
At Michigan State, I continued basketball by playing pickup
games at the IM East and won the intramural championship on campus. After my
first year, the University decided to switch their semester set up from what I
remembered to be quad-mesters to two separate semesters. It shortened the
summer break where I needed to work 3rd shift in the factory at the
Amway Corporation. I went back to MSU tired and extremely run down and very low
on funds. I made the decision with my parents to withdraw and work two jobs.
It was during this time that my academic and athletic life
took a turn. An alumnus of my high school, who played 4 years at Aquinas
College, came to visit me at Structure. It was a retail clothing store that I
worked during the year I took off of college. I was also working at the factory
again. He said he wanted me to come to a workout/tryout at AQ. I walked into
the gym late in the summer prior to the school year. We played 2 on 2 versus 2 current
players. I didn’t really know how I did but I was asked to come to school.
Coach stated that the NAIA was on a grant system and not a scholarship system,
and his roster and grants were maxed out at this point in the process. As a
twist, the track team needed a high jumper and I was an accomplished high
jumper in the state of Michigan two years removed. They did offer me a small
grant to participate with the Track team.
I enrolled with a premed major and started classes. The Track
team held conditioning at 6AM, and the basketball team held conditioning at
3pm. At night during the weekdays I closed the retail store, and on the weekends
I worked split shifts either opening or closing the store. 16 hours a day
during the weekday were dedicated to conditioning and eventually practices for
two sports, a full premed class load, and working part-time in retail sales.
Sometimes, during tests and exams I would pull all-nighters.
I lived in a house apartment in an old part of Grand Rapids
called Eastown. The famous Yesterdog, Wolfgangs, Brandywine, and Eastside Deli
were around the corner. The American Pie movie franchise featured the same
areas and haunts I used to frequent. It wasn’t the safest of areas but it
served a college student’s needs of cheap living. I had a great friend and
musician living with me as
well as another roommate. Derek and I went back to my freshman year of high school. He is a self-taught guitarist who played many hot spots with a couple of bands he collaborated with. He ended up achieving great success with his band Riviera and still remains my friend and a friend of the family.
well as another roommate. Derek and I went back to my freshman year of high school. He is a self-taught guitarist who played many hot spots with a couple of bands he collaborated with. He ended up achieving great success with his band Riviera and still remains my friend and a friend of the family.
On the basketball front, I couldn’t crack the Varsity roster
and played a very competitive JV schedule that included GRCC; Hope College’s,
Calvin College’s, Olivet College’s, Cornerstone’s and Kalamazoo College’s JV
teams. The track schedule didn’t interfere greatly with the basketball schedule
but often I would leave track meets to meet up with the basketball team. At the
midway point of the season I suffered a serious ankle injury playing in a
pick-up game. I had already experienced 2 severe concussions that left me
unconscious for 5 to 10 minutes with blackout periods to follow walking around
after the injuries. After I regained consciousness I continued competing. In
the early 90’s that practice was commonplace. Concussion protocols were not in
place and I often wonder if that has had any lasting effects. I was sidelined
for a month which forced Coach’s hand in stating that he could try and help me
get somewhere else. He was stocked up for a few years and the incoming class
for the next year would provide AQ with some great options. I had moments of
brilliance scoring over 30 and there were other games you would think I never
played the game before. To this day at the age of 45 my contemporaries that
played Division 1 ball watch me play pickup games and state that I should have
played somewhere. Aside from basketball, I achieved runner up in high jump at
the WHAC Championships in Track. I had a major concussion on the last
successful jump and couldn’t clear the next height and I lost by one miss even
though the champion and I tied for height cleared.


As a current college basketball recruiter I learned from my
experience in college about what player fits certain levels of play. Of course
you have ability and athleticism which I had but my 6’2” 155lbs. frame did not
make me a good candidate for the higher divisions. Players my age were duped by
a small player
named Jay Burson who played for The Ohio State University. He was around 5’8” to 5’10” and close to 160lbs. We all had hope of duplicating his achievements. Having that experience I have researched and observed players of skill levels and success but have to consider the frame of the player. If we do have a player that comes in below what we feel is the proper frame there is a growth process which often takes patience from the player which becomes hard to instill.
named Jay Burson who played for The Ohio State University. He was around 5’8” to 5’10” and close to 160lbs. We all had hope of duplicating his achievements. Having that experience I have researched and observed players of skill levels and success but have to consider the frame of the player. If we do have a player that comes in below what we feel is the proper frame there is a growth process which often takes patience from the player which becomes hard to instill.
The philosophical reasoning I took when I was very young
wasn’t how I had to work much harder to continue playing.
Truthfully I felt that it was what I had to do to continue playing the sport in
an organized setting and others had their own crosses to bear. Although I felt
my cross was not that special my peers didn’t experience the same sacrifices.
My decisions at a young age dictated my struggle/path. There wasn’t a lot of
guidance or mentors that would talk me through the process so conscious
decisions were never afforded to me at a young age. The same type of sacrifice
is upon me today as I attempt to create a coaching career in the college ranks.
Back then, I chose a health care/business career due to what I now feel was
burnout on the game. However, one of the most
resurrecting feelings I encountered to reengage my passion was walking into a Charlotte YMCA and asking to volunteer as a coach in 1998. Those practices and games were the brightest part of my day and year. The altruistic nature implied in volunteerism is there but what I got out of it was a rekindled passion which created a goal to be a part of the game for many reasons.
resurrecting feelings I encountered to reengage my passion was walking into a Charlotte YMCA and asking to volunteer as a coach in 1998. Those practices and games were the brightest part of my day and year. The altruistic nature implied in volunteerism is there but what I got out of it was a rekindled passion which created a goal to be a part of the game for many reasons.
My life mission and path was spurred by an accomplished
coach and great person when I wrote a letter to him asking for a job and
advice. Coach Bobby Lutz, the coach at UNCC at the time, told me to get into
education and sacrifice to follow my dreams. It was the first real advice I had
received in the game and it took from 2003 until 2011 to achieve a teaching
certificate and coach a 5A school’s JV basketball team where I met another
great mentor in the game named Bobby Stevens.
Where am I now? I am a volunteer assistant men’s basketball
coach at Clinton College in Rock Hill,
SC. I am a full time science teacher in
high school. My days are still 6am to 10pm on most days. I am married to a
native of this great town of
Rock Hill and have inherited two stepsons. My passion for the game is only waned by the need to maintain my health and by making family a priority or I would never be home nor get any sleep. The current head coach at Clinton College keeps telling me that he has to protect me from me or else I would never stop working. I know I am addicted to basketball and work but I have seen much worse things to be addicted to than health, family, love, work, and basketball.

Rock Hill and have inherited two stepsons. My passion for the game is only waned by the need to maintain my health and by making family a priority or I would never be home nor get any sleep. The current head coach at Clinton College keeps telling me that he has to protect me from me or else I would never stop working. I know I am addicted to basketball and work but I have seen much worse things to be addicted to than health, family, love, work, and basketball.