Vol. 49, No. 3 • March 2012 • .pdf version
INSIDE THIS ISSUE ...
• Lenox Rawlings: Change a common denominator
• Joe Mitch: Courage Award celebrates 25 years
• Dana O'Neil: Summitt, James are Most Courageous
• Louisville's Klein wins Katha Quinn Award
• Washington Post's Yanda is 2012 Rising Star
• Kevin Armstrong: Mentors are critical

Dana O'Neil

Most Courageous honors go to Summitt, Florida State's James

By DANA O'NEIL / Third Vice-President
espn.com
dgoneil@msn.com

Bookmark and Share  

One stood up for his country.

The other stood up for herself.

Both, however, stood tall, not just defining courage but exemplifying it.

This year, the USBWA honors Florida State's Bernard James and University of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt as recipients of the 2012 Most Courageous Awards, two people who defined the word differently but lived it fully.

James is the most unconventional of high school dropouts, a kid who grew disenchanted with the social hierarchy of school yet would head to Barnes & Noble to read on the days that he cut.

• 2012 Men's and Women's Final Four Schedules of Events
• Buy tickets to the 2012 USBWA College Basketball Awards Breakfast
All-Time Award Winners:
• Katha Quinn Award
• Most Courageous Award
• Rising Star Award

After receiving his GED, he followed footsteps of his stepfather, a career military man, and at the age of 17, James enlisted in the Air Force.

It is one thing, of course, to join up when the military offers a chance to simply see the world. It is another to sign on when the United States is at war. James went in with eyes wide open, nonplussed when he was deployed to the Middle East, stopping in Qatar and Iraq. There he witnessed both the terrifying realities of war – a mortar round landed just 75 feet from him, knocking him off of his feet – and the simmering seeds of hate directed at Americans abroad.

Armed with nothing more than pepper spray and rubber bullets, James served as a prison guard, with nothing more than a fence between him and the terrorists he was charged with containing.

"You get a real clear view that there are people out there who want to hurt you just because you're an American," James told Basketball Times. "That was big to me and it gave me a much greater appreciation for what we have here."

The grand plan wasn't terribly grand. James figured the military life would be his for eternity, a 20-year commitment that would get him through adulthood.

Like it so often does, life had a different plan. Drafted to the intramural basketball team, James partnered a five-inch growth spurt with his newfound confidence and found a new direction. With a renewed purpose, James pursued basketball, rising up the military basketball ranks to the Air Force all-star team.

James turned enough heads through the international competition that he changed course, enrolling at Tallahassee Community College so that he could transition to Division I as a full qualifier.

A year later, James arrived at Florida State, a literal man among boys in both age (he's now 26) and life experiences.

Pat Summitt has experienced life more fully than most of us. With more wins than any other coach in basketball history – man or woman – and eight national titles, Summitt has achieved unparalleled success yet hasnever sacrificed her own dignity or grace.

She is fierce and tough, yet respected and loved.

She's also never been afraid of a fight, which is why, when she was diagnosed with early onset dementia, Summitt did what she always does – she attacked it head-on.

"It is what it is," she told the Washington Post. "I've got to face it."

She could have faced it privately, of course. If Summitt had simply told her assistants and perhaps quietly delegated some of her responsibilities to them, no one would have been the wiser.

Ducking and hiding are not in Summitt's genes, and so she took her battle public, confronting her own fears and reminding others they are not alone.

It is a bold and daring move, especially in a profession where the opposition is always looking for an edge or digging for a weakness. If the Lady Vols lose, certainly someone will attribute it to Summitt's illness.

But buoyed by the unfailing support of her administration, Summitt resolved to keep coaching for as long as she's able.

Those who know her well were hardly surprised.

"Everyone has always wanted to know what Pat's really like," her longtime assistant Mickie DeMoss told the Post. "The word I've always used is ‘resolve.' Pat has more resolve than any one I've ever known. She has a deep, deep inner strength."

That inner strength has now been pushed outward, with Summitt serving as an inspiration for others suffering from Alzheimer's. Opposing teams now sport We Back Pat T-shirts on the benches, raising awareness for Alzheimer's research.

The most courageous thing the coach did, however, was walk into the locker room and explain her diagnosis to her players. A woman who has spent a lifetime doling out life lessons amid the scribbles of X's and O's offered the most important advice of all.

"I just want them to understand that this is what I'm going through, but you don't quit living," she told the Post. "You keep going."

Dana O'Neil is a national college basketball writer for espn.com.

February 2021
December 2020
June 2020
January 2020
November 2019
May 2019
March 2019
January 2019
November 2018
May 2018
March 2018
January 2018
November 2017
May 2017
March 2017
January 2017
November 2016
May 2016
March 2016
January 2016
November 2015
May 2015
March 2015
January 2015
November 2014
May 2014
March 2014
January 2014
November 2013
May 2013
March 2013
January 2013
November 2012
May 2012
March 2012
January 2012
November 2011
August 2011
May 2011
March 2011
February 2011
November 2010
May 2010
March 2010
February 2010
November 2009
May 2009
April 2009
February 2009
November 2008
May 2008
April 2008
February 2008
November 2007
May 2007
March 2007
February 2007
November 2006
May 2006
March 2006
January 2006
November 2005
May 2005 (.pdf)
March 2005 (.pdf)
January 2005 (.pdf)
November 2004 (.pdf)
May 2004 (.pdf)
March 2004 (.pdf)
January 2004 (.pdf)
November 2003 (.pdf)
May 2003 (.pdf)
March 2003 (.pdf)
January 2003 (.pdf)
November 2002 (.pdf)
January 2002 (.pdf)
November 2001 (.pdf)
.PDF'S BEST VIEWED WITH ADOBE READER X | EDITOR: JOHN AKERS