SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — When Xavier Muldrow came to Dominican four years ago he knew immediately it was the perfect place for him to be.

When Muldrow plays his final home basketball game in the Conlan Center for the Penguins on Saturday night – along with his roommates/teammates Mark Lewis and Xander McNally and Lady Penguins captain Te Manu Whakataki "Taki" Te Koi – he will know the right place for him to work.

As business administration major with an emphasis on marketing and accounting, Muldrow wants to apply what he has learned on the court and in class at Dominican to his dream from the time he was a student at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in Riverside. Xavier's vision is to open his own recreation center.

With a twist.

Muldrow's recreation center would offer all sorts of sporting activities for all people to keep them mentally and physically fit. But he also wants to provide other services, like workshops, seminars and even tax filing preparation. He'd like to help others as much as possible with the skill sets he acquired at Dominican – all under one big roof.

 “It would be a place where the community could go and get educated and have fun playing sports,” Muldrow says.

One of Muldrow's cousins recently opened a rec center in Arizona and it is Muldrow's desire to create his own niche to provide a go-to place for kids similar to the one he attended with his brother, Brenton, growing up in Rancho Cucamonga and very much like a large facility such as the American Sport Center in Anaheim.  

Muldrow's dream is to duplicate the joyful and playful experience he remembers as a kid going to a rec center combined with a learning experience for the young and old seeking assistance and guidance when dealing with every-day problems.

It is another way for Muldrow to give back to the community. Last summer, he held four jobs at once, including coaching basketball and other activities at Dominican's youth sports camp and even coaching a youth flag football team at Saint Mark's School in San Rafael, though Muldrow never played football in high school.

“They knew a lot about the game of football. They taught me,” Muldrow says, grinning.

Muldrow had an easier time deciding to come to Dominican. He knew what he was looking for: a campus smaller than his high school which has a four-year enrollment of more than 3,000 students and college where he could earn a degree in business while playing college basketball.  

When Muldrow visited Dominican for the first time with his parents, Steve Sr. and Brenda, along with his brother, it was on a weekday. Before his visit ended by the weekend, he had signed and committed to coming to Dominican. Basically, it was love at first sight.

“My dad was acting like he was going to move up here with me,” Muldrow says, smiling. “It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Muldrow played in 25 games as a freshman for the Penguins, but he didn't play much. After the season, then head coach Bret Tovani, Muldrow said, told him he would need to improve his play for his sophomore season, Dominican's first in NCAA Division II.

Over that summer, Muldrow worked out with his AAU coach and former teammates. He practiced with more persistence than ever before. He lifted more weights. He returned the following year a better player.

 “The game wasn't too fast for me anymore,” Muldrow says. “I was now fit to play a role where I could help our team."

Which is defense, Muldrow's strong suit. If an opposing guard was having a good game, it was his job to make it worse. Bigger and stronger and more determined, Muldrow played his way into the Penguins' starting lineup and, at year's end, was named the winner of the team's Coach's Award.

“It proved to me that my hard work didn't go unnoticed,” he says.

This season, Muldrow hasn't been noticed as much. He sprained an ankle early in the season and broke his hand midway through this season, limiting him to 15 games of action. Yet Muldrow is playing for a new coach, Booker T. Harris, who values and appreciates defense.

“I think he has taken the loss of playing time due to injuries and his new role under a new coach in stride,” Harris said. “He has been a real team player from that perspective.”

That quality with serve Muldrow well. He has been named the all-conference all-academic team his first three years at Dominican and is a proud member of the Gamma Sigma Honor Society who has a keen eye on preparing for future business ventures.

“X is a very smart kid and I have little doubt that X will be successful beyond his time at Dominican,” Harris said. “Based upon his understanding of what needs to be done to be successful in class, I see him applying those same skills and logic to his success in the real world. This is a young man who once he sets his mind to it he can make it happen. He talks the program up, never complains, and really wants to see us succeed. He truly is a good person.”

All told, Muldrow is happy with his academic and athletic achievements at Dominican. Senior Night on Saturday will be a bitter-sweet moment for him.

“It's going to be a pretty hard time for me,” Muldrow says. “It's going to be my last home game ever.”

But the hope and plan is that there is another game and another gym, a big one, around the corner for Muldrow.