| Wade a star at old high school |
|
By Tom D'Angelo "Pretty skinny, huh?" he said with a smile. Richards High School has embraced Dwyane Wade and he has not forgotten. "I know how hard it was when I was there to try get someone to do anything for us basketball-wise, so I try to help as much as possible," he said. Wade has become an international figure since his high school graduation day in 2000. From Final Four to Finals MVP. From the No. 5 pick to one of the top five players in the league. As famous on Wall Street as at Madison Square Garden. "Everybody says it's a Cinderella story and I suppose in some way it is," Richards Principal Ross Cucio said. "But you need to remember how much hard work and sacrifice it took for him to get to this point." Richards is in Chicago's south suburbs, about 15 miles from the United Center, where the Heat lost the first two games of its playoff series against the Bulls. Richards is where Wade wasn't good enough to make the varsity as a sophomore but was All-State as a senior and mostly overlooked by recruiters. And it is where Wade returns as a role model to give back to a school to his ties remain strong. On March 19, while the city celebrated Dwyane Wade Day, the school unveiled the court named in his honor. Wade then teamed up with T-Mobile to announce a $150,000 donation that will further transform the 39-year-old gym. Already in place are a state-of-the-art sound system, a 200-inch screen with a video projector and a scoreboard with a digital message center. This summer, the bleachers and floor will be replaced. Wade and T-Mobile also are donating $5,000 to Richards through the next three years for an academic scholarship. Already, Wade has persuaded Converse to outfit the boys and girls basketball teams with new uniforms and sneakers. "Each time we get something we try to teach the kids a lesson Dwyane would want us to teach, which is: We're just not handing this stuff to you because we want you to be spoiled, we want you to earn it, just like he's earned everything," Richards coach John Chappetto said. Said Athletic Director Ken Styler: "They attach the word Richards to Dwyane Wade." Although Wade could not attend the celebration, the school's 1,700 students, all wearing T-shirts to commemorate the day, jammed the gym to listen to Wade speak via satellite. His mother, Jolinda, and his wife, Siohvaughn, who graduated from Richards one year ahead of Dwyane, represented him. "It's where I got my inspiration to be an NBA player," Wade said of his high school. "Richards helped me get to this point. Now I try to give back to the school and community as much as possible." His stepbrothers, Kodhamus Llongbey, a senior and three-year starter for Richards, and Demetris McDaniel, an assistant basketball coach, were part of the assembly. "I wish I could have played on his court but I'm happy I got a chance to play on the court my brother played on," said Llongbey, who is planning to attend Stoneridge Prep in Simi Valley, Calif. "I'm lucky to see my brother do things like this." When Wade was a senior, only Marquette, DePaul and Illinois State offered scholarships. His game blossomed between his senior year in high school and freshman year at Marquette. "He came back that first year and he'd gained 15 pounds of muscle," Chappetto said. Styler coached at rival Marist High School during Wade's high school career. "I told our guys to play him soft because I thought his perimeter shot wasn't that good at that time," Styler said. "He still just blew by us. "He's one of those guys who would get a quiet 30 on you." Now, nothing Wade does is quiet. Wade, who rooted for the Jordan-led Bulls, is the only player on the hated Heat who draws cheers when his name is announced at the United Center. "I'm a Bulls fan," Cucio said. "Even though we're Bulls fans we want Dwyane to repeat. We want him to win another title and we want him to be the MVP again."
|