said. “We all played basketball. Our parents brought us up on manners and in the church and learning about God and family and the importance of serving the Lord and you’d be served in turn. Dontrell is the last child. He is epitome of how we were raised. We studied, had prayer time and played basketball. We did nothing else.”

Technically, Donnella is wrong. All eight of the Shuler children weren’t raised the same. Deandre would be 22 today if he were still alive. He died in 2000 at the age of three. He was born premature and battled health issues throughout his short life. He died after he was given milk designed for a four-year-old. His body, Donnella said, couldn’t handle it. His death only strengthened the familial bonds.

“The kids didn’t understand,” Donald Shuler said. “They fell in love with him but they really didn’t understand what he was going through.”

Donald and Linda Shuler raised their children the only way they knew how. Donald grew up in Lake View, S.C., and moved to Washington D.C. He met Linda, a South Carolina native, in the nation's capital. They married and moved back to South Carolina, where Donald held down a government job and worked a side job in heating and air.

“It was an incredible financial strain,” Donald said. “I had good jobs. I was working for the government and doing side jobs. We got assistance from some other people. We made it.”

Money might have been tight at times in the Shuler house, but love wasn’t.

“The plan was always to instill in them God and their need of God and their need to always pray,” Linda Shuler said. “That was what they were always raised on. Spiritual things came first in our home — not going to church but who you are behind closed doors. Also we taught them to love people and not be jealous of anyone.

“It took a lot of prayer, sweat and tears. Raising that many kids wasn’t easy, especially when things went left sometimes. We had a lot of prosperity and good times, but there were tough times. We relied on God and prayer and family time.”

“A lot of it has to do with having a mother who is so close to God,” said Dontae Shuler, 27. “The other is we all love basketball so much. It drew us closer because we were learning from each other. It kept us close.”

“We love each other,” Dontrell said. “We believe we are one. A lot of times growing up, we didn’t have a lot. That bond can’t be broken. Jealously doesn’t exist in our family.”

Older now, Devontae has reflected on what those familial bonds did for him and meant to his development, both on the basketball court and in life.

“For me to have my mom and dad and a lot of siblings, I got to learn a lot from them," Devontae said. "Everyone in my family played basketball. No one made it to the pros or played big D-1 basketball. I got exposure and they started making it harder on me, pushing me, telling me to have a dog mentality. Now that I’m here, looking back on how everything was, it amazes me."

When Devontae was born, Linda cried.

“His hands were really huge,” Linda said. “His feet were really huge. I started crying because I thought he was deformed.”

Devontae wasn’t deformed. Instead, from very early on, it was obvious he had special athletic abilities.

“When he was 5, he would run real fast,” Linda said. “His feet were so fast. One day, somebody stole the ball from him and he was going to the other end. Devontae had his face so tight, like he was so mad. I knew he had a gift with his hands and his feet and he had a passion.”

“He was such a big kid,” said D.J. Shuler, 29. “He didn’t look like a three-year-old. I knew there was something about him that was different.”

For a while, Devontae and Dontrell were left at home when the other siblings left the house for the day, often to go to the Friarsgate Park recreation center in Irmo. Then young Devontae started showing his brothers he had talent. Before long, he was making the trip to the pickup games with his brothers. They didn’t go easy on him.

“He started to grow,” said Dominic Shuler, 26. “We invited him to play with us. He learned how to play tough basketball. Year after year, he grew himself out to play basketball tougher. He started doing his thing.”

Devontae’s older brothers pushed him to get tougher.

“Everybody wondered why we were being mean to him,” Dominic said. “I told him, ‘You need this.’ Me, D.J. and Dontae were the main three getting on him.

“He had to learn to play ball stronger. At first, he would give up easily if basketball wasn’t going good for him. He was slacking. He’d walk off the court if he wasn’t playing good or if someone was talking smack to him. He’d get mad and go back to the house. We had to really toughen him up.”

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Devontae was 15 when he noticed a discoloration on his chest. Linda urged a local dermatologist to take a deeper look, but doctors dismissed the Shulers’ concerns.

“They thought it was nothing,” Linda said.

Before long, those spots were all over Devontae’s body, including his face.

He had vitiligo.

“When he first was beginning to get it, he didn’t like it,” Donnella said. “He didn’t know what it was. He was wearing makeup. Once he realized there wasn’t much you could do to cover it up, he just accepted it.”

“He has a lot of people that love him,” Linda said. “When your family loves you, it doesn’t matter what other people think. The rest of the world doesn’t matter when it comes to making him feel some kind of way.”

The makeup didn’t work. Sweat would make the cover-up run, basically making matters worse. Then, a funny thing happened.

"He said, ‘I like it now. The girls like it. I’m good,’” Linda said, laughing.

"People started calling him gorgeous and it went to his head,” Donnella said. “He wouldn’t change it for the world now.”

Devontae played for D.J.’s AAU team, Team OG, and began his high school career at Irmo. He also played for the Hornets, an AAU team that featured likely lottery picks Ja Morant (Murray State) and Zion Williamson (Duke). He transferred to Oak Hill (Virginia) Academy for his senior season. South Carolina recruited him. So did others. Shuler chose Ole Miss.

“It was tough but I thought his decision was the best thing for him,” Donnella said. “Him being home wasn’t the right idea. Him playing for (South Carolina coach) Frank (Martin) was perfect, but his being in Columbia was a no-go.”

“Back home, I was going to school but I was hanging around the wrong people and getting in bad situations," Devontae said. "My mom knew Oak Hill was going to better me, on and off the court. It helped with my priorities. I ran with it. Once I got to Oak Hill, I knew I was special. There was nothing looking back.”

At Ole Miss, Devontae scored 6 points per game as a freshman, grabbing 2.7 rebounds per game and dishing out 1.1 assists per outing. He primarily played off the ball, with Breein Tyree spending most of his minutes at the point guard spot. The Rebels went 12-20, losing 11 of their final 12 games in a season that saw Kennedy resign in February. Interim coach Tony Madlock finished a miserable campaign.

Devontae was one of several players who were rumored to be disgruntled enough to leave. However, when Ole Miss hired Kermit Davis away from Middle Tennessee, Devontae’s decision to remain in Oxford was made in short order.

“It didn’t take long,” Donnella said. “He talked to Kermit and his decision was immediate. Devontae said all he needed was to sit down with Kermit. He didn’t talk to any schools.”

Devontae has thrived under Davis’ leadership. He’s become the Rebels’ primary ball-handler, allowing Tyree to move to shooting guard. Entering Wednesday’s game, Shuler is averaging 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, playing lock-down on-ball defense in the process.

“He’s playing tougher,” said Dominic, who played professionally last season for the Island Storm, a franchise in the National Basketball League of Canada. “He needs to open his mouth more and talk tougher. He’ll definitely be a better player. His best days are definitely in front of him. He can do much better. He has my bloodlines. He can get more blocks, get more good shots, more dunks, dunking more aggressively. I can see it in him. He just has to believe it.”

“It’s been so exciting,” Donnella said. "I’m all about the underdog. When Devontae got recruited, it was South Carolina first. Then we went on the Oklahoma State visit. Then we went to Ole Miss. Louisville and Miami were next. When he chose Ole Miss, everyone laughed at him. To see them turn around, this is like the best thing ever. This is him showing he can make noise on any level. He’s showed it.”

“I see Devontae play just like me,” Donald said, referring to his days as a prep star in the D.C. area. “He’s sneaky. You have to watch him.”

“I see a lot of the family when he plays,” said Dontae Shuler, 27. “He looks like every one of us out there. He doesn’t give up on plays. He hustles. I see my older brother and sister in his game. We all have the same intensity. It’s in him, man.”

Devontae has played so well as a sophomore that Donnesha, the 25-year-old who was such a star in high school that Donald thought she was destined for the WNBA. Donnesha now plays for The Storm, a team in the Las Vegas Women’s League

“If it comes to when we all were in high school, I was the best player,” Donnesha said, giggling. "Not now.”

Devontae isn’t the only Shuler playing Division I basketball. Dontrelle is averaging 10.5 points per game at Charleston Southern. Dontrell was in Columbia recently to see Ole Miss face South Carolina.

“We went through a lot together,” Dontrell said. “That’s like my best friend. We’re real close.

“We have similiarities. We both play excellent defense. We’re both competitors. We care for others just as much if not more than we care for ourselves. We stay locked in. We both can score offensively.”

“Everybody knew this was going to happen,” Dontae said. “It’s just now manifesting itself. Everyone was good. We wanted each other to do better because we’ve all been through things.”

Dontrell had hoped to sign with Ole Miss and play with his brother. The Rebels were too deep at guard, however, so he went another direction.

“Hopefully we get a chance to play with each other at the pro level,” Dontrell said. “That would be amazing.

On Saturday, Ole Miss defeated Georgia, 72-71, but it was what happened just before tipoff that made national headlines. Eight Ole Miss players, including Devontae, kneeled during the national anthem, the players’ way of protesting a pro-Confederate rally that was happening less than a mile away at the time.

“I was proud,” Donnesha said. “I was kind of shocked he did. Devontae is kind of quiet. I am very proud of him for doing that.”

“I told him he’s our new hero,” Dontae said. “It lets people know he’s involved and he wants to be involved even more. He has a platform right now and he’s using it. I was very excited when I was watching on ESPN. It was a big move, a big step. He showed maturity.”

“Devontae is courageous,” Dontrelle said. “He’s going to do what he thinks is the right thing. It didn’t surprise me. I knew what was going on in Oxford. I knew he’d do something courageous.”

There was backlash, of course, but the Shulers were moved by how Ole Miss officials such as Davis and athletics director Ross Bjork supported the players immediately following the win over Georgia.

“It’s a good thing,” Dontae said. “It’s what it should be. Backlash is going to be there. That comes along with everything. We were very proud to see everyone stand behind it. It’s a good thing. It’s love.”

Ole Miss enters Wednesday’s game with a NET ranking of 38. The Rebels are widely projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With four games remaining, Ole Miss likely needs a 1-3 or 2-2 finish to clinch a spot in the field of 68 teams that will play for the national championship beginning next month. A win over Tennessee, which has a NET ranking of 8, would almost certainly punch Ole Miss’ ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

It's something Devontae admits he's thought about.

“It’s going to mean a lot," Devontae said. "Me being there in the tournament is like them being in the tournament. We always used to talk about it. I don’t know. It’s just going to leave me a mark on my family when they see me on that big of a stage. I’ve been on a lot of big stages but that March Madness is the biggest stage there is. I know my mom will get emotional when I tell her we made it — hopefully.”

Ironically, Linda will likely learn via a phone call if Ole Miss gets into the field as an at-large team. If it's not Ole Miss or Charleston Southern on the television, she's not watching.

“I don’t know much about it because I’m not a sports fan,” said Linda, who has relocated with much of the family to Las Vegas, where she now leads a ministry. “I support my kids but if my kids weren’t in sports, I wouldn’t watch any sports. I like to watch them and their teams but it would bless me because it’s a highlight and a goal for him. It’s something he wants to accomplish. It would really make me happy.”

“It would be a blessing,” said Donald, who still lives in South Carolina but stays in regular contact with his former wife and speaks highly of her ministry. “He deserves it. Devontae has been playing ball since he was 7, traveling all over the world.”

For others, seeing a Shuler in the NCAA Tournament would be a dream come true, even if it was somewhat vicarious in nature.

“I’d definitely be there,” Dontrell said. “It’s something he harps on, making it to March Madness. I’d be front row for as many games as I can.”

“I played basketball, but I didn’t play at the Division I level,” said D.J., who played at Lenoir (North Carolina) Community College. “You always dream of playing at that level — all those games, everyone watching you. Everyone wants to make the dance.”

For everyone, from South Carolina to Las Vegas to Canada or wherever basketball or work takes them, seeing the boy they nicknamed "Bookie" play on college basketball's biggest stage would be a must-see event and a great excuse for another Shuler family reunion.

“It’s something I always wanted to do, and he used to look up to me,” Dontae said. “It makes me shed a tear thinking of it. He’s put the work in. They weren’t ranked and now they’re where they are. The beast is going to come out of him in that tournament. There’s so much to Devontae no one’s seen yet.”