UCI’s Fells rebounding

Since he was 4 years old, Darren Fells has spent much of his time working on his athletic skills, strengthening his body, honing his physical abilities, and dreaming about one day making a living in professional sports.

But somewhere lost in the countless sessions on the basketball court, hours on the football practice field, the handful of seasons he spent playing soccer and the scores of weight-room workouts, Fells’ athletic construction project had failed to reveal a small crack in his foundation. It was a flaw that, left to fester, rendered him something less than a coach’s dream and, he said, sometimes spilled over into his personal life, rearing its ugliness in surprising, sometimes scary ways.

Still, Fells’ prowess in the competitive arena helped him cut, leap, spin, sprint and shine through year after year of success.

He earned All-CIF Southern Section honors as a football tight end and a basketball center at Fullerton High, then shunned neighboring Cal State Fullerton to accept a basketball scholarship to UC Irvine.

A starter in his first regular-season game with the Anteaters, the 6-foot-7, 245-pound post (now 10 pounds heavier) became a strong, if inconsistent contributor, who averaged 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

As a sophomore, he averaged 9.8 points and 7.1 rebounds and received honorable mention in the All-Big-West-Conference voting.

As a junior, he chipped in 10.2 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per contest, also generating honorable mention from coaches selecting the all-conference teams.

Heading into this, his senior season, however, he hoped for considerably more. He worked on his perimeter shooting, aiming to fortify his game for a potential professional career overseas.

But the aforementioned weakness — a quick temper fueled by insecurity and deep-rooted frustration — emerged without warning not long before the season began. As players and coaches gathered in the mountains for a team-building retreat, Fells found himself in an indefensible position, when what began as verbal jousting between him and Coach Pat Douglass, ended with Fells directing an obscene hand gesture toward his head coach.

“It was between me and coach,” Fells recalled of the incident that would soon place his very position on the team in peril. “A few things were said and I got upset. I got extremely defensive and I ended up giving him the [gesture].

“After about 30 minutes passed, I was like ‘What have I done?’ ”

Douglass’ reaction took only a few days. Fells was suspended from the team and directed toward a sports psychologist who might help.

“There were some things that had reached a level in his makeup that he needed to address,” Douglass said. “First, he had to realize he had a problem, which he did. I think, maybe, [the suspension] forced him to take a serious look.”

Fells was ordered to miss the preseason exhibition game, as well as the first two regular-season games. And, he was not allowed to practice with the team.

He sat in civilian clothes on the bench during games, he said, angry at no one but himself for letting his teammates down.

“It was pretty devastating,” Fells said of the suspension, a punishment he said fit the crime. “It was huge eye-opener that I needed to get my act straight. [Douglass] told me he wanted me to take some time off and get some help with the problems that I had.”

Soon, Fells discovered the solution to his problem was more complex than mere anger management.

“Talking to the sports psychologist, I found out it was much deeper than that,” Fells said. “I found I had been carrying frustration throughout my life about other things, little things.”

Some of those things centered around Fells’ relationship with is father, David, who acted quickly to try to mend their neglected bond.

“My Dad was in the home, but growing up, I hadn’t been able to talk to him and build our relationship that way,” Fells said. “I’m not blaming him in any way. It’s not his fault. It was nobody’s fault. When the suspension happened, he felt he needed to be involved with my life a lot more. We began talking a lot. About everything. He actually just started learning how to text [message] me.”

Fells said the day he received that message in a phone call from his Dad was the happiest of his life.

“[David] said he felt I needed support from somewhere and being my father is the best support he could give me,” Fells said. “It has made me feel a lot more whole.”

Fells returned to the team for the third game and started again in Game No. 7. After a short period in which he had to regain his conditioning, he has become one of the Anteaters’ most productive players. He is averaging 13.4 points, second best on the squad, and he leads the team (7-11, 2-3 in conference) in rebounding with 6.1 per contest.

In addition, he is shooting 59.2% from the field, which leads the Big West. In conference play, his 9.1 rebounds per game are tops among Big West players and he has produced a double-double in three of his last four games.

Heading into Saturday’s Big West home game against UC Riverside, Fells’ 1,005 points and 647 rebounds make him only the 11th player in UCI history to record at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds.

“He has addressed some issues and has not been worried about how people judge his play. He has been playing the way people thought he could play,” said Douglass, who believes Fells’ reaction to the suspension has helped more than his game.

“He wasn’t the easiest player to coach, at times,” Douglass said. “But since his return, he has been a very positive, supportive teammate. He had a tendency to go to different [emotional] extremes, and now he has been even-keeled. He’s a guy who acts like a senior.”

Though he regrets the act that prompted the suspension, Fells said he would not change the events that followed.

“Personally, it has helped me a lot,” Fells said of his disciplinary penance. “Most importantly, it has actually helped build the relationship between my father and me.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.