Basketball Dreams

“When I call a college coach and say, ‘I’ve got this great 5-foot-9-inch white kid you should take a look at,’ the guard goes up,” said Greg Kristof, a director of Hoop Mountain Basketball, which stages recruiting tournaments. “There’s kind of a reverse discrimination in basketball where, as a short white kid, you’d better be twice as good as anyone else in your position.”

Either we've been one or we've heard of one, the youngster growing up in The Commonwealth with the hoop hung on the garage, the barn or a driveway pole, and spending hour upon hour practicing, always the desire and dream of wearing the Blue and performing at Rupp, or perhaps the Red in Freedom Hall, or playing in Bowling Green, Richmond, Murray or Morehead. Making the winning goal in the Sweet Sixteen, qualifying for a scholarship, celebrating Selection Sunday.

Well as reported in the New York Times those same dreams reside elsewhere including Poly Prep High School, Brooklyn — the alma mater of Joakim Noah. It's the story of Len Chenfeld and his sacrifice-everything attempt to play Division I  basketball and eventually professionally, if not the NBA then in Europe, Asia, anywhere. His first big challenge and opportunity is versus Kyrie Irving who is a top 5 2010 PG and bound for Duke. Read the story and find the outcome.