Cal Poly Men’s Basketball’s senior point guard Donovan Fields hit a remarkable milestone amidst a tough season for the Mustangs. Fields scored 1,000 career points on Saturday, Jan. 12 during Cal Poly’s 78-74 defeat to CSUN in overtime. He became the 24th player in program history to score 1,000 career points, achieving the feat in less than three years.
“It is an amazing feeling,” Fields said. “I sacrificed a lot of things for basketball, so it is good to see some positive results out of it.”
The team’s captain has scored double-digit points in 11 of the 15 games played. He kicked the season off with a career-high of 30 points in a victory against Menlo College. He later tied that career-high, with another 30 points against CSUN. Not only does he lead the team in scoring, but he also leads the team with 71 assists and averages 2.3 assists per game.
Fields is from Newburgh, New York, where he played basketball at Newburgh Free Academy. He then attended Odessa College for one year before transferring to Cal Poly after his freshman season.
“I wanted to play Division-1 basketball ever since I was a kid,” Fields said. “Whether it be in New York, Texas, or wherever, I was willing to go anywhere as long as I was playing at the highest level.”
During his first season at Cal Poly, he averaged 11.3 points per game. Fields’ scoring gradually improved all three seasons, as he is now averaging 17 points per game in his senior season.
“His improvement over the course of three years has been astonishing,” head coach Joe Callero said. “The best thing about Donovan’s growth is that we can watch film, talk about things and he can just implement it into the game.”
Being an undersized player at a listed 5 feet 10 inches, Fields said he plays with a chip on his shoulder. He gets extra shots off by himself after practice every day and has set individual workout that he does every day as well.
“I have always been the shortest on my team, so being the shortest guy I have to play a little bit harder and make fewer mistakes than everybody else out there,” Fields said.
With the recent defeat to CSUN, Cal Poly falls to 4-11 in the season and 0-2 in conference play. Fields and the Mustangs will be playing their next game at UC Davis on Saturday, Jan. 19.