Player profile: The many faces of NSU's Kyle O'Quinn

NORFOLK

At 6-foot-10 with arms so long they look as if they could hug an elephant, Kyle O’Quinn is hard to miss on a basketball court.

But it’s not his body that defines Norfolk State’s standout senior center.

It’s that face.

O’Quinn is like the collection of emoticons one finds on a smartphone.

His face can appear happy, sad, pensive or disinterested.

It can convey disbelief, boredom, elation or disgust.

The one thing his face rarely leaves onlookers feeling is confused.

He conveys his mood with eyebrows that rise almost unnaturally and a face that seems to stretch like Silly Putty.

O’Quinn knows it all too well. For years, referees have asked him to calm the face, to bring it down a notch, to keep it in check.

“They’re always asking me to be a leader and reminding me that my team reacts how I react,” O’Quinn said. “And they are always telling me to be professional.”

But even Larry Rose, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s supervisor of basketball officials, understands and admires that O’Quinn is just a different type of player with a unique approach to the game.

“When I look at Kyle, I don’t necessarily see the player as much as I see a little kid on a court having fun,” said Rose, who has worked four NCAA Final Fours. “Kids are playful and mischievous, and that’s what Kyle is.”

A week ago against Hampton, O’Quinn grabbed a rebound and, in turning to face the court, elbowed the Pirates’ Danny Agbelese, who fell hard to the ground and stayed there. O’Quinn was assessed an intentional foul, but instead of being angered by the call, he hovered around the trainers who were tending to Agbelese, wanting desperately to apologize.

“When you watch that and you realize that nobody on Hampton’s team retaliated, you get to understand Kyle a little bit better,” Rose said. “He’s not a vicious type of player, and there is no malice in his game. But when you are 6-10 or 6-11, it’s inevitable that you are going to catch someone in the face with an elbow every now and then.”

Is he really 6-10, his listed height?

“Almost,” O’Quinn said, his cheeks rounding as he grins widely, those eyebrows dancing. “The last time they measured me, I was 6 foot and 9 and three-quarter inches. That’s pretty close to 6-10. Close enough for me.”

As for those arms, he wears a 38-inch sleeve.

“That sounds about right,” O’Quinn said as he stood and had his sleeve length measured. “My mom’s the one that takes care of that. If I have to wear a suit or something, she’s the one ordering it. But 38 sounds familiar.”

Regardless of his height and length, O’Quinn is no doubt the face of Norfolk State’s basketball program, and that goes far beyond just that face of his.

As a junior, he was the MEAC’s defensive player of the year and a first-team all-conference selection while averaging 16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds.

Now a senior, O’Quinn owns his school’s all-time record for blocked shots (245), was named the MEAC’s preseason player of the year and has his team sitting atop the conference standings. The Spartans are 15-6 overall and 7-0 in the MEAC as they prepare to host Morgan State at 6 tonight at Echols Hall.

O’Quinn is averaging 15.7 points and 10.2 rebounds this season. It doesn’t seem to bother him that his numbers have fallen a bit.

“I’m surrounded by players who can rebound and score,” said O’Quinn, who wants to be a guidance counselor once his basketball-playing days are done. “So naturally my numbers won’t be the same that they were.

“But I haven’t had that monster game yet,” he added, flashing the grin of a kid anticipating what might await him beneath the Christmas tree.

O’Quinn figures he came by his gift for laughter honestly from his father, Tommie.

“My dad will tell a thousand jokes,” O’Quinn said. “He’s the king of the bubble gum-wrapper joke. It’s every, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road’ joke you’ve ever heard.”

He said he’s a huge fan of stand-up comedian Kevin Hart, who made his mark as CJ in the “Scary Movie” franchise. But even Hart might be challenged to match the breadth and depth O’Quinn’s face can show on the basketball court.

And O’Quinn’s coach, Anthony Evans, attests that he is showing much less emotion than he once did.

“When he was a freshman and a sophomore, it was really bad,” Evans said. “We’ve worked on it. He’s still very expressive out there, but he’s done a much better job of controlling it and toning it down the last two years.

“No doubt, I’ve never had a player as expressive as Kyle, but that’s part of what makes him the person he is.”

Rich Radford, 757-446-2463, rich.radford@pilotonline.com