ESPN 2, Monday 3/6 - A Nice Story

I don't know how the game will be, but I encourage you College BBall fans to tune in tomorrow night to see a great kid/young man get his chance at a dream.

My Alma Mater , St Peter's College of Jersey City, NJ (a small inner city College), will play for the Championship of the MAAC, extending an improbable run. The great story is a young man named Keydren Clark. If you're a hardcore College BBall fan, you have heard of him, since he led the Nation in scoring as a Soph & Junior. He will finish 3rd or 4th this year. He also currently leads JJ Redick as the all time career leader NCAA in 3 pt field goals (though Redick will likely take that record since Duke is a safe bet to play many more games).

Here is the story.

He is a quiet young man, who was the 3rd option on his High School team, national power Rice of NYC. He went to St Peters even though he could've gone higher because he felt loyalty to SPC since they were interested in him first. Plus, he was a self described 'Momma's Boy', and wanted to stay close to home. He came to a program that was coming off back to back 4 win seasons. They fared little better in his first season, and after averaging over 25 points a game, there was much.. let us say, incentives.... from larger schools to transfer. He wouldn't. Loyalty

His best friend, constant companion was his roommate and teammate, George Jefferson. This past summer, KeeKee went to his dorm room and found George lying motionless on the floor. He yelled for help and tried CPR. George, his best friend, his brother in all things but blood, was dead. A victim of an enlarged heart. KeeKee was devasted.

He began this season, with a heavy heart, but through some ups and downs with his very young teammates (starters all Sophs and Freshman), they played great & not so well. During warmups and after this game, he wore a T-Shirt "Til we meet again" and 'Brother Forever, George Jefferson 23' on either side.

He is also a great kid, young man. He is extremely respectful, never shows off. Despite being the prime option, he will continually defer to teammates. He is 4th in the MAAC in assists this year. The other night, with a career total of 3000 points to be in his reach, during a rout win in the 1st round, he wouldn't take shots just to run up his total, but rather passed off so his teammates would get a chnace to score in the Tournament. This despite the fact it was nomlock to score the number needed in the next game.

After games, he stays around til every young fan has the autograph they seek. He volunteers at camps, working with young kids, showing them the right way to act and play the game.

OH>> Did I mention, he is 5 foot 9 inches tall!!

Well, tomorrow night, he gets a chance to accomplish the dream he and George set.. To get a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. To do it, they will have to win their 4th game in four nights. I hope you realize how difficult this is to do, at any age. This is so difficult, for any team or player. KeeKee plays almost 39 minutes of 40 minute games, so I wonder how his legs will be.

If he does not shoot well, don't be critical or dismiss his accomplishments. I hope you will root for this terrific young man, who respresents the best of what College Athletics can and should be.

 

Thanks

Here is an article from the NY Times


By PETE THAMEL
Published: March 6, 2006
ALBANY, March 5 — In a lot of ways, St. Peter's personifies the allure of college basketball in March.




The fifth-seeded Peacocks stunned top-seeded Manhattan, 84-74, on Sunday to reach the final of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. It was the third victory in three days for St Peter's, which will enter Monday night's final against second-seeded Iona with all the trappings of an irresistible underdog.

The Peacocks have a resplendent star, the 5-foot-10 guard Keydren Clark, who has left his mark on the N.C.A.A. record book. They have an old-school coach, Bob Leckie, a 58-year-old who owns a bar in Queens and who jumped to St. Peter's from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn six years ago. And they will be playing for their first N.C.A.A. tournament bid since 1995 with a higher purpose — the memory of their teammate George Jefferson, a 20-year-old who died last summer of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic heart disease.

"If I had to lose to a player or a team," Manhattan Coach Bobby Gonzalez said, "I'm happy it was Keydren Clark and St. Peter's."

Clark has riddled defenses in the MAAC for four seasons, scoring 3,033 points in his career. Although Clark is the sixth-leading scorer in N.C.A.A. Division I history, he is not necessarily a household name to those outside the Northeast Corridor. But Monday's game at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 will provide a showcase for his deft scoring ability, and it will be just the second nationally televised game of his career.

"I'd tell people to sit back and enjoy it," Leckie said with a smile. "You're in for a treat watching him play."

Clark put in another virtuoso performance against Manhattan, scoring 29 points. He may have played one of the gutsiest games of his career: One of his several floor dives resulted in Manhattan guard Jeff Xavier's losing parts of two teeth and needing two stitches on his chin.

Clark has tried for years to shake the perception that his scoring totals meant he was a selfish player. On Saturday, he dished eight assists against Siena. On Sunday, he fought through cramps in his left calf against Manhattan.

"It means the world to me," Clark said of leading St. Peter's to the MAAC final. "It's something I wanted to do since I stepped on campus at St. Peter's."

Clark had plenty of help. Four other Peacocks scored in double figures, including the savvy guard Raul Orta (18 points) and the bullish forward Todd Sowell (10 points and 8 rebounds).

The St. Peter's players wear a No. 23 patch in honor of Jefferson, who would have been a senior on the team. Clark, who was Jefferson's roommate, walked into their apartment and found his friend's body. For the team's warm-ups and television interviews, Clark wears a white T-shirt to honor his friend. On the back it says, "Until we meet again."

"As soon as the horn sounded, I was thinking about George," Clark said. "This was something that George wanted to do since he got to St. Peter's. For me to help my team get to the championship game, I know he's proud of me."

St. Peter's will have its hands full against Iona, which appears to be clicking at the right time. The Gaels (22-7) blitzed third-seeded Marist, 100-84, to advance to the final behind a career-high 31 points by Ricky Soliver and 30 by Steve Burtt. The Gaels are looking for their first N.C.A.A. bid since 2001.

St. Peter's may have inspiration on its side, but fatigue could be a factor: Six Peacocks played all but 12 minutes of the game Sunday.

Leckie scoffed at that notion, and he called on his experience as a bar owner for a prescription to replenish Clark's fluids. Leckie owns a bar called the Wharf in Rockaway Beach.

"You've got to drink more beer," Leckie told Clark after the game. "I never cramp up."

And while patrons will be clinking glasses for the Peacocks at the bar on Monday, St. Peter's has a chance to become the toast of N.C.A.A. tournament with one more upset.