September 08, 2011

Coach Surprises 5-Foot-4 Guard with Scholarship: During practice Tuesday, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay guard Eric Valentin caught some hell from coach Brian Wardle for spending so much time working at a job over the summer instead of focusing on basketball -- then he revealed Valentin had earned a full scholarship. "I'm playing the wrong sport," Valentin said. "It's amazing to see the hard work pay off." He set a world record by making eight half-court shots in a minute.

posted by rcade to basketball at 05:08 PM - 4 comments

Great post. Coach wore me out ripping Valentin before the big moment even though I knew what was coming.

That kid seems like he's too good an individual to put through even 30 seconds of fake hell like that. I was relieved when he finally got the ticket.

I need an all-weather keyboard for stories like that.

posted by beaverboard at 05:52 PM on September 08, 2011

Sounds like that kid deserved the scholarship. I think the coach played him a little but nothing too bad. He was more building him up than ripping him down it seemed to me. Either way, good story.

posted by pettym at 05:02 PM on September 09, 2011

I need an all-weather keyboard for stories like that.

I hear ya.

posted by outonleave at 06:24 PM on September 09, 2011

The kids from Oveido, Florida--I know two other people from that suburb of Orlando. One is my little brother in my fraternity, who, of course, is a great person. The other is Ronnie Murphy, who went to Jacksonville University (my alma mater), then was drafted by the Trail Blazers in the first round, I think, in 1988 or maybe 87. Murphy was a jerk and didn't last very long in the NBA. It's nice to know that this guy seems to be more like my lil bro than Murph.

posted by jagsnumberone at 03:05 AM on September 10, 2011

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