LLPOH: A Young Man I Know

I often talk about my belief that hard-work, education, thrift/delayed gratification, perseverance, honesty, and trustworthiness are the keys to long-term success. I believe that young people with these characteristics can be successful even in today’s economy. I am frequently howled down by naysayers.

I want to tell a story about a young man I know. This young man decided 4 years ago to abandon a promising individual athletic career to take up a team sport, as he missed the camaraderie of a team sport. He also decided that his goal was to play NCAA basketball. Now, given that this young man had no basketball experience whatsoever – he could not dribble a basketball, much less shoot, defend, pass, etc. – this was a lofty goal indeed. Although the young man was athletically talented, he was not Lebron James, and he was not seven feet tall, and so his chances of playing NCAA basketball would ultimately be determined by his skill level.

The young man’s father, who had reasonable basketball experience, began to show the young man how to dribble. He showed him how to shoot, and demanded the young man learn proper techniques right from the start. There were squabbles, but the young man had serious goals, and ultimately was convinced to do what was asked rather than fight the father.

The father and son sought out advice with respect to what had to be done for the young man to achieve his goals. They were told straight forward that the odds of getting a NCAA basketball scholarship is miniscule – perhaps 3 percent of all high school players get a scholarship of any kind, and perhaps half that get a full scholarship. They were advised that in addition to being a great player, the player would markedly increase their chances of being selected for a scholarship if they were excellent students – coaches want players they can rely on to stay academically eligible, and the demands of NCAA athletics are extreme. The coaches need to know that the players can handle the athletic and the basketball workload.

The young man began practicing every day. He would rise early and practice. He would practice after school, and then he would study. He would do the same on weekends. He strictly controlled time spent with friends, and he was very selective of his friends. He sought out friends that had serious goals in life. He never drank or stayed out late. He practiced, he studied, and he held down a part-time job, and he spent time with friends wisely.

One day when he was practicing early at a local court, he was noticed by an older man. The older man asked him if he wanted to practice with a group he was coaching. It turned out the older man was an ex-NBA point guard. The young man was thrilled at the opportunity, and began to practice with this coach, and has continued to do so since. He has become a favourite of this coach, as he has never wavered from his goals.

The young man tried out for the basketball team, and scraped into the freshman team. The following year he made the varsity squad, and began to see a lot of the court. By the junior year he was starting.

Then disaster struck. He suffered a serious injury, and was out the entire year. He went through months of painful rehab. His therapist said that the pain he was suffering was terrible, and that few of his patients ever managed to put themselves through that rehab program. The therapist said he himself quit his sport after suffering a similar injury, as he was unwilling to go through the necessary rehab. The therapist further stated of the two or three other patients he had had that had gone through the rehab, one became an Olympian, and the others professionals. The point the therapist made was that athletes get injured, and if you want to become elite, you must persevere through injury.

And so the young man persevered, and he overcame. And he resumed basketball as a senior, and continued his pursuit of a scholarship.

And lo and behold, NCAA coaches were interested. Lots of them were interested. They loved that he was a good student. The young man feared that when they found out about his previous injury, they would be too scared to recruit him. But – surprise! – they were virtually overjoyed to find out about that. They loved that he had persevered and overcame the injury. They all had stories about their own injuries, and they could relate. They loved his references from his coaches and teachers. They loved that they could see how he had progressed year to year.

Scholarship offers began to come in. The young man was never going to play for Kentucky or Duke or Kansas, as he was not in that league. But he had offers – lots of offers – to good schools with good coaches and high character teammates. He began to narrow his choices, and he was honest with the coaches of schools that were not in serious running as he felt that was the right thing to do, and he was polite and respectfully in doing so. Almost every one of the coaches responded to his honesty by saying if he were to change his mind, please contact them immediately as they would still be very interested in him if things changed. Ultimately, he verbally committed to a school, and stood by that commitment in the face of efforts by other coaches to pull him away.

And now he has a letter of intent in hand which he will sign in two days. It is for a full NCAA scholarship to a private school, and it is worth around $200,000. The money is not the biggest issue for him – the real issue is the scholarship places him on the team. No scholarship means no position on the team. His family is, however, overjoyed that they do not have to pay for his college, as you can well imagine.

And so, this young man’s story so far is about hard-work, dedication, valuing education, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and delayed gratification. These characteristics have paid off handsomely for the young man. This young man had some advantages that other young do not. For instance, he was born into a family that valued hard-work and education, and preached honesty and integrity at him non-stop. Both of his parents were totally committed to helping him achieve his goals. They required his total commitment in return. They provided guidance during dark hours, and cheered during the good times. They were able to provide financial assistance where needed for camps and coaching.

Nonetheless, what this young man accomplished was stunning – he overcame monumental odds, and accomplished a goal that looked impossible. Four years ago he stated that he wanted to play NCAA basketball, and he could not dribble a basketball. All he had was above average athletic talent, a goal, and self-belief. He surrounded himself with good friends, he accepted advice from folks that had experience and knowledge, he put that advice into practice every day, and he never, ever gave up.

I say again – there are things that young people can do that will increase their chances of success. These things include hard-work, getting a good education, being honest and having integrity, never giving up, and being prepared to delay gratification in order to accomplish something significant.

By the way, his parents are enormously proud of this young man.