No. 1. For The Love Of The Game!

I remember sharpening my basketball skills, as a kid, on the West-Side of Chicago, with my Uncle and little brother! It was not a place for softies! We played with real thugs and real killers! And if you or your game was not real, then you couldn't come around, because those wolves would eat you alive! Straight up! One day my Uncle, Rob, my little brother Russ, and me, were out on the court, playing a physical game against a team of Vice-Lords, with some of there gang members sitting on the sidelines, watching! Something had happen and the next thing I know, my Uncle and brother were pushing and shoving with these cats! Suddenly, we were surrounded by these dudes, and they were ready to jump on us, over a basketball game, that none of us were getting paid to play! The way my uncle and brother was shouting at these cats, you would have thought we had a gang behind us! They were acting like the three of us made up a gang, but fighting against 10 other cats, I thought we certainly needed more people to join up with us! God must have been watching us that day, because cooler heads prevailed! We even keep playing the game, and eventually won! It was the first time my love for the game was truly tested, because I was a nervous cat, back in the day, but I wasn't going to let some gang bangers scare me away from doing my thing on the basketball court! We was back out there the next week, getting it in, Live!

I also remember playing ball, on those hot summer afternoons, at 10Th Park, in Maywood! That was real competition, Son! By the time I got to high school, my game was for real! That said, I still had to get to park by like 4:00 P.M., to make sure I had a spot on the court! It was still hot as hell outside, at that time of day, but that was right around the time they started picking teams for full-court play! The real ballers played on the center court, and all the area high school super-stars would start showing up as soon as the sun would start going down! Showing up to the park early always gave me a good chance to be on the court by the time the real ballers got there! I could usually get in about 4 or 5 good games, before finally loosing a game! Once you lost, you basically were done for the day, because it would be about 4 or 5 games before you had another chance to get back on the court, to play again! But when you were young, you could play 3 or 4 times at 3 or 4 different courts, like everyday! You could go to 9Th Park at the Recreation Center! Or Winfield Park off of 17th Ave. You could also get good runs in over in Bellwood at Memorial Park! Where ever the ballers were at, that's were I was at! Back then, life was all about basketball! Those were the days, straight up and down! In the Summers, we would play basketball all day and never get tired! Must have been for the love of the game!

I remember when I moved from high school basketball to college basketball! It was different! In high school, you could use pure skill and talent to beat cats on the basketball court! Most of the time, my high school team was just completely head and shoulders better than almost anybody we faced! In college, everybody just about had the same talents and skills. So you couldn't just use that to beat the competition, because everybody was just as strong and fast as you were! In college, you had to out think cats, to win on the basketball court! My college team was not that good at out thinking teams! But college basketball was crazy! Your skill level would make leaps and bounds in just one season! It was so much more than just basketball, when you play in college! You have to eat right, sleep right, hit the weight room, watch video tape, study notes, and even take tests! You first step on the basketball court, in college, and you think it's still just about basketball, and for the first time in your basketball career, you are lost! But I loved the challenge of learning more about the game! Making my body stronger and developing my skills! By the end of the season, you could hold your own and see the dramatic changes in your game! It was a lot of hard work! But it all paid off! It must have been the love for the game!

When it comes to basketball, I've done a lot! I plan to do a lot more! In the near future, I'll be looking to open my first basketball complex! With Premiere Hoops, my goal is to make all ball players, hoop dreams come true! Players will be able to come to a place, that will focus on basketball services, that will make everyone feel like a professional ball player! Once we open our doors, it should be a major love fest! Till then, players can start showing their love for the game, right now, with the Premiere Hoops Invitation! A basketball tournament that will take you back to your college days! It's going to be crazy! We'll follow that up with our NBA-style Summer and Fall leagues! When all that is said and done, the final touches should be in place, for us to break ground on the basketball complex! This has been a journey that has started over 15 years ago, back in college, when God gave me a vision to do something real big with basketball! I'm headed towards the end of my competitive basketball playing days, but I still plan to put in major work, for sometime to come! I love the game of basketball, and I plan to play this game for as long as I can! You should too!