When your mascot is a buccaneer, every metaphorical comparison to a pirate ship will be made, but when a person embodies and emulates the limitless list of "captain-like" qualities, the comparison has no choice but to be made again. Meet Daren "DJ" Patrick Jr., the one titled by his teammates, "Captain Buc". A Charleston Southern student-athlete who walks the perfectly balanced tightrope of intense accountability and infectious positivity, a duality the number four jersey bearer has taken a responsibility in displaying.
 
Leadership is a word that can be categorized a million different ways, but when asked about his team captain's presence on this year's roster, Head Coach Saah Nimley spoke on Patrick's standard-setting on the defensive side of the basketball.
 
"DJ really turned the page when he showed how elite he was on the defensive end… his ability to defend with physicality was huge for me."
 
A player who has taken ownership of many minutes at the forward spot while Captain Buc has dealt with injuries, Lamar Oden Jr. cited Patrick's defensive habits as the area he has absorbed the most from his teammate.
 
"I try to mimic everything he does defensively. He is the example and staple of CSU defense… it is something that motivates me to bring one-hundred percent on that side of the floor."
 
Knowing that the defensive table is one he sits at the head of, Patrick commented on where his prioritization of guarding the basketball so well originated from.
 
"My journey as a defender started when I was young. My dad always preached that I had to be a defender first, and that is something that has stuck with me through my basketball career. When I first arrived in college, I definitely struggled, but as I got stronger and grew my confidence, I became really good at it."
 
The family of DJ Patrick, including his defense-first preaching father, met Coach Nimley shortly after Patrick entered the transfer portal back in 2023.
 
"When DJ entered the portal, he was one of my first phone calls… within a few weeks I did an in-home visit with him and his family. I knew he was a guy that had American Conference (the conference Patrick played in before the Big South) size and athleticism… when you add in his ability to make shots, it was a no brainer for our staff."
 
Patrick, being a redshirt sophomore at the time of his CSU commitment, had completed his fair share of conversations with college basketball coaches. When asked what made Coach Nimley unique from the rest of the pool, Patrick gave an answer that many of his current teammates have no choice but to agree with.
 
"The thing that makes Coach (Nimley) unique as a coach is the fact that he has played this game at a high level. He uses the experiences he had as a player to teach and coach us."
 
The coach and player relationship that Nimley and Patrick share is thoroughly respected and is built on values much greater than abilities on a basketball court. Patrick stated what he believes the most valuable part of he and his head coach's bond is.
 
"What I consider the most valuable part of our relationship is that he will tell me the honest and unfiltered truth, and as a captain, he genuinely listens to my input."
 
The title of captain that Patrick was appointed by his teammates, is a responsibility he wears with honor. Three of his teammates this season, A'lahn Sumler, RJ Johnson, and Taje' Kelly have all played and grown alongside Patrick for almost two full seasons now, and Patrick cherishes their connections greatly and for unique reasons.
 
"(A'lahn, RJ, and Taje') are my guys… My relationship with each of them over the past two years at CSU has certainly made us closer. I have a special relationship with each of them because they have each taught me something special and different. With RJ, we bonded over late nights in the gym. A'lahn helped teach me how to cut my own hair, and Taje' and I bonded over video games."
 
Each returner to this year's Buccaneer roster fills a certain role, and Coach Nimley believes Patrick's roll is something he both embodies naturally, yet still makes an intentional effort to emphasize.
 
"He's naturally a leader. He's so mature. He puts the work in during and outside of practice and the entire program has a great respect for him because of it… to be honest, I think he really embraced that leadership role."
 
Year two at Charleston Southern has allowed Patrick to reflect on the lessons he learned in year one and use those reflections to better his current teammates. The source of being able to dissect these reflections was easily identifiable from Patrick's perspective.
 
"The lessons I learned last year translate to me being a better leader this season… I got to reflect on my mistakes, and God gives me the strength to handle them differently."
 
Patrick arriving on campus in the Lowcountry is something Coach Nimley considers as far from a mistake as humanly possible. When asked to quantify what he will miss most about his 2024-2025 team captain once his college basketball days in the Buc Dome are officially done, Coach Nimley made an effort to compartmentalize the boundless impact.
 
"I'm mostly going to miss his presence. DJ is one of those kids where he and I click. He understands me, and I understand him. We have been through some things together through the game of basketball and events like that always bring people closer. His presence will be what I miss most because he is such a focal point of this program."
 
Patrick's value was always more quantifiable when he was on the court night in and night out, but when he went down with an injury just days before the season opener at Clemson, the influence he has on the program was only noticed even more so.
 
"I underestimated his true impact as a leader until he was out with his injury. It seemed as if a huge part of us was missing on the day to day. Since then, DJ has actually been more of a voice of holding his teammates to a standard even more than before the injury, and that is something this year's team very much needed," said Nimley. 
 
After months of injury recovery, Patrick had one of the best return games in recent Buccaneer memory. Not even just in a statistical sense, although he was exceptional in that column as well, but putting on a performance that checked every box he would have wanted to fulfill. On January 2^nd, at home, against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs, CSU was set to compete in their first conference contest of the season, and hearing his name called as part of the Bucs' starting lineup for the first time in nearly ten months, entered DJ Patrick. Patrick would score a team-high 19 points and lead his Buccaneers to a 72-63 conference victory. A handful of emotions were felt by Patrick after completing the contest and securing a 1-0 conference record.
 
"I was a sum of things that made it ultimately gratifying. I was extremely grateful to Jesus and everyone that helped in my recovery process. They are the reason why I could be out there and play well to begin with… It felt rewarding. All the work I put in to return, play, and contribute to our first conference win was an incredible and borderline indescribable feeling."
 
His journey as a college basketball player and student-athlete is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Patrick's Charleston Southern experience.
 
"What I value most about my time at CSU is how much I grew in my faith and the time I got to spend with my teammates. Over the past two years, I was able to dig deeper into my relationship with God and learn how to walk in intimacy with Him. Also, the time spent with my brothers will be unforgettable. I have never laughed this much over the course of a season in my life and I have enjoyed every moment of it."
 
Whether he was laughing on the floor in one of the Greenbrier Resort's seemingly two billion dining rooms in West Virginia, rating which pasta dish sounds the most delicious on a restaurant menu in Baton Rouge, being the first to drench his head coach in water after a stunning road win over the Hurricanes in Miami, or yelling at the top of his lungs after a made three-pointer in Charleston's intimate Buc Dome, DJ Patrick did it all in a way that never strayed from the faithful and habitual path that earned him enough trust that he received the honorable CSU men's basketball program title, "Captain Buc".