“Hopefully, that school down the road calls you.”
The statement that forecasted the past 5-6 years of my life and I wouldn’t have known it until now. As a young boy growing up in Kentucky, everyone has a dream to be a Kentucky Wildcat at some point. Whether it is football or basketball, there is always a moment in your childhood where you imagine what it would be like. For me, that moment came and went. I had the dream to be in the place that would love me like I love it. A place that allowed me to blossom like I did in my home life and in my hometown. My ultimate goal growing up was to find a school that could pour into me the same way that I planned on pouring into them.
My mom, just like most parents, wanted me to go someplace where I was going to get a great education and where she knew that her first baby boy was going to be taken care of. She’s the same mother who also told me growing up that she was going to move wherever her boys went, so she never had to be apart from us. My brother and I are super lucky to have a mother like her. She was instrumental in keeping my eyes ahead on my journey and on making the best decision for me. So, I decided to ultimately look for the place that met her list of requirements as well. The special thing about my journey was that I had a village who instilled the proper values in me to make the right decision for me. I wasn’t concerned with making the flashiest decision or the decision that was going to get me the most clout. I wanted a place that reminded me of home. The school I ended up at was the school that I wanted to remind me of my parents. The value of hard work and dedication that my mom and dad instilled in me was what I wanted to see on the campus and within the program. The unconditional love and support that I saw from my mom was what I wanted to see from the campus and from the program.
As my high school career unfolded, I was fortunate enough to see so much success and from that success came attention. I was being pursued by so many great programs and coaching staffs that it was easy for me to lose sight of that vision. When you’re being recruited, you are always shown what you want to see, told what you want to hear, and treated like you expect to be treated. The reality that a lot of kids don’t learn until after it’s too late is that it’s easy to create a pretty image, but it’s hard to maintain it. That day visit or weekend official visit is set up to cater to you completely. They want you to feel at home. I was very lucky to take all 5 of my officials and eat all the food I wanted. The special part about it for me was that I got to experience most of these visits with my mom. I got to see how they made her feel and how they talked to and respected her. We would always have our real talks after we got on that drive or plane ride home. She would spill to me what she really thought and that always meant so much to me because I learned from an early age that your mother is almost always right! Even when I didn’t like it, she always kept it real and told me the truth. Little did I know how much that would play a factor down the road.
Fast forward to the spring of my junior year, I get a text from a living legend from where I grew up, A.W. Hamilton. I texted him congratulating him the day he got hired at Eastern Kentucky University and he responds back with “I appreciate you!!! I know you’re gonna end up going higher but I’m still offering you a scholarship! I’ll be in to see you soon.” Looking back on that now, it’s funny to think about how this all ended up. I spent a lot of nights praying for God to send me a sign of the right opportunity falling into place for me. I was just hoping he would place it there and I would go get it. At the time of that text, I always had the idea that I was going to play away from home and start a whole new journey on my own. Looking back, I wish I would have made it simpler on myself from the jump. We all would have liked that, probably! From that moment on, the trail stayed consistent. He kept the message the same from the jump. He was going to love on me and take care of me, but he was never going to lie to me, and he wasn’t going to allow me to take the easy route. He and his staff were very persistent when it came to me. They put out the “full-court press”, which is ironic considering the style we play.
Fast forward to my senior year, I break my foot. I miss 18 games. Most schools run away at that point. Not A.W. Hamilton. Not EKU. If anything, they loved me more. They made it clear that I was their guy no matter what. They even came to a game of mine while I was still hurt just to see me. There goes that unconditional love and support I had been searching for. I had been down to numerous games throughout the year and each time, I had witnessed a level of effort and competitiveness that I knew would match my standards. The final sign God had sent me was in the spring of my senior year. My church pastor had announced that they were planting a church campus in Richmond of all places. God couldn’t have made it more obvious for me. I ultimately decided that EKU was the place for me and made that decision in May of my senior year. This allowed me to be that presence in my younger brother’s life that I was so scared to not be from a distance. It also allowed my mom to stay right at home. (Although, she did look at houses in Richmond for about a week after I signed just to show me that she wasn’t going anywhere, LOL.)
I was able to come to a place where my family could be in the stands every night. As a now 22-year old, I am able to see just how special it is for my family to be there. I am also able to see now that family extends far beyond the household. I have built relationships here with people that I would consider my family. All my teammates turned to brothers and all the beloved faithful fans that have supported me throughout my 4 years here. I am so grateful to have found a place that truly loves me and has impacted me in ways far greater than I could ever impact it. I spent a lot of time searching for the place that felt like home. Not a lot of people are lucky enough to find a true home away from home. I have been one of the lucky ones. Lucky is honestly an understatement. This place has taught me more than I could have ever imagined.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a place like Kentucky and as time goes on, I have realized there is definitely no place like home. Lucky enough for me, my home is and always has been here. So, with that statement I started with, “the school down the road” did end up calling me and gave me a chance to reach my dreams. That school just happens to be off of I-75, exit 87. While it may be a bit further down the road than that person was talking about, they technically were right the whole time.