Former FIU guard teams up with longtime friend to make motivational brand

By Ruben Palacios/ Assistant News Director

A lot of things can happen inside a stuffy car after an intense summer workout. For former FIU men’s basketball guard Deric Hill, a brand was born.

His desire to succeed paved way for the “Don’t Settle, Be Great” brand to come to life.

Deric Hill (left) and Danny Lopez (right) are the co-founders of DSBG.

Hill reached a lot of people when he scored 16 points and recorded six assists in a stunning FIU upset over Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals in March of 2013. The Panthers entered the tournament as an overlooked squad and the matchup against the top-seeded Raiders seemed like an overwhelming one before Hill took over the game.

He went on to make All-Tournament honors and played a key role as a walk-on — non-scholarship player — on the Panthers team that made a dramatic run through the SBC tournament which ultimately fell one win shy of making the NCAA Tournament.

Hill, alongside a childhood friend, Danny Lopez, has produced a brand that is touching a wider audience and garnering nationwide attention.

The brand, “Don’t Settle, Be Great,” started off as a way to motivate themselves during workouts but it soon evolved into a way of life.

“It’s a movement to tell people not to sit around and be [satisfied] with being ‘ok’ with what they’re doing,” Hill said. “We want to spread a message to people that they can be great at anything.”

Hill and Lopez left a workout during the summer of 2013 in hope of creating their own inspirational quote. The “Be Great” part was already something they used to keep pushing each other during workouts, and came upon “Don’t Settle” because their friendship wouldn’t let them do anything else.

After coming up with their quote, the duo designed athletic wristbands  with the saying “Don’t Settle, Be Great.” They had no idea if anyone else would be interested in them, but the project eventually blossomed into a local trend.

“A lot of people started buying them and posting them all over social media,” Lopez said. “Then they started requesting more colors and sizes.”

What started as a motivational quote eventually turned into a solid black wristband, and it was just a matter of time elapsed before 10 different colored bands were available.

The duo was very surprised by the support they received from the athletic community.

Lopez (left) and Patrick Robinson (right) of the New Orleans Saints pose together after Robinson agreed to dress his entire defensive backs unit with DSBG shirts.

Across social media, a number of professional athletes have been seen wearing DSBG bands, including Tim Hardaway Jr. of the New York Knicks, Carlos Boozer of the Los Angeles Lakers, Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury and Patrick Robinson of the New Orleans Saints, who supplied all of the team’s defensive backs with DSBG shirts, are just a few supporters.

“We wore the bands to spread the message to kids so they can strive to better,” Hill said. “But we were surprised from all the support. We passed them out to people who knew people and that’s helped us out a lot.”

“Everybody can relate to it,” Lopez said about why the brand has gotten such overwhelming support. “It’s not just for athletes. It can be for people at the workplace, mothers, fathers or students.”

After the wristbands started popping up across the nation, Hill and Lopez decided to expand the brand and began to design t-shirts. They got too many requests for shirts to not give it a try, Lopez said.

These DSBG shirts were produced after the initial black/white shirts sold out and supporters requested more colors.

And like the bands, the shirts released and sold out shortly thereafter. Their original design was for a black shirt with white labeling and a countering white shirt with black labeling. Because of an increasing demand, the duo had to expand the sizes in which the shirts were produced and also released two new colorways.

The expansion has also reached kids sizes because parents want their kids to wear the inspirational brand, Lopez said.

Hill and Lopez, who met at South Miami High School, are making it a point to reach the youth in the Miami area.

Aside from their brand which they hope will motivate the youth in the area to do better and make better decisions, they are hosting their first annual bookbag giveaway on Aug. 15. The giveaway will provide kids with necessary school supplies as they begin the upcoming school year. Because the two have collegiate basketball experience, they have goals to establish annual basketball summer camps and develop a foundation to continue to help underprivileged youth.

“We’re striving to help kids in need,” Lopez said. “We want to provide them with things they don’t have or can’t afford.”

Hill and Lopez started “Don’t Settle, Be Great” in order to continue to motivate themselves as friends who cared about each other. Now, they keep the brand fresh in an attempt to motivate strangers to not fall victims of complacency; they want others to stride to be great just like they did on the hot, summer day.

“The brand means something to us and the positive message that comes out of does too,” Hill said.

Fans of the brand can reach out to either Lopez or Hill via their website, DsbgApparel.bigcartel.com, via email at Dsbg_apparel@yahoo.com or on Instagram at Dsbg_apparel.

–news@fiusm.com