“If you can play, they’ll find you.”
It’s the exact statement that my father would always say to me in high school. See, I attended a VERY small Christian school where college coaches weren’t exactly lining up at the door of our basketball games. As a matter of fact, I graduated with only 16 people in my class.
My goal had always been to play Division 1 basketball, but because of where I was at, I was concerned that no college would ever find me. My plea with my parents to allow me to transfer to the bigger schools in Lawton fell on deaf ears. I had played well my first two years of high school but heading into my junior year, I knew that it was time to make my mark. AAU basketball was on the rise at the time and I knew that if I could play with a team, I would gain more exposure. The only problem was that it was becoming increasingly expensive. When I spoke to my father about it, he surprisingly agreed to let me do it, under one condition – I had to pay for it.
I had been working every summer since I was 13 and had saved up a good amount. So, the question loomed, How bad do I want this? The answer was easy, “bad.”
With the approval of my dad and an eagerness to be seen, I started exploring my options to play summer ball. There were teams in my hometown I could have played with but something attracted me to playing with teams in Oklahoma City. OKC was a little more than an hour away from where I lived. I knew I would be investing major time if I went that route. So when, Coach Samuelton of the OKC Trotters contacted my dad to see if I was interested in playing, I was excited. My dad and I would drive over two hours back and forth each week to practice. I didn’t know if it was going to pay off in the end but I was willing to do everything to make sure it did; and then came the Great American Shootout in Denton, Texas.
Sometimes, it only takes one opportunity to change the course of your life. That opportunity for me was the GAS. I went into the tournament confident and ready to prove that I could play at the next level. At 6’1, 150lbs, I wasn’t exactly a dominating figure but God definitely had his hand on me as I played the tournament of a lifetime. When the tourney was over and we drove back to Oklahoma, I couldn’t wait to see what was in store. A couple of weeks later, the phone at my house began to ring off the hook. In a matter of weeks, my life had changed from a young boy with a dream to a young boy on his way to living out that dream. In total, I received over 30 full-ride scholarship offers from Division 1 programs. The feeling was surreal. I would be in class and they would call me over the loud speaker to come to the school office. Each time, it would be a different college coach recruiting me to their program. Coaches were flying in and coming to my small school to meet with me and my parents. My father would ask all the questions about style of play, playing time, etc. My mother, however, wanted to know how they would take care of me and be sure that I would remain the same young man under their leadership. It was a great time for us all. After months of deliberation, and meeting with coaches all across the country, I decided to attend a private college in Des Moines, Iowa – Drake University.
When I travel around the country with the Josh Young Skills Camp, these stories usually come up in the Q&A segment with the kids. This is what I tell them about my story. My dream of playing college basketball was made a reality for one major reason: I worked extremely hard. My father was my basketball coach and I credit much of my success to him. He pushed me to my limits and helped me unlock my potential in the game of basketball. Whether it was waking up at 6am to run through the neighborhood, or getting to the gym before school started to practice, or shooting on my goal outside, I was constantly honing my craft. If you ask my neighbors from my high school years, there probably wasn’t a day that they didn’t see me outside on my basketball hoop. Mix that with the fact that many people didn’t think that I had what it took to play at the next level and you can understand my motivation. I heard often that I was too small to play. I valued my opportunity to play summer basketball so much because, well, I was paying for it. When you have to work for things in life, you tend to value them more. I knew that the opportunity was precious.
I say all of that to say this, no matter what you want to do in life, if you are willing to put in the work to succeed, you can do it. The opinions of other people are irrelevant in your pursuit of your passion. The blessings, relationships, and opportunity that has stemmed from my basketball career have been unreal. I thank God for allowing me to still be able to pursue my passion and offer inspiration to others along the way. No matter what your passion is, pursue it relentlessly. Don’t allow doubt or fear to keep you from doing great things. Understanding your passion is so important because it leads you down the path of purpose. When we operate in purpose, it won’t only bless our life, it will also bless the lives of those around us.
Connect with Josh Young via Twitter at @ForeverJAYoung and on LinkedIn
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