I am going to start this post off by saying it was inspired by my great friend, in basketball, and in just life. Aaron. You can visit his blog here: Aaron’s blog
Anyway, this was inspired by him, because he talked about his journey. So I wanna do that too. So thanks Aaron for inspiring me. So, I started out living in DC, 3 years old with my little brother as a little baby. (I don’t wanna get anything wrong, I am born in Boston, and am Boston till I die. I just lived in DC.) I had a big backyard, and my dad bought me a little plastic hoop. Sometimes, I would play on the little hoop.
Next, we moved to North Carolina, and the hoop came to. But, in my driveway, there was a big hoop screwed to the garage. I would try and score, but the hoop was like, 10 feet, and I was like, 3 or 4. So I stuck to playing on the little hoop. Living in this house, I played in my first basketball league at The Y! The coaches were nice, and made sure we all scored. I had great times at the Y. Next, we moved to a rental house before we moved into our house now. This house had a hoop in the driveway, and I would play every night after dinner. After that, we moved into our final, house which I live in now. We were living there for a while, and my dad surprised me with a basketball hoop for our driveway! (I still use this hoop) I would play a lot, and our neighbors had a hoop too, so I’d play with them a lot too. That summer, I started kindergarten at my new school, and there was a basketball hoop on the playground. I would go to extended day a lot, and shoot on the little hoop. I would sometimes play at recess with other kids. Around winter, my dad took me to my first game. It was Duke vs. some no name, and I think this is where I started to love basketball. This was 2017, and Duke had a great year. Duke won, and I loved it all. The scoring the running. The players. I loved everything, and after that game, I knew I was gonna start to love the game. Around Christmas, I played in a recreational YMCA league, and I loved it. I don’t mean to brag, but since I was tall, I kinda scored a lot. It was a great season, and I had my first friend through basketball…Stell. Stell was a kid a few inches shorter with me, and he really liked soccer. He would play on the same team with me in basketball, and I’d play soccer with him. We played in two leagues together and had a lot of fun. I played with him in first and second grade, and then he played soccer only. Anyway, in second grade, I played Woodcroft. Woodcroft was a tiny league, and I don’t mean to criticize, but it wasn’t very well put together. I was 7, and I was playing like, 11 year olds. They would always beat us, and I got mad sometimes. Anyway, the season ended, and COVID came. During quarantine, I spent a lot of time playing basketball in the hoop in my driveway. 3rd grade rolled around, and I was in the same class as my good friend Rohan. We both loved Duke basketball, and he thought it was awesome how my cousin played at the time.
Here he is! He now currently plays in Finland, and played basketball in the FIBA for Ivory Coast, where his dad is from. Me and Rohan would shoot around a lot, and constantly talk about Duke’s not-so-well season that year. We would play every day at recess, and we would have battles until Mrs. Baker blew the whistle. The most memorable game was “The Never-Ending Game,” which lasted four days. On day 1, right before the whistle, I hit a pull-up jump shot to equalize, 17-17. The next day, game ends 35-35. Day 3, 37-37. (We had a little disagreement) and finally, Day 4, I won holding the ball 50-52. Rohan put up a great fight though. These were great times, and Rohan is one of my best friends through basketball, and in general. In late May of 3rd grade, I tried out for my first AAU team. I was really nervous, because we were being recorded on a Zoom call. That night, I went to bed so nervous. I finally woke up on Monday to the words, “YOU MADE IT!” From my family. I was so happy and I went to school that day feeling like a KING. School was finally let out, and I went to a basketball camp sponsored by the AAU team. My coach was there, and he talked about the team. But after the first day, I came home to some good and bad news. The bad news was that there wasn’t enough players to make a 3rd grade team. But the good news was that the club thought I was good enough to play for the 6TH GRADE TEAM. AND I WAS IN 3RD. I was so happy! Anyway, me and my team played in our first tournament in Raleigh, and we got 2nd place. I had a great season with that team, but I went to a workout with the Durham Hurricanes. I wasn’t used to their style of play, and had to adapt a lot. But after 2 months of hard work, I made the team! I was playing PF, and if we tried to play small, I played center. I made some really good friends on that team. Aidan, Mac, Semaj, Meyer, Rohan, (again) and Harrison. In that whole season, we either got first or second in that tournament, and we were the runner-up for the state championship. I was really looking forward to another season with the ‘Canes, and I had a coach who would help me out to. His name was Fred, and he had a team called the Blue Flames. My cousin and Fred’s son both played for the Flames, and for their high school, Northwood’s Varsity basketball team. (I think Fred’s son, Fred Jr., will play for Ole Miss basketball.) Anyway, around January or February, the ‘Canes had many new players, and since playing time had to be equal, I would not get much. I had a big decision: stay with the ‘Canes and not have much playing time, or find another team. I picked out try out for another. I tried out for two teams, NC Wildcats, and Team Stacked. Fred also said he could make a team with me and my friends. I had made both NC Wildcats and Team Stacked, but I chose to play with Fred. So Far we have won 1 tournament, In which I had the winning block against our rivals, the Granville Elites in the Beast of the East Basketball Tournament.
I have made some great friends on my new team with Aaron W, Aaron P, Noah C, Big Josh, Silas, Noah, and Knox. Thank you for reading!
Our ring. Taken by me.