Potentially, one of those pressures was being--along with Dixon--the only two Blacks on the team. But the squad remained a close group, especially off the court, and the race question never explicitly came up. "It didn't affect things as far as the team is concerned," Fleming said, "but it is different that if there were six or seven Black guys on the team," Kyle Standley, a freshman guard, said. "There really wasn't any friction. People didn't have to act differently around them [but] people were definitely aware." According to Dixon, "we joked about it more than anything else."

He approached his position as captain quietly, attempting on a squad occasionally characterized by minor on-court squabbles to "create a team atmosphere where the guys are depending on each other."

"Donald is a very reticent leader," Dixon said. "He leads by doing more than by going out there and posing as a rah-rah kind of person. The mark of a great individual is that their actions speak louder than words."

As captain, he called just three team meetings, "usually after something drastic had happened." Mostly, however, he worked on the court, both by simply playing well and making helpful comments. If there was a problem with his performance as captain, it came when his example suffered as he tried to fit into McLaughlin's motion offense, which streaked passing and getting the ball inside. Under this strategy, Fleming did not foot comfortable taking the shots he normally would have taken. This my have been responsible for his early season slump.

According to Duckett, "He started doing things he was 'supposed' to be doing, and he just wasn't being Donald." Fleming broke out of his dray spell as the Ivy League season started in earnest, but his example wasn't enough to overcome a host of other problems--notably the lack of quickness and a lack of drive--which the Crimson faced.

Fleming remains philosophical about the Crimson's lack of success in the Ivy campaign. If the squad didn't win, he at least accomplished his other goal: "If nothing else good happened this year, at least the guys feel close to each other. If that had happened in pre-season, it would have been better." His leadership and personality were in large part responsible for this change, which saw a team overcome its petty on-court bitterness and, develop into more cohesive unit.

Dixon, who perhaps more than any other player will miss Fleming when he graduates in June--if not because he's the only other Black player on the team then because he's the only one who can fill the lane on a fast break--says, "I'm really happy for Donald. I love him like a brother. There's a lot of cliches you can use, but they all apply.