It was the last shot of the game. Dekarri grabbed the ball off the rim with such strength that not even the Incredible Hulk could grab it out of his hand. After he got the rebound he dished it out Travis and he dribbled the ball up the court so fast you would think he was about to miss a deadline for an assignment. Eight seconds left, Travis calls out a play with the remaining breath he had from running up the court. Seven seconds, Dekarri sets a screen for Jason hoping the defender doesn’t see it coming. Jason gets around the screen with blistering speed and sets his feet just behind the three point line. Travis looks his defender in the eye and says, “are you ready for this?”. Six seconds, he passes it to Jason who’s wide open in corner. The crowd goes silent, Jason sets and shoots with the smoothest release I have ever seen in my life. Players from both teams watch the ball intently as the clock winds down. “FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO,ONE!!!”. This is it. The California State Championship. We’ve come a long way and we either go out as champs or we go all out trying. But before we get to this moment let me tell you how this incredible journey began.

      “Well, the team is all yours Coach. Just remember, these aren’t your typical high school basketball players. I mean we are in Compton.” said the ex coach for the Compton Cavaliers high school basketball team. “No they’re not your typical players, but with some extra attention and discipline, these kids will be even better than your typical players” I responded sharply The ex coach chuckles under his breathe and says, “well, I’ve been saying that for 15 years but good luck with that Coach”. But enough about that, let me tell you a little about me. My name is Derrick Thomas and i'm the new coach for the Compton Cavaliers High School basketball team. I was a 2 time All-American in basketball and won 3 State Championships for St. George High School. I want to coach this team because for as long as I can remember, Compton high school has never really had a “real” basketball coach because most of the time the coaches were just flat out scared of the kids and just let them do whatever they want. But that all changed with me.   
     
         It was my first day on the job, October 27th, 2015 was the exact date I started as new head coach. School just got out for the kids so I headed right to the gym so I could meet them. I got up to the gym doors and peered through the windows. Sure enough, all the kids were there.  As I opened the door all the kids turned and stared with curiosity to see who might dare to be the next head coach. “Good afternoon gentlemen, my name is Derrick Thomas and i’ll be the new head coach for your basketball team, so you can call me Coach Thomas”. I looked around the crowd of kids and no one seemed to be interested in what I was saying. They all just had blank expressions on their faces and looked around at each other as if this was some kind of joke. “We’ll call you old man that for sure!” someone blurted out from the crowd. The kids all laughed hysterically while jumping up and down pulling on each others shirts. “Whoever just said that, please come forth and present yourself”. The crowd of kids split right down the middle leaving one kid standing between both crowds. “And what might your name be?” I asked. “Travis Johnson, but you can call T-Smooth” the kid responded. “Well T-Smooth, drop and give me 100 push ups”. “Are you serious old man? Do you know who I am?”. All the kids got wide eyed and started looking around at each other as if I committed a very bad crime. “I know you're the kid that’s about to give me 200 push ups if you don’t keep your mouth shut!” I responded sharply. I think I got the message through that i’m not going to be like any other coach they have had. “Why are you doing this?”, a voice said from the crowed. The crowd of kids moved apart once again and just standing in the middle was this tall, built, and looked very shy kid who had a confused look on his face. “Well i’ll tell you why. I’m doing this because I believe in you guys. You guys are not bad people, you guys just need a real coach to keep you guys in check and keep you all disciplined”. “Well thank you”, the tall kid responded. “That’s pretty cool that you believe in us, not a lot of people do.” After talking to the kids for a while and getting to know them I realized that these kids aren’t as bad as people say they are. “Alright that’s enough of getting to know you guys. Now it’s time to get down to business! Will the 3 best players step forward.  Travis stepped up with a big grin on his face looking back at his team. Dekarri, the tall shy kid stepped forward slowly. “That’s only 2, is there no one else?”. “Jason get over here!”, yelled Travis towards the rest of the team. Jason stepped up laughing as if this was a joke. “Alright, now one at a time, tell me each what you guys are good at”. “I have really good ball handling skills sir, I can cut the defense in half with my speed too.” said Travis. “I’m the best rebounder on the team. Nobody in this division is as tall as me, I am a 6’7 giant sir.” said Dekarri. “I’m the best shooter on the team sir.” said Jason quietly. I knew right then and there that this team was going to be a championship bound team. “Alright I’ve heard enough, let's get to work!”. 2 weeks of hard practice, sweat dripping from every part of the body, heavy breathing heard from all over the gym and the most important thing, progress.

       Week one of the regular season is here. The kids first game is against Richmond High School, another struggling school when it comes to basketball. “Alright boys this it, this is what we practiced for, it’s time to prove all the people who doubted you guys wrong! This is our moment! Let’s go!” The kids ran out of the locker room full of excitement and eagerness to prove everybody wrong. The team is looking great. Travis is tearing the defense apart with his speed and ball handling, Dekarri won’t be denied at the rim when it comes to getting rebounds and won’t let anyone shoot on him with his tall figure. Jason is shooting lights out as I expected with his perfect form and release. It’s only the first game and I feel like I've been coaching them forever. The final score was 64-42, we won and it felt great to kids and me. Then we took off. 82-56, 63-55, 71-33, 67- 49, and 92-50. Those are just a few of the scores from our other games. The team went undefeated and sealed a playoff seed. This is the greatest accomplishment of my entire life. These kids went from not winning a single game last season and being judged because of where they live, to being undefeated and not only that, but they all  have a 3.0 GPA or above and are doing really well in school. The team ended up going undefeated the whole season finishing with a record of 24-0. Now it’s time for the playoffs.

           The boys huddled around the bench in the locker room talking about their game plan. “Alright boys, we made it this far so there is no turning back now. We’ve come along way and have made great progress doing it. I couldn’t have been more proud of all you guys and I hope we can continue whooping butt!”.  Dekarri stood up after I gave my little speech and said, “On behalf of the team I just wanted to say thank you for being the best coach we have ever had. You’ve believed in us since day one and never stopped. If it wasn’t for you I don’t think we would have had a winning season. So thank you Coach, you’re the best”. My eyes teared up a little from what he said but cleared up right away. One by one they all shook my hand and gave me a hug as they were all exiting the locker room getting ready for their first playoff game. Game one of the playoffs was a breeze, winning 72-54, with Travis having arguably his best game this season. With that win the boys clinched a second round bye and had a whole week off but of course, they were all at the gym still practicing their butts off just trying to get better each day. Then came the Semi-Finals, it was tough but we pulled it out with a win of 52-51 in overtime with Dekarri’s game winning dunk that put us up by one in the end. Now, it’s championship time. The boys made it to the California State Championship for the first time in school history and were going up against St. George, my old high school. I knew it was going to be a challenge but it’s a challenge we can handle.

        The boys came out fighting with everything they had. The score at the end of the first half was 51-51. I felt as if we still had complete control of the game but just couldn't let the momentum slip. The second half St. George game out on fire hitting 10 3’s in a row. But we were still in it. It all came down to the last shot of the game. It was all tied up at 86-86  with 15 seconds to go. St. George took a shot but missed leaving us with 8 seconds. It was the last shot of the game. Dekarri grabbed the ball off the rim with such strength that not even the Incredible Hulk could grab it out of his hand. After he got the rebound he dished it out Travis and he dribbled the ball up the court so fast you would think he was about to miss a deadline for an assignment. Eight seconds left, Travis calls out a play with the remaining breath he had from running up the court. Seven seconds, Dekarri sets a screen for Jason hoping the defender doesn’t see it coming. Jason gets around the screen with blistering speed and sets his feet just behind the three point line. Travis looks his defender in the eyes and says, “are you ready for this?”. Six seconds, he passes it to Jason who’s wide open in corner. The crowd goes silent, Jason sets and shoots with the smoothest release I have ever seen in my life. Players from both teams watch the ball intently as the clock winds down. “FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO,ONE!!!”. The crowd goes wild, Jason dropped to the floor, and the game was over with the sound of the final buzzer. The Compton Cavaliers won 89-86 with Jason’s game winning shot. I jumped out of my seat rushing the court to hug by boys. This is the greatest moment in my entire life and I wouldn’t change anything about this experience. When you give 100 percent of your attention to something or someone and dedicate your time, great things will be accomplished. As the boys would say after every game, “1,2,3 WHAT'S NEXT!”.