Week 5 Reading Post

This week I read Walk-On by Alan Williams for 45 minutes.
(start at bottom)

The time came for the team picture. The General had "forgotten" to give the two walk-on players jerseys. Coach arrived and asked where Alan and Matt, the two walk-on players, were. Coach approached Alan and Matt and asked them how long it would to go home and put on a shirt and tie. He waited. By holding up the picture for walk-on players, Coach dared to be different no matter what others thought.

It was a particularly rough day for Alan. An unpleasant encounter with the General and the physical and mental aspects of balancing academics and basketball were really taking a toll. He remebered that his grandfather used to say that everything was in God's hands. He, however, could not see God's hand in this. After soul searching, he realized that God put him in this new enviroment to make him more dependent on Him through prayer. God's hand was in it after all.

After a day of conditioning, the equipment manager, the General, handed out new Nike travel bags. The General didn't like walk-ons. After showering with the team, Alan came back to his locker to find a travel bag waiting for him. Instead of a #20, his number, it had a #4, Robert O'Kelley's number. Robert O'Kelley was always a true friend and always had his back.

The summer before his freshman year called Robert O'Kelley, the star of Wake Forest, to workout before his first year of college basketball. Robert O'Kelley took him under his wing and helped him to prepare for college ball.

The summer after his sophomor year of high school, Alan attended Howard Garfinkle's Five Star Basketball Camp. Garf, as he is known, saw Alan's midrange game, which he needed because he was only 6'2", and told him to come back the next summer. Garf promised him that there would be a place for him at a good school. Garf even put in a good word for him with Wake Forest's coach, the school he dreamed to play for, which earned him a spot as a walk-on at Wake. The coach who he had signed with resigned after his freshman year. Garf continued to keep his promise and told the new coach to trust him and keep Alan on the team. Garf truly was on his side.

Totals: 36 Hours and 57 minutes/ 1516 pages