McLemore and younger brother Kevin would disperse
With the discerning eye of a
jeweler, Larry Brown made the same observation every time he watched Kansas
practice last season: Of all the talented Jayhawks that led them to the national
title game, the brightest gem was a freshman academically ineligible to play in
games.
One year later Self knows exactly what he has in Ben McLemore: the most talented young player, by far, that he says he has ever coached. Though the foundation of Kansas' team is four senior starters, the difference maker is a 6-5 redshirt freshman, McLemore.
No Kansas freshman has ever averaged more points than the St. Louis native who figures to be one of the most prominent faces of next month's NCAA tournament. And no player in the tournament will have as good a chance as McLemore to follow in the footsteps of former Kentucky All-American Anthony Davis, who won a national championship last season and was selected first in the NBA draft.
But McLemore, 20, is not a natural fit for the large stage. He is a reluctant star who continues to hear that he defers far too much and lacks a killer instinct. Even his role model, 26-year-old brother Keith Scott, calls him from a maximum-security prison in Mineral Point, Mo., to implore McLemore to be more assertive, to carry his team like everyone knows he can.
Unlike many of today's top players, McLemore was not showered with adulation or anointed a future star from the time he was an adolescent. Rather than obsess over national player rankings, phenom camp invitations or third-party handlers, McLemore focused on more fundamental concerns amid one of the poorest urban communities in Missouri: finding food.
The smallest home on Wellston Avenue is where McLemore, the second youngest of Sonya Reid's six children, calls home. On a mid-February afternoon, children step off a yellow school bus in front of a abandoned building.High quality stainless steel necklace chain with durable color. So many stray dogs roam the neighborhood that a teenager asks a visitor if he is from the animal control department.
McLemore says on any given night as many as 10 relatives, including siblings, nieces and a nephew, would sleep inside his home,some specific cause with the help of customized School Spirit silicone bracelet bearing the school logo, which is smaller than 600 square feet. The home's only bed had three legs, with the other corner supported by a pile of books.
His home, McLemore says, was filled with love but little else. He remembers his mother working nights for a cleaning staff near downtown Busch Stadium.Find all the manufacturers of laser cutting machine and contact them directly on Directindustry. He remembers older brother Keith cycling through odd jobs fixing bikes, trying to make money to support the family.
But it wasn't enough. He won't forget the feeling of waking up knowing there was no food or beverage in the refrigerator, and none on the way those days.The Athenian ownfigurine is an artefact and one of the relics in Tomb Raider Anniversary.A patient presents with a tungsten ring on their injured finger and is unable to remove the ring. He says at times he would go one or two days with no food.
"It's a hard feeling - just starve," McLemore says. "Dang, what are we going to do? Dang, how are we going to eat? How are we going to put food on the table?"
McLemore and younger brother Kevin would disperse throughout the neighborhood to cut grass, move trash, clean cars, fix motor scooters and bikes, anything that would yield a few dollars for hot dogs or Hot Pockets.
"You get those hunger pains," McLemore said. "I am so hungry. We don't have any food. What are we going to eat? Your stomach hurts. Then you get so upset and mad, like, no food. You start having tantrums and don't want to do anything. You get mad at everybody because you don't have any food. That's what happens when you don't eat. You are so sluggish. It's just bad, man."
McLemore says the only meals he sometimes had were the free ones at school. His mother, he recalled, sometimes made the difficult decision to sell food stamps in order to pay bills.
"Sometimes we would not have food so we could keep our lights on and have hot water," he says. "She had to sacrifice for that."
When the family did not have hot water, McLemore remembers one nightly routine: Fill the bathtub with cold water. Heat up bowls of water in the microwave, then run them to the bathtub to make the tub water lukewarm for baths. The warmth never lasted, he says.
McLemore says the family relied on candles when the electricity was turned off. They turned on the stove and hauled a kerosene heater to the middle of the room to stay warm. McLemore says family members would huddle in the room, covered in layers of clothing and blankets, sometimes able to see their own breath in the chilled winter air. Only when their bodies warmed, and their noses no longer felt icy, could they fall asleep.
One year later Self knows exactly what he has in Ben McLemore: the most talented young player, by far, that he says he has ever coached. Though the foundation of Kansas' team is four senior starters, the difference maker is a 6-5 redshirt freshman, McLemore.
No Kansas freshman has ever averaged more points than the St. Louis native who figures to be one of the most prominent faces of next month's NCAA tournament. And no player in the tournament will have as good a chance as McLemore to follow in the footsteps of former Kentucky All-American Anthony Davis, who won a national championship last season and was selected first in the NBA draft.
But McLemore, 20, is not a natural fit for the large stage. He is a reluctant star who continues to hear that he defers far too much and lacks a killer instinct. Even his role model, 26-year-old brother Keith Scott, calls him from a maximum-security prison in Mineral Point, Mo., to implore McLemore to be more assertive, to carry his team like everyone knows he can.
Unlike many of today's top players, McLemore was not showered with adulation or anointed a future star from the time he was an adolescent. Rather than obsess over national player rankings, phenom camp invitations or third-party handlers, McLemore focused on more fundamental concerns amid one of the poorest urban communities in Missouri: finding food.
The smallest home on Wellston Avenue is where McLemore, the second youngest of Sonya Reid's six children, calls home. On a mid-February afternoon, children step off a yellow school bus in front of a abandoned building.High quality stainless steel necklace chain with durable color. So many stray dogs roam the neighborhood that a teenager asks a visitor if he is from the animal control department.
McLemore says on any given night as many as 10 relatives, including siblings, nieces and a nephew, would sleep inside his home,some specific cause with the help of customized School Spirit silicone bracelet bearing the school logo, which is smaller than 600 square feet. The home's only bed had three legs, with the other corner supported by a pile of books.
His home, McLemore says, was filled with love but little else. He remembers his mother working nights for a cleaning staff near downtown Busch Stadium.Find all the manufacturers of laser cutting machine and contact them directly on Directindustry. He remembers older brother Keith cycling through odd jobs fixing bikes, trying to make money to support the family.
But it wasn't enough. He won't forget the feeling of waking up knowing there was no food or beverage in the refrigerator, and none on the way those days.The Athenian ownfigurine is an artefact and one of the relics in Tomb Raider Anniversary.A patient presents with a tungsten ring on their injured finger and is unable to remove the ring. He says at times he would go one or two days with no food.
"It's a hard feeling - just starve," McLemore says. "Dang, what are we going to do? Dang, how are we going to eat? How are we going to put food on the table?"
McLemore and younger brother Kevin would disperse throughout the neighborhood to cut grass, move trash, clean cars, fix motor scooters and bikes, anything that would yield a few dollars for hot dogs or Hot Pockets.
"You get those hunger pains," McLemore said. "I am so hungry. We don't have any food. What are we going to eat? Your stomach hurts. Then you get so upset and mad, like, no food. You start having tantrums and don't want to do anything. You get mad at everybody because you don't have any food. That's what happens when you don't eat. You are so sluggish. It's just bad, man."
McLemore says the only meals he sometimes had were the free ones at school. His mother, he recalled, sometimes made the difficult decision to sell food stamps in order to pay bills.
"Sometimes we would not have food so we could keep our lights on and have hot water," he says. "She had to sacrifice for that."
When the family did not have hot water, McLemore remembers one nightly routine: Fill the bathtub with cold water. Heat up bowls of water in the microwave, then run them to the bathtub to make the tub water lukewarm for baths. The warmth never lasted, he says.
McLemore says the family relied on candles when the electricity was turned off. They turned on the stove and hauled a kerosene heater to the middle of the room to stay warm. McLemore says family members would huddle in the room, covered in layers of clothing and blankets, sometimes able to see their own breath in the chilled winter air. Only when their bodies warmed, and their noses no longer felt icy, could they fall asleep.
0 条评论:
发表评论
订阅 博文评论 [Atom]
<< 主页