The transition from high school to college can be one of a teenager’s biggest challenges. The experience brings newfound freedom, but with that comes the responsibility of taking care of oneself in a way most have not had to at that age. For a student athlete like UTD Comets guard Peyton Dulin, currently in his freshman year, there also comes the challenge of advancing to a higher level of play.
“The pace of the game is a lot faster,” Dulin said, when comparing college basketball to its high school counterpart. “You have to make a lot more reads quicker, the gaps are smaller, everyone’s a high level player. [The addition] of the shot clock has definitely changed my game a bit.”
With these challenges upon him, Dulin said he has benefitted from teammates and coaches alike who have helped him navigate his freshman year, and that the entire team has been instrumental in helping him improve on the basketball court.
“If I had to pick certain guys, the upperclassmen like Nick [Donnelly] and Everrett [Bates], especially Coach Thibaut [Tagon] … he’s been a major impact in that,” Dulin said. “And then the [other] coaches as well, it’s a blessing to have everybody on your team.”
Dulin has had an impressive start to his college career, averaging 11 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists as of the time of publication. In relation to the whole team, he averages the third-most points and rebounds and leads the team in assists. Dulin pointed towards his ability to make quick decisions as one of the strongest parts of his game.
“When you pass the ball to someone who’s a 50% three-point shooter like Nick, it’s kind of a free assist,” Dulin said. “But just having people on the team that help with everything and having coaches that help encourage the whole team to play as hard as you can and stay consistent, it’s really a blessing.”
Dulin leads the team in steals with a total of 34 this season. When asked about his defense, he expressed how important that end of the court was to help his team win.
“The defensive end was something I struggled with in high school,” Dulin said. “I knew if I was gonna get on the floor in college, I was gonna have to start playing defense. So I changed my mindset to be active on the defensive end and try to do all the little things right.”
Dulin identified staying mentally focused as the biggest area of needed improvement in his game, citing a desire to become a better leader in the future and to keep everyone engaged.
While basketball is a very important part of Dulin’s life, education takes center stage at UTD. As a student athlete, Dulin has had to keep the balance between both sides.
“I came in to do mechanical engineering, and then it kind of just got too much,” said Dulin. “So I switched to business administration … but the balance has been great [since]. That first semester was challenging … but this semester I’ve had a lot more free time to get work done [and] hang out with friends.”
Dulin plans to go into finance with his degree. Like with basketball, he has not been alone in this journey. He mentioned his dad as someone who works in finance that has been a big help to him, as well as a few key teammates.
“Having teammates like Nick and Rob [Wade] who major in finance also helped me with everything.” Dulin said. “Just learning something that I haven’t learned before. I’ve never really taken a look into business, so just learning real-world applications to life … [is] something that I look forward to as well as meeting new people.”
As he looks towards the future, Dulin is extremely excited to help lead the Comets to the Division II Lone Star Conference and make his mark.
“Next year is gonna be a great year,” Dulin said. “You know, this year’s been amazing, but next is something we’re all really looking forward [to] as we’re going into that Lone Star Conference. We’re looking to make a big impact, especially our first year, we’re looking to make some noise in that conference.”