Sports Editor
To athletes, winning is important.
To Mike Dominguez, winning is everything.
“If you’re not trying to win, you shouldn’t be playing,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez, a CMU graduate assistant and former Maverick basketball star, knows how to win – his basketball career attests to it. Dominguez has won titles at the high school, college, and professional level.
At age four, Dominguez trained on the plastic, child-sized hoop in his backyard in Espanola, New Mex. As a kid, Dominguez was naturally competitive.
“I always had to be the best. It didn’t matter if I was a kid playing ‘who can throw the rock the furthest. I had so much pride, and I wanted everyone to know it.”
Dominguez eventually grew too big for his plastic hoop, honing his skills and earning a starting spot on his high school varsity team as a sophomore. During his sophomore campaign, he averaged double figures in scoring. More importantly, he grew five inches, allowing him to excel in his self-proclaimed “breakout season.”
Dominguez continued to succeed the following year, leading his team to a state championship. In the title game, Dominguez led his team in scoring and exploded for nine points in the final 90 seconds to secure the state championship.
After propelling his high school squad to a 53-3 record over three seasons, Dominguez set his sights on playing at the college level. He played two years at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling before being recruited by Florida International University, a D1 school in Miami. He averaged double figures for the Golden Panthers, but the injury-plagued squad fell well below .500, leading to the firing of the head coach.
Without a coach or plans for the following years, Dominguez wanted out of FIU. He wanted to play in D2 to avoid sitting out a year, and he wanted to play in the RMAC so he could be close to home. He had pivotal decisions to make in very little time.
Then he met Maverick head coach Jim Heaps.
“The first thing we saw in Mike was his uncanny basketball IQ,” Heaps said. “His court intelligence was off the charts.”
Dominguez had one year left to play college basketball, and he would suit up for the Mavericks to do it. However, the Mavs had five seniors on the squad who had played together since freshman year. Dominguez had to prove himself quickly, and he did exactly that.
“When Mike came to practice for the first time, he wasn’t the best player on the court,” Heaps said. “But he worked hard and stepped up during games. He made on-court observations that I hadn’t even thought of. I don’t know if it’s something you learn or something that’s bred, but he made decisions that were right on the mark.”
Dominguez immediately made an impact as a Maverick, leading the team with 21.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. The Mavs finished the year with a 23-6 record, a first-place finish in the RMAC and a trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
However, Dominguez’s raw talent can’t be boiled down to statistics. He proved to be a clutch performer as well.
The Mavs travelled to New Mexico Highlands University for a typical RMAC matchup, but the atmsophere wasn’t as typical. The Highlands campus is less than 30 minutes from Dominguez’s hometown. The gym was filled with his closest friends and family members, as well as fans who had seen Dominguez dominate as a high school player.
“Everyone knew about Dominguez in that gym,” Heaps said. “People in the state knew how good he was.”
Dominguez lived up to the hype, scoring 37 points, highlighted by a game-winning shot that lifted the Mavs to a 81-79 victory.
“It was an excitement that I can’t even explain,” Dominguez said. “Everyone wants to take the last shot. But when it comes down to it, I want that shot.”
The last-second victory was the third win during a 10-game winning streak for the Mavs.
“It was exciting to keep winning,” Dominguez said. “I still watch the tapes from those games. It was one of the funnest times of my life.”
After only one season as a Maverick, Dominguez’s college basketball career came to a close. But his basketball career wasn’t over yet. Within weeks of appearing at Regionals, Dominguez was fielding phone calls from professional squads all over the world.
“When you’re that good, it’s always on your mind to play at the next level,” Heaps said. “There was no doubt that he had the talent to go pro.”
Dominguez signed a contract with the Toros de Nuevo Laredo in Mexico, and the experience was memorable despite the difficult adjustment of living in a new country.
“It was very different,” Dominguez said. “I basically went into what is a third-world country. I saw people struggling, and it made me appreciate what I had in the States.”
Despite troubles acclimating to a new culture, Dominguez and the Toros won the Liga Nacional Championship.
With a professional baskestball championship under his belt, Dominguez had succeeded at every level of his sport. Next on his agenda: pass on his experiences, values, and winning ways to future generations. Dominguez is back at CMU, finishing his degree in Physical Education and working as a graduate assistant for the Mavs under Heaps.
“Mike knows his niche,” Heaps said. “He wants to teach and coach at the high school level. He’ll be great it at, too. He’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached, and he’s a great guy.”
From plastic hoops to professional championships, Dominguez has proven himself as a winner. When he becomes a teacher and a coach, it will be the most important principle he teaches to his students and athletes.
“I want to teach people to never be satisfied,” Dominguez said. “You see people win, and it makes you want to win. It keeps me pushing in sports and in life.”
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