Blanco Heads South

Blanco's high school coach warned me about the baggage he was coming in with. Before I watched Blanco play for the first time on campus, his high school coach called and shared a very detailed assessment about his game and personality. He said a lot of great things about him, but also let me know very frankly that he had some issues that may interfere with his overall success. One afternoon I walked into the gym to see if the guys were in there working on some aspect of their game, and as expected nobody was on the court. Blanco happened to be sitting on a sofa right outside the gym. Something was visibly on his his mind, so we went to my office to chat.

Me: You seem down. What's wrong??
Blanco: (tears forming) My AAU coach... He's dying of cancer.
Me: Oh man. I'm so sorry to hear that. How do you know he's dying??
Blanco: He told me his doctor said he ain't have much time. I always thought he was gonna get better. That man's the only dad I know.
Me: Dad? What do you mean? You don't have a relationship with your dad?
Blanco: (sobbing) Naw. I actually finally got to meet him this summer. I went down South to meet him and expected it to be cool, you know.. meeting my dad for the first time.
Me: And it wasn't?
Blanco: He acted like I wasn't even there. I've never did anything to him. He barely talked to me. Most the time he was wit his girl. This AAU coach been more of a dad for me than my own father ever was...

*** I sat there and let him cry because he needed to. He was obviously hit hard by this snub from his father.

I had a sense that Blanco's family issues ran deep. When he came up to play ball during the summer, his mother would sit silently in a corner every time. She'd never utter a word. He'd play for an hour and a half--sometimes even longer, while his mother just sat there. I thought this was weird because I know for damn sure my mother would've said something after the second game. I'd have three games to play. Tops! It was clear that he was the man of his home.

My spidey senses were raging. I knew it was just a matter of time before he balked at the male figure who wouldn't let him have his way as a first year player with unrealistic hoop dreams.