Black player disses white Mr. Basketball

Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Messages
1,057
This is from bankhoops.com, which covers Michigan high school
basketball:

EAST LANSING -- The Class A championship game was decided on a
phantom five-second call on Okemos star Johnathan Jones at the end of
double overtime, handing the victory to Saginaw Arthur Hill.

The Class B semifinal between Detroit Renaissance and Flint Southwestern
went into overtime on a last-second 3-pointer by Southwestern's Anthony
Crater -- never mind the fact that he was one of six Knights on the floor
when this happened. Unlike in Class A, these refs, apparently, couldn't
count to five.

In a Class A semifinal, future Michigan State point guard, and I use that
designation in its loosest interpretation, Kalin Lucas shot 10-for-30 from
the floor, including a missed wide open dunk attempt. His team, Orchard
Lake St. Mary's, went on to lose to Okemos ... by a point.

Still, the ugliest moments of this year's state finals didn't take place on
the court, but in the press conference room at the Breslin Center.

Two years ago, before Saginaw Buena Vista went on to beat Charlevoix for
the Class C state title, then-sophomore Tory Jackson was the media
darling. When he compared himself to Michael Jordan, it was cute. Like a
4-year-old dressing up in his mom's clothes.

But with age, the charm decreases, and so it did with Jackson this year
after his team beat Berrien Springs in the Class C final. But rather than
celebrate his team's victory, Jackson looked out into the bright lights and
began an unsolicited harangue over his displeasure in finishing sixth in
the Mr. Basketball voting.

"I let all the Mr. Basketball voters know they were wrong about me,"
Jackson said. "They were against me, but now I'm on top and I got the last
laugh, so I feel like I'm Mr. Basketball. I have respect for those other guys,
but I'm the best player in the state."

The player who did win Mr. Basketball, Grand Rapids South Christian's
David Kool, scored 80 points in the final four and won the Class B state
title last year. He made 25-of-37 field goals. This weekend, Jackson
scored 47, shooting 19-of-44 from the floor. Kool did it against
perennial powers Detroit Renaissance and Muskegon Heights. Jackson
against Class C unknowns Traverse City St. Francis and Berrien Springs.
Jackson wasn't impressed by Berrien Springs star Jeremy Cummings,
either, despite the 6-foot-5 senior blocking seven shots, one short of the
championship game record held by former Mr. Basketball winners Shane
Battier and Winfred Walton.

"He was getting ahold of everything we shot, but that didn't get to me,"
Jackson said. "I didn't get intimidated. I don't back down from anybody. I
just had to chop him down like a tree. He's big, but I chopped him down
piece by piece."

I'm not naive. It takes some chutzpah to excel when you're 5-10 in a 6
-10 game; the youngest of 13 kids; a citizen of Jennifer Granholm's dying
Michigan in a Sun Belt (Chinese?) economy; a black kid in a white man's
(or illegal Mexican's?) America; the son of a line worker in an Enron era.
That self-made confidence took him to two state titles and leaves him the
state's No. 3 all-time leading scorer. Next year, he'll be at Notre Dame.

Per Jackson's college destination, St. Francis coach Pat Cleland inferred
that he must be a classy young man. I'm not sure that institution is any
longer confused with class, or wouldn't Ty Willingham still be its football
coach? It will be interesting to see how long Jackson can last in South
Bend. The two players above him in the state record book, Mark Brown
from Hastings and Jay Smith from Mio, both had to transfer to smaller
colleges when they realized that the big time wasn't quite so easy as
beating up on small-town players.

Conflicting Loyalties
When Buena Vista won the title, Jackson quickly shed his Knights gear in
favor of a shirt celebrating his summer travel team, the Hurricanes. In the
world of AAU basketball, the Reebok-sponsored Hurricanes are known as
one of the shadier big-time programs. Which is kind of like being called
one of the more corrupt members of Congress. Or, in a glass half-full
world, having the firmest breasts on a "Girls Gone Wild" DVD.

The self-promotional world of summer hoops is perfect for a player of
Jackson's ego, so it was only fitting that he would show his loyalty that
way. But for all the flaws of that ego, at least Jackson showed up for the
press conference. The same couldn't be said for one of his Hurricanes
teammates, future Michigan guard Kelvin Grady. After his East Grand
Rapids team lost to Renaissance in the B final, neither he nor any other
Pioneers player was available to answer questions. East Grand Rapids
coach Ed Crisman mumbled some excuse about the fellas needing to get
the tape cut off their ankles and being in a hurry to get home.

No surprise there. Crisman has been at the mercy of the talent ever since
the school sold its soul to the Grady family. Kelvin's brother, Kevin Grady
Jr. was the superstar running back, now at Michigan. Kelvin's backcourt
partner is his cousin, DeMarcus Grady. But calling the shots is Kevin
Grady Sr. Boisterous to the point of being a parody of the nutty Little
League parent, Grady Sr. is one of the most polarizing sports figures in
West Michigan. He has been accused of providing cheap housing to
athletes from Grand Rapids who transfer to East, to which he responds by
dropping the race card like most of us go through paper towels.
When Kelvin was a freshman, he'd often look up during games to get
instructions on how to effectively run the point. No, not from Crisman.
From his old man. Shockingly, this advice would usually result in a Grady
field goal attempt. Rules and decorum, from teamwork to press
obligations, are apparently for those of a lesser lot. And you wonder why
a school of nearly 1,000 students only has seven kids on its basketball
team not named Grady?

There's Still Hope
There were early signs that this would be the state finals where the
modern, pampered player overtook the team-first stereotype of the
MHSAA propaganda campaign. It started early in March when Birmingham
Country Day's Alex Legion -- surprise, another member of the Hurricanes
-- proclaimed to The Detroit News that when you went to a Yellowjackets
game, you couldn't tell that he was the best player. Forget his consensus
top 10 ranking among the nation's junior class. Or the early scholarship
to Michigan. Legion also said he didn't think Country Day would beat
Renaissance in the Class B quarterfinals. It didn't.

But lest we condemn all Hurricanes, or all Saginaw prep stars, there was a
ray of sunshine reflected off the smile of one Darquavis Tucker. The
leading scorer and rebounder of Arthur Hill's championship squad, he
teams with Jackson, Grady and Legion in the summer, yet somehow still
plays like he enjoys his teammates and is appreciative of his place in the
game.

After the Class A press conference, a beaming Tucker went around the
room shaking the hands of media members and thanking them for the
coverage. David Hogg of the Associated Press said the last player to do
that was Country Day's Battier, who went on to star on Duke's 2001
national championship team and is now an NBA millionaire. Not bad,
company, Dar.
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Messages
80
I watched last years class B championship game and David Kool's performance was one of the best I have ever seen at the high school level.


Going 20 for 20 from the free throw line is unreal. The opposing teams defense had no answer for him.


Moreover, after that performance he had a major knee injury last may and spent the entire summer in rehab, sometimes more than 6 hours per day.


Regretfully, after his knee injury, all of the Big Ten schools that were recruiting him suddenly became lukewarm in their interests. He is the first Mr. Basketball to sign with a Mid American Conference school, Wester Michigan University. (didnt Dan Majerle go there?)


I think David was a good selection for this years Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan. (I dont have the same opinion for the 2004 winner however)


Hopefully he will also do well at the next level.
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Messages
1,057
Majerle went to Central Michigan, from Traverse City. Led the state in
scoring and rebounding, but no Big Ten offers.
 
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