Darius Acuff Jr. doesn’t have too many vivid memories from when he was really young—we’re talking 2 or 3 years old. But he does remember running around the ACC’s gym that sat just down the street from his childhood home in Detroit while his older cousin’s team tried to practice. All of his memories with the game began in that gym with striped royal blue walls.
Since 2003, the father of Darius’ uncle Rashad has taken care of that very gym. Known across the community as Coach V, Virgil Phillips serves as the director of youth programs for America’s Community Council Youth Center on Seven Mile. And along with Darius’ father and his uncle, Coach V is one of the main reasons why Darius still calls that particular hardwood home. Even after becoming the nation’s top-ranked point guard, winning EYBL Scholastic Player of the Year with IMG Academy and committing to Arkansas as John Calipari’s next great PG.
“I was just in there every day working out. Literally since I was around that age up to now, I’ve been working out there. It’s never changed. I’ve been working with my dad, uncle, all types of stuff. Even our AAU team when we were little, that’s where we practiced at. All the memories are definitely in that gym,” Darius says.
After securing the 2023 MHSAA Division 1 title as a sophomore at Cass Tech in Detroit, Darius set his sights on an even larger challenge: a nationally-ranked schedule of opponents. IMG was a perfect fit, and in his junior year with the Ascenders, he took home the EYBL Scholastic scoring title with 21.4 points per game. By late July 2024, he’d officially declared his allegiance to the Razorbacks.
The 6-2 guard who plays at an incalculable pace has been itching to test his duffel against the gauntlet of the SEC. Coach Cal has already been pushing the future head honcho of his program
to be more active with his voice and on the defensive end before he arrives in Fayetteville later this summer. “He knows my game. He just wants me to be more of a leader and everything will come with itself,” Darius says. But as the No. 5 player in the class of 2025 (according to 247 Sports) sits down with us in mid-March during IMG’s spring break, he tells us his focus has been poured into the gym in preparation for Chipotle Nationals in April, where IMG received the No. 8 seed.
Darius entered his senior year with even more confidence than the season prior. The assist output grew from 3.7 to 5.4 a game, ranking second in the EYBL Scholastic. His 24 points a night secured another scoring title. Leading IMG to a 7-4 record in league play helped cement Player of the Year honors. It wasn’t just confidence that fueled his 34-piece against Link Academy or the 26 he posted against Montverde.
It was the thousands of hours spent in the gym just down the road from his home.
Portraits by Trenton Junior. Follow him on IG, @mindofjr.
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