UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, November 10, 1994
6A
True lies: Confessions of an NBA dreamer
Continued from Page 1A.
TIME IN
Sean Wright frequently plays pick-up basketball at a local park. Wright said last summer he delivered pizzas, but even his job could not keep him away from basketball. Often times during a delivery he would stop to play ball, all the while with a customer's pizza in his car.
Sean Wright is 18. A senior at Wyan dotte High School in Kansas City Kan., he dreams of a college bas ketball scholarship and a future in the NBA. He's not alone. In a time when education is low, are you interested?
Sean Wright is one of those kids.
ever, coaches, teachers and parents are constantly struggling against kids who use basketball as a means to a livelihood — a tool, a crutch to make it to college.
PASS
Wright transferred from Washington High School in Kansas City, Kan., to Wyandotte after his junior year. It had to be done, he says. Basketball was the only reason he left Washington.
"That's just what I got to do to get out of Kansas City." he says.
Whether it's to get out of Kansas City or any other place, it is becoming common practice for high school students to transfer — just for the sake of playing sports, says former Kansas City, Mo., high school basketball player Anthony Peeler.
Peeler, who went on to play for Missouri and now is a guard with the Los Angeles Lakers, says that he went through the same situation when he played at the now-defunct Paseo High School.
"I visited a couple of schools," Peeler says. "I was going on history. It had a big effect on me. I wanted to go to a place that had NBA stars."
And while he eventually stayed at his neighborhood school, he says, travelling to other
schools for the sake of playing ball is an accepted practice for the next generation of basketball players.
"If basketball is something that you want to do, I think you ought to do that," he savs.
No harm, no foul.
Sean Wright wasn't happy at Washington. By playing at Wyandotte, he could get noticed. And he says now he has a shot of succeeding, a chance to get a college scholarship.
"I think about, 'Will someone get the opportunity to see me?" he says. "I know I have the ability."
And, according to his older brother Dwayne, who went to Washington, the transfer was a good idea.
"It's easier to be a brain surgeon than an NBA star."
Sean Wright says he's the one to beat the odds. There's no question in his mind that he'll make it.
"The most I tell him is, 'Can you get a foot in the door?' he says. "Can someone see your talent? I was happy to see him go to Wyandotte. A coach can make or destroy you, and I think he was being hindered."
"You have to think that way," he says. "If you don't, then you won't make it. As far as basketball goes, I'm putting all my eggs in one basket — the whole dozen."
DRIBBLE
"I love his work ethic," Forbes says, nodding toward Wright. "There's no doubt he's appealing."
Wright also needs to work on his ball handling, Forbes adds. "He won't get away with what he's doing now."
But appealing doesn't necessarily mean a college scholarship.
"He's not a Division I player right now," Forbes says. "He needs to improve his perimeter skills a lot."
Sean Wright has talent. No one is disputing that.
Steve Forbes, Barton County Community College basketball coach, stands in the Shawnee Mission Northwest gym, watching a Sunday fall league game.
"Of all the kids out here, just one other kid and maybe Sean have the talent to play," he says. "He's got a good body, and he's got good size."
High school coaches hate to hear that. But it's common
Forbes has driven the three-and-one-half hour trip for the last five Sundays to watch the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Wright and Chris Chestnut, another Division I prospect who is giving Wright a tough workout.
Bud Lathrop Raytown South High School coach
"In the past this hasn't happened with my players," said Wayne Van Dine, Wright's coach at Wvandotte.
But Wyandotte plays in a different league.
Van Dine has been a high school basketball coach for 18 years, including the last 10 at Liberty, Mo. This is his first year at Wyandotte.
Now, he says, he is in a situation where he sees players who see basketball as their only way to college, and their only way out of town.
Raytown South High School coach Bud Lathrop has seen many players come and go. He has been coaching at Raytown since the 1960s and has won 726 games.
"It's easier to be a brain surgeon than an NBA star," he says. "In my 36 years of coaching, I've had two players make the NBA."
Even though the odds are stacked against the players, Washington High coach Leonard Sparkman, Wright's former coach, says he is fighting a battle with players, always emphasizing the importance of education over basketball.
"At my school, we try to take that one dimension out," he says of the players' basketball-skewed focus. "At our school, we understand that basketball is not No. 1. When all students start out, they're all one-dimensional. They never think of anything else. That's something we are working hard to get rid of. We try to make kids understand that basketball is only a tool. There are kids that you have constantly pound that into."
But Sparkman isn't pounding on Sean Wright anymore.
No number of windsprints, extra laps or grade checks can deter his dream.
And at the same time that coaches are working in one direction - education - the high school players are pulled in another.
"Our biggest selling point is telling them they can move on," he says. "We've got books and basketball here in Great Bend. Take care of your business here, and you can go on to
Forbes calls his Barton County program a machine.
Sean Wright drives between two defenders for a layup. He says he hates fouls. "Fouls are a cop-out. They're excuses. If you foul me, I'll look at you and tell you that I'm better than you. And it hurts to see me being better than you."
But the issue isn't just about junior colleges. Even Kansas is not immune to NBA fever.
Steve Woodberry, who finished his playing career at Kansas last season, says that some players in the Jayhawks' system feel the same way
"You have to," he said. "I wanted to get my education as well, but it was also an opportunity to improve my skills."
the next level. Most of the kids we get are here
for nothing but basketball. And that's a okay
Woodberry, who says that he will play professionally in Europe this season, says he used Kansas to get to professional ball.
And at Kansas, there is no doubt that basketball is a priority for many.
"You have to be realistic," Woodberry said. "There's not very many people who have the talent to play in the NBA."
Says juniors forward Sean Pearson, "You see it everywhere. They see it as an easy form of making money, and they work harder at basketball than they do in the classroom."
sages, high school students, at best, realize that basketball is a moneymaker. This forces coaches to scramble to get kids to learn anything else.
"As an educator, I know that basketball or any other extra-curricular activity is a way to get kids to concentrate on school," says Lawrence High School coach Jack Schreiner. "I've got some kids that, if it wasn't for basketball, they would be flunking out."
They'd be silly not to.
And while Van Dine and Forbes talk of books and education, they won't destroy dreams like Sean's.
With Forbes and others giving mixed mes
"I would never take a kid's dream away from him. I wouldn't." Forbes says, looking at the players scrimmaging in the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School gym. "But what's the chance of any of these kids making it?" . "None."
Van Dine tells the kids that it's important that they think biot and have dreams.
"The percentage of people playing in the NBA is minute," he says.
But he admits, "I never tell them that there's no way that they can do it."
SHOOT
There are posters and pictures of Michael Jordan everywhere. He has clocks with Jordan on them and magazine covers with Jordan's face on them. Even the fisthank has a Jordan backdrop. The pictures comfort him, he says.
Sean Wright is in his room at home, where his dreams are made.
"When I don't stay here, I feel uncomfortable when I wake up," he says. "Every time I have a bad game, it reminds me."
His room is a constant reminder of what he wants to accomplish. If he could be like Mike, he says he would.
Telling him otherwise would be a mistake. Basketball is what matters.
"I wanted to play the game because of that man," he says. "You think of so many great players that have played the game, and I want to be above them. I want to be better than average. I want to be above everybody. Always. That's really my dream."
At 18, Sean Wright is a child. He dreams.
"I have a child-like focus," he says. "When I was younger, I told my mom that I wanted a Nintendo. That was all I drived on. I know if I have that focus playing basketball, I'll make it. That's what I have now."
SCORE
Out there on the Shawnee Mission Northwest court, Wright clearly displays everything that's good about him.
This is what he loves to do. He is at home.
Dribble. Pass. Shoot. Score. Mix in a steal and a dive for a loose ball. Add a lot of talking on the court, and figure in a constant smile.
"When I was younger, people told me that you could go to college if you play ball," he said. "I thought it was really easy. All you had to do was play hard, and you could go to college. But I've started to understand."
Understanding the odds is not a problem for him.
"Whatever it takes to get prepared. All for the sake of playing basketball. If it wasn't for my grades, I wouldn't have basketball," he says, adding that schoolwork is not a primary concern. "If it wasn't for the sport, I don't know what I'd be doing. I've gotten to the point where it's embedded in my mind that I have to get past school."
Understanding what it takes to get an athletic scholarship is the only thing on his mind.
"If you love being in the game at the end, in crunch time, helping your teammates win, that will get you into college," he says. "If you're going to do what it takes to get there, then that will get you in."
The big business of college hoops
"I'm just nice." Sean Wright says when describing himself. "I'd tell you how nice I am first, then I'd tell you how much I love the game."
Although he has never given a scholarship in more than 20 years of professional scouting, his service gives kids an opportunity to be recognized nationally.
Bob Gibbons is in the business of making dreams come true.
Gibbons, who heads Bob Gibbons All-Star Sports Publications in Lenoir, N.C., distributes a newsletter 15 times a year detailing the happenings in high school basketball.
"We rate the top 500 high school players in the country," he said. "We also rate the 750 best seniors and where they are going. We also rate the 500 best juniors."
And with more than 300 colleges subscribing to the publication, it assures that many coaches will have access to potential recruits' names.
"A lot of it's timing," said Steve Forbes, Barton County Community College assistant coach. "Will the right school see you at the right time? It's by no means an exact science."
Gibbons admits that a scholarship is the only means for a select few to get to college, but his ratings can help others get noticed.
"I take pride in knowing that I've helped many youngsters get a scholarship, youngsters that don't even know me," he said. "That is the greatest part of my job."
But there is another side to the story. The number of people playing basketball are competing for a minute number of scholarships.
"Basketball is only an avenue for a limited number of people." Gibbons said. "Very few have the skill to earn a scholarship."
"It's becoming a big business," he said. "Now it's to the point that people are sending a letter or calling or even mailing a video."
Because of the increased number of recruiting services, kids today are more aggressive when pursuing a scholarship. Forbes said.
"We can help them get some attention," he said. "We can help them get noticed. But what we can't do is get them a college scholarship. That's the bottom line."
As the business of college athletics has increased, Gibbons and the 25 or so others that provide composite listings allow some kids a chance that they might not have had.
"I don't believe in pressure," Sean Wright says. "I'm arrogant when it comes to playing. If you're on my team and you're screwing up, I'll tell you."