I saw this story a month or so ago and meant to put it on here and forgot. You may have heard about it but in case you haven't, here it is. It happened at the Marshall County Hoopfest, one of the biggest high school basketball showcases in the country, and it takes place right up the road from us. I have never been, but I wish I could have made it this year to see this. There is always a who's who of college coaches in attendance because most of the top rated high school basketball teams and players are there. Michael Jordan has even been known to make the trip to the Kentucky Lake area for this event. Anyway, this story doesn't have anything to do with the many all american hoopsters who play in the games, it's about a contest held between games. I have taken what I've read in a few articles and made my own "article" for the Revolting Blog addicts.
Nick "Gameday" Burton is a young man with a gift. He can make halfcourt shots with amazing accuracy. He estimates he hits about 45% of them. He is even fairly accurate shooting them backwards. He was asked to put on a show during the Marshall County Hoopfest and he didn't disappoint the packed house. He hit several (8-18 to be exact). He even tossed one in underhanded with his back to the basket, just like he said he could. He got that one on his 5th try. The crowd was impressed with his left handed heaves. Wanna know what makes it even more impressive? "Gameday" can't use the right side of his body. He was born with cerebral palsy. He has practiced his halfcourt shots for years and has gotten very good, but he said he had never made one on the first try. This is where the story gets really good.
They have this contest where a person from the crowd is chosen to shoot for $1,ooo. They are required to make a layup, a freethrow, a 3-pointer, and a halfcourt shot. They have 30 seconds to do so. A young man in the crowd was fortunate enough to be selected for this contest. The young man's name is Brock Etheridge. He has spina bifida. He is in a wheelchair. He was allowed to select 2 people to help him in the contest. Guess who he picked for the halfcourt shot. "Gameday" Burton, of course. Brock could handle the layup, and he was fortunate to have former UK hero Jeff Sheppard in the crowd who was happy to take the freethrow and 3-pointer. They were talking before they went on the court for the contest and "Gameday" promised Brock that if they (Brock and Sheppard) made their shots and gave him the chance he would knock down his shot. He made Brock this promise knowing he had never made his first attempt and knowing that more than likely he would only have time for one try after the first shots were made. "Gameday" prayed that he would get the chance, and he prayed with Brock right before they went out on the court.
Brock rolled up in his wheelchair and easily sank the layup. Sheppard grabbed the ball and made a freethrow. Then Shep missed a 3. 15 seconds were on the clock. The rebounder immediately got the ball back to him and his second 3 bounced around and went in. The ball comes out of the net and is fired to mid-court where Nick "Gameday" Burton is awaiting. 4 seconds are on the clock. "Gameday" steps into the pass and lets his shot fly just like he's done so many times before. I think you know how the story ends.
The next post down has a link to a video of a news story about this. You'll wanna click that link and watch it for yourself. Pretty good stuff.
