Victory Lap, Part Two

(Continuation of Victory Lap)

Steel was homeless. He resided in a church for a couple of months after the house in which he lived was foreclosed. Despite his miserable circumstances, he remained upbeat about school and playing basketball. Steel managed to earn a 3.3 GPA even though he worked forty hours per week and didn't have a place to call home. When I reached out to ask if he was interested in playing, I had no idea that his circumstances were so dire.

The timing seemed to be right when we connected about his long stated desire to play college basketball. Steel had just found an apartment, and he was able to devise his work schedule to accommodate our practice and game times. I even extended an olive branch since he was driving to practice immediately after work. I told him he could miss the first forty five minutes and just practice with us for an hour and a half.

I didn't view it as a big deal since that segment of practice involved mostly stretching and warm-up drills. By the time he ran in everyday, we were always starting to go over plays. That's where Steel ecountered challenges. Although he was incredibly athletic, Steel had a hard time learning plays. Nothing seemed to stick. He also wasn't blessed with a great pair of hands.

My excitement quickly turned into despair. I couldn't figure out how to make use of his athleticism, and I also wanted to see him on the floor badly given all that he had sacrificed to be with the team. His opportunity came during a game where we had no answer for another team's big man who was killing us under the basket. On a whim, I decided to give Steel a chance even though he wasn't going to run a single play correctly.

Steel responded by blocking several shots and giving us the rebounding presence we were sorely lacking. On offense, I simply told him to play from "block to block" and move in opposition with the ball. Basically if the ball was on the right side, he would be stationed on the left side in order to take his defender away from the play. We came from behind to win that game. Steel never emerged as a major factor on offense, but he provided enough defense to make us a better team...

Steel's last game with us is one I will never forget for a few reasons. Prior to the game I had to deal with two starters who were lobbying to play after missing an entire week of practice because of a car accident. One of the them was my starting point guard and the leading scorer. In the middle of that week I asked both guys if they planned to suit up for the game. Having suffered seemingly major injuries, both said they were definitely out. I was fine with that. One of them even told me that the doctor recommended emergency surgery for a separated shoulder, but on game day he was hoisting shots during our shootaround.

The two starters didn't respond well to being benched. They brooded on the bench about not playing as I watched my team struggle mightily without them. We couldn't even get the ball across halfcourt at one point. The guys were trying, but they were just outmatched. Steel lead the charge with great effort. In a play that I will never forget, he dove on the court for a loose ball as the game ended even though we were down by fifteen points. Most other guys wouldn't have bothered to do that. Steel, on the other hand, decided to go out on his own terms.

A year and a half later, at the age of 32, Steel completed his Associate's degree even though it took a total of four years and countless obstacles to do so.