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I started hoopin at 14, to get out of the house when sh*t got heated, and almost 17 years later I'm still loving it more everyday. The street is where I started, where my love began, and where I developed my initial flair. I tried out for the HS team and got cut my junior and senior year (growing up in the middle of Indiana with a street handle and love for showmanship gets you dropped quick...fundamentals, boy!!) But I still hooped every single day, and worked out harder than anybody on the team. I also collected some trophies from YMCA and church leagues. Right after HS I got into an allstar camp, where I was still shy about letting my game out, but managed to play against some quality comp, like Glendon Alexander, along with Ricky Davis' team...I think we beat 'em by 15, but dude's hops were crazy even as a junior in HS. After a year or 2 and a couple more allstar/shooting camps, I ended up at Vincennes University in IN. I wasn't on the squad (it was like the Duke of juco's, they have like 3-4 cats in the L right now, plus legends like Bob McAdoo) but I got to play against cats like Shawn Marion, Kendell Dartez(U of Louisville), Aaron McGhee(Oklahoma), Cameron Stephens, Delonte Holland (DePaul), and quite a few other major D1 players (and I got to see Shawn and Steve Francis go at it in person...yessir!!) Once again, not being on the squad didn't deter me. If I wasn't in class or sleeping, I was on the courts. And yes, I killed it. I made cats fall, roll ankles, limpin for a week, come out their shoes, etc. Dudes I didn't even know were coming up to me after games offering to pay me if I showed 'em how to do my ish. (My dumb ass just said, "Uhhh...just practice man"...shoulda took the $$) After one of the asst. coaches saw me play, he got me on the team at Purdue North Central, a small NAIA school. I was still in the "streetball or nothing" mentality though, and after getting benched 8 seconds into the 1st game of the season, I dropped out and moved back in with moms. Kicking it in SMALL town Michigan, with a serious hoop-jones, is like dropping a fat kid in lettuce-land....you're gonna lose it. So after a quick trip to Indiana and back again, I finally made it about 30 minutes North (not the direction I wanna be going) to Oscoda. There may be more people hooping here than where I was, but it's still NOTHING compared to what I'm used to. This quiet time has allowed my game and my mentality to mature. Now the good news keeps rolling in, cuz me and my girl just found out that we're moving to Tennessee, right outside of Nashville...to real civilization again. It's been fun ballin' up here, but I can't wait to get back into the thick of things again, back to REAL, COMPETITIVE ASS BALL. I may be coming up on 31 (november 22nd) but best believe I work out as hard and eat as clean as humanly possible...nobody believes I'm over 21 when they see me or my game...so don't sleep, cuz anyone can get it!! State to state, home or away, it's ball above all!!!!
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thanks for the add.