Remembering My Basketball Career

I played basketball for the first time in about a month yesterday. Oh, the memories.
Basketball was pretty much my life through high school. God, family, school, basketball/piano. That's how my priorities were lined up. I played basketball so much. Especially my senior year, I lived and breathed basketball.
As I played yesterday, so many thoughts went through my head. All the good times, all the bad times I've had throughout my basketball career. I relived every moment of my time as a basketball player.
I remembered 8th grade, going through tryouts, going from the kid that was the last player to make the team, to playing the minimum 4 minutes in my first game, to starting the last two games of the season, to MVP of my 8th grade team.
I remembered my freshman year, as a tall skinny kid that a stiff breeze could knock over. I remembered having the ugliest shot in the world. I remembered going undefeated at home. I remembered looking up to Mitch Davis, the star of our varsity team, and thinking that's the kind of player I wanted to become. I remembered winning the district championship and the joy that came with that as the first freshman boy basketball team to win a district championship.
I remembered my sophomore year, still a tall skinny kid, but with a much better shot. I remembered being named team captain, and then having that taken away because I got a concussion. I remembered fracturing my ankle, and then my first game back, trying to dunk the ball and failing miserably. I remembered the plays that were called so that I could shoot the 3 when very few people knew I could shoot that. I remembered the game at Coronado, hitting the game winning shot at the buzzer over Marco. I remembered going into overtime against Montwood, scoring 27 points, but ultimately losing because I fouled out. I remembered messing up a bone in my left foot, having to play half the season with a messed up foot and never telling anyone. I remembered being bumped up to varsity, going to the playoffs with them, having to beat Coronado to get in the playoffs, then going on to the third round, which defied all odds, and ultimately losing to Willie Warren and North Crowley, the eventual state champions.
I remembered my junior year, and the hell that it was. I remembered the constant abuse that I got from a teammate. I remembered every punch he threw at me, every time he spit in my face, every time he denied me water, every cuss word he used to bring me down. I remembered strongly considering quitting basketball because of this. I remembered sticking through it, despite the continuing abuse every practice. I remembered playing against Andress despite suffering from heat exhaustion. I remembered going to Lubbock and being unable to play one game because of food poisoning. I remembered having the game changing block against Hanks. I remembered every free throw I made, going 87% from the line. I remembered going to the playoffs, losing to Midland High, being overpowered by taller and better athletes, but giving everything I had, everything I had. I remembered receiving Honorable Mention All-District.
I remembered the off-season before my senior year. I remembered all the doubters, saying that I could never do it because I was too skinny, I was not an athlete. I remembered taking every opportunity I could to be in the gym, in the weight room. I remembered all the hate I had against my teammate for what he had done last season, which inspired me to work harder. I remembered all the tournaments we entered, all the points I started scoring against good teams. I remembered the Southwest Shootout, scoring 24 points against Albuquerque Granger, one of the top teams in New Mexico, and going on to average a double-double in the tournament.  I remembered never playing on Sunday in any of the tournaments because of my religious convictions. I remembered every open gym I went to. I remembered the concussion I got that really messed me up. I remembered spending hours with my teammates working on stuff when everyone else was at home not practicing.
I remembered my senior year. I remembered the disrespect our team got from the media. I remembered winning our first seven games handily. I remembered being named tournament MVP in the Americas tournament. I remembered going to Dallas, walking into the gym against Denton Guyer, how they laughed as we walked in the gym because of the way we looked, and then beating them by 23. I remembered being named All-Tournament Team in the Dallas tournament. I remembered losing to Austin because I missed a lay-up at the buzzer. I remembered being named All-Tournament in the Mountain View tournament. I remembered going through district play, winning some losing some. I remembered spraining my right foot, then spraining the same foot, again and again, finally having 4 sprains in my foot, and playing with 4 sprains in my foot for 13 games. I remembered the media continuing to doubt us. I remembered being undefeated at home. I remembered being the first varsity boy's basketball team to win an outright district championship. I remembered the lack of respect we got from the media despite what we'd done. I remembered all the college coaches dropping me because I was Mormon and going on a mission, because I was a center but should've been a forward. I remembered going to the playoffs against Permian, walking into the gym to their dunk show, and then beating them by 17. I remembered our next playoff game against Haltom, having a really good game, going into overtime, and beating them by 2. I remembered our playoff game against North Crowley, the #2 team in the state, going up by 13 against them, giving our heart and our soul to that game, but losing that game by 4. I remembered the heartbreak that came with that loss, knowing that my high school career had ended. I remembered the accolades I was given, All-City First Team, District MVP, All-Region First Team, Academic All-State. I remembered passing on the all-star tournament because it was on a Sunday. I remembered all the boys on that team, all the seniors that had been through so much over 4 years.
I remembered training for BYU tryouts. I remembered spending 4-5 hours a day, practicing, lifting, working with trainers. I remembered the weight I put on, the muscle I started gaining. I remembered thinking I had a great opportunity at hand.
I remembered BYU tryouts. I remembered making the first cut, the second cut, and the final cut.
I remembered being on the practice squad for a week. I remembered playing against Jimmer, Jackson, Brandon. I remembered giving my heart and soul every practice. I remembered the plays I had to learn. I remembered all the drills we ran. I remembered all the good things I did, hitting a three over Noah, blocking Brandon, trying to dunk over Kyle.
Then I remembered getting cut.
And thus ended my basketball career.

Hopefully, it will continue in a couple of year. But for now, it's over.
My friends, God bless.