By Jim O'Hara
 
ROME, Ga. – He's at a university where he feels at home, is playing on a team coached by a man he deeply respects and has been blessed with a God-given ability to play the game he so loves dearly that has allowed him to become of one of the best in the team's history.

Yet as he begins the second half of his final season playing collegiate basketball, senior Dedric "DD" Ware is more determined than ever to do anything he can to ensure that in their first year as a full NCAA Division II and Gulf South Conference member the Shorter Hawks make an immediate statement that they have arrived.

"We have to keep playing together," Ware, who now ranks No. 6 on the Hawks' all-time scoring list and entered third and final season becoming the team's first-ever Preseason All-GSC Team selection, said as Shorter (12-5 overall, 7-4 GSC) opens its stretch drive heading to Tennessee for respective conference showdowns with Christian Brothers and Union on Thursday and Saturday.

 "All I want is for us to win," the 6-foot-2 guard extraordinaire from Gainesville added. "I wouldn't mind if I had five points in a game as long as we win."

That kind of dedication to the program is not all that surprising as Ware, who after a stellar prep career at East Hall High School started played one year at Truett-McConnell, was willing to stop playing for a full season in order to join head coach Chad Warner's program at Shorter.

"After I met him I had a good feeling. I knew I wanted to play for him," Ware said about his decision to become a part of the team's three-year NCAA transition process. "We knew it was going to be a time to rebuild. But coach wanted us to believe in him and keep playing hard. I knew that I didn't want to let him down."

In his first two seasons at Shorter, Ware and the Hawks experienced both the positive and negative ends of the transition spectrum.

The 2012-13 campaign saw the Hawks win the National Christian College Athletic Association national championship after they posted a 21-11 overall record and went 9-8 in their first season playing a Gulf South schedule. Last year, however, there came the downside of what can take place during a transition process when Shorter tasted victory just nine times.

"It was very tough," Ware said about the disappointing 2013-14 season, "and there were times when I had my doubts. But Shorter is my home and I knew we had a chance to be pretty good if we came together as a team."

That they have as they are one of top six GSC teams that are all within a game of each other, with Ware leading the charge.

Heading into Thursday game against CBU in Memphis, Ware leads the Hawks with team-best 19.8 points and 6.6 assists – he has accumulated 1,298 career points and 405 career assists – and has perfected even more one of the purest shooting touches seen at Shorter, converting 48 percent of his shots from the field – 44 percent from three-point land – and connecting on a team-high 80 percent of his free throws.

Perhaps what sticks out the most is the fact that Ware rarely comes off the court, playing all but three minutes in a 40-minute game.

"He's become one of the best I've ever coached. He's special," Warner said, adding that as he has seen Ware mature and grow that the player and the coach have developed a close relationship. "The numbers don't tell the whole story. The kid is having a great year."

But Warner, Ware and all the Hawks are well aware that there are still 11 games left in the regular season and that all of those tests are vital if Shorter wants to remain as a title contender.

"'DD' knows what it takes to compete in the league," said Warner. "He needs to continue to focus and provide leadership."

And Ware is ready to do that and any other role the Hawks need him to assume, focusing first of all on the two upcoming road trips against Christian Brothers and Union, both who handed the Hawks their first two GSC losses of the season.

"I feel like it's a must-win situation for us. We have to win these games," said Ware. "From here on out, they all count."