I had dreams with the game of basketball. I had bigger visions than just college basketball. I thought that I would go on to play pro some day, but while attending school I didn’t get the proper care that I needed and eventually I ended up having to have knee surgery. Surgery didn’t go well the first time and I had to have another surgery which caused me to go into depression during my time at Western Kentucky University. I can remember how every game that I played in at WKU I was in severe pain, but I didn’t want to stop playing even though I still had one year of eligibility left. Besides the knee pain, I was also depressed and was also in a really dark place, and so I took a 2 month break after graduating from Western. It was during this time when I got a call from a coach at Union College in Jackson, Tennessee. After getting to know him as well as his purpose for utilizing me on his team, I decided to go to attend in the middle of the season (Christmas time), working on my Masters while playing for the team. Going there was more than just basketball and school, it was a place where I was able to heal mentally. It also was the place where I found God. In fact, it was there at Union where my Coach baptized me. I realized that everything that I had gone through had made me stronger and that “You are not what has happened to you. What happened to you was only molding you into the person you were destined to be.” I not only found myself again, but I was also no longer aligning my identity as a basketball player but more as a child of God. If I didn’t go through what I went through I may not be who I am today and may not have ever understood the bigger picture of a sport. It was rough, but if you keep striving, you will always overcome your adversity. Believe in God and trust him through everything you’re going through. This final year of playing basketball and learning about God has encouraged me to write my book called More Than Just a Game: Overcoming Adversity.

My Advice

If there is something that you really want to do in life. Go for it. You will go through things that are uncomfortable, confusing, heartbreaks and much adversity. But when you love something, you will go through those things in order to get it, right?

But I will say this. With anything in life, make sure you know who you are! Don’t ever let anyone tell you who you are. Always have a “why”… because when things get tough, you’re going to need to remember your “why.”