How many hours in the driveway shooting hoops? How many countless repetitions of dribbling? First between the legs, than behind the back. Now running at full speed pushing the ball up to court. Finally all those early mornings in the gym are paying off. These are the thoughts that ran through Ryan’s mind as he stood at the free throw line. He thought he should be nervous but after shooting 300 free throws a day just about every day since 8th grade he was on autopilot. He was destined for this moment in this place in this very situation. All his dreams and ambitions had been focused on this single event. This was no accident. No siree!! He deserved this. All the hype and criticism were all meaningless now. He had arrived. “All you care about is basketball!” his old girlfriend would lament. “Ryan White is just a show-off! He thinks he’s soooo cool.” He can hear it even now. He knew they were just jealous. He knew they were only envious of his natural abilities and accomplishments. Through it all he managed to maintain his single-minded goal and now he was reaping the harvest.

Ryan White was recruited to play basketball at the University of Kansas and was considered by many experts as the number one recruit in the entire nation. Coach Goering had followed him since he was a freshman in high school. Ryan knew he would go to KU but he still enjoyed the attention he received from one of the most famous and successful basketball coaches in the country. His dream from the time he first picked up a basketball was to play for the Jayhawks and win a National Championship. Actually his dream was not just to win a National Championship but to score the winning points and be the most valuable player. Even his parents were concerned from time to time about his single-minded dedication to becoming the absolute best basketball player in the country. Yet to their credit they supported him and have been his biggest fans. He remembers the day he received the official offer from Coach Goering. His dad actually cried. Oh, he tried to hide it but Ryan knew. That was too much for Ryan. He had to go into his room where he broke down in tears also. Partly from the excitement but mostly because he realized how much it meant to his mom and dad and how much they meant to him. He had never really thanked them for their dedication and support. Oh well, parents know these things.

His freshman year was exciting and all he’d hoped for with the exception of the sweet sixteen loss to Florida in double overtime. Of course Florida was the number one seed and KU was fourth but that still hurt. He was slightly encouraged by his 17 points and 8 assists but the “W” is what he really wanted. Somehow through all the single-minded focus on achieving his goals the sole lesson his father imparted to him daily stuck inside. “Son”, he would say, “do you know what TEAM stands for? It stands for Together Everyone Achieves More! As good as you are don’t forget the importance of being a team player.” As a matter of fact, that lesson stuck so well that his senior season in high school he decided to focus on passing and broke the school record of assists with an average of 12.3 per game. The fact that his scoring fell almost four points per game from his junior year did not bother him. Quite to the contrary, actually. He was very pleased when they cut down the nets for the state championship and his teammates selected him as the team MVP even though he was third on the team in scoring. It was his leadership and team play. Funny how that works when you listen to your dad.

Going into his sophomore year he was very excited. The team was ranked fourth in the pre-season polls and they all felt this would be their year. They especially wanted to win for Coach Goering. Coach had become like a second father to him. He was strict but sincerely cared about his players. He was a rigidly honest and ethical man and always seemed to know what was going on in the minds of his players. Ryan recalled the time during his first mid-term exams when he was really struggling to balance the gym time with studying and was losing sleep. Coach came up at practice and pulled him aside and told him to go to his office. When he got there, he was met by a sweet, elderly lady who said, “You must be Ryan.” “Yes ma’am.”, he replied, a little perplexed. “Well Coach has asked me to spend some time with you to help you with your biology.” It wasn’t for several years that Ryan found out how coach would quiz the upper classmen about how the younger players were adjusting and getting along. He also talked to every professor for every class for every player at least once every other week. He really cared.

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