{"id":52489,"date":"2017-02-23T21:37:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T03:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=52489"},"modified":"2017-02-24T10:17:31","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T16:17:31","slug":"von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Von Steuben player finds motivation from tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Karl Bullock<\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">After failing to muster the required layups in a practice drill, Von Steuben players head to the sideline to face the consequences: sideline sprints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you hustling?\u201d Donovan Maxey asks freshman guard Chijioke Nwosu. With a look of frustration on his face, they begin to run back and forth. Before Nwosu can answer, Maxey cuts him off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, you weren\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cI was watching you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For the past four years at Von Steuben Metropolitan, Maxey has seen his share of ups and downs while playing basketball. Two fractures to his right ankle cut short Maxey\u2019s sophomore season. When the injury carried over into his junior year, the 6-foot-1 senior forward was forced to sit out the entire season.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"DonovanMaxeyFinalEdit\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/205491534?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Rather than let his injury situation emotionally deter him from playing again, Maxey found extra motivation through the memory of his father, Duane Berry II, who he lost to gun violence when he was 7. Despite the loss of his father, Maxey is driven by his unattainable wish to have his father in the stands to witness his son following his passion.<\/p>\n<p>Maxey spent his childhood in Chicago playing football under the watchful eye of his father. He didn\u2019t take basketball seriously until he was 13.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe would always be with me at every practice,\u201d Maxey said about his father. \u201cHe was the one that wanted me to do well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But football was too rough for him, and eventually he dropped the sport altogether.<\/p>\n<p>After his father\u2019s death, Maxey began playing pickup basketball with kids around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a natural,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce I saw I could do a little bit and be good, I wanted more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As he recovered from his ankle injuries and geared up for his final season at Von Steuben, more disheartening news arrived. Maxey\u2019s older brother, Duane Berry III, was shot and killed.<\/p>\n<p>After losing another loved one, Maxey set a personal goal to make his last season count for something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what made it [his brother\u2019s] death even more sentimental,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to give something to him before this basketball thing was over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sitting in living room, Maxey points at his younger brother Deandre Berry, whom he calls his best friend.<\/p>\n<p>Deandre plays basketball at Walt Disney Magnet School and joined his older brother in making this season a tribute to their dad and older brother. The effort that has strengthened the bond between two brothers.<\/p>\n<p>Maxey and Berry are almost inseparable. From playing video games, to picking up groceries for their mom and taking out the trash, they do everything together. So it was no surprise when Berry joined him in using basketball as a tribute to their loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the season started, he told me this needs to be about our brother and our dad,\u201d Berry said. \u201cBecause he was doing it, I thought, well that\u2019s my big brother so we might as well make it a good go round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maxey has established himself as a key contributor for Von Steuben averaging 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and four assists, all career highs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to dedicate it [this season] to my dad because I wanted to make him proud,&#8221; Maxey said. \u201cSince I wasn\u2019t so good at football, I wanted to show him that I could be good at another sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Donovan Maxey shoots free throws during practice Tuesday night. (Karl Bullock\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Karl Bullock After failing to muster the required layups in a practice drill, Von Steuben players head to the sideline to face the consequences: sideline sprints. \u201cWere you hustling?\u201d Donovan Maxey asks freshman guard Chijioke Nwosu. With a look of frustration on his face, they begin to run back and forth. Before Nwosu can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":386,"featured_media":52500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3516],"tags":[3773,3731],"class_list":["post-52489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2017","tag-donovan-maxey","tag-von-steuben-high-school-basketball"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Von Steuben player finds motivation from tragedy - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Von Steuben player finds motivation from tragedy - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Karl Bullock After failing to muster the required layups in a practice drill, Von Steuben players head to the sideline to face the consequences: sideline sprints. \u201cWere you hustling?\u201d Donovan Maxey asks freshman guard Chijioke Nwosu. With a look of frustration on his face, they begin to run back and forth. Before Nwosu can [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-24T03:37:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-24T16:17:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Maxey1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"766\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"karlbullock2017\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"karlbullock2017\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/\",\"name\":\"Von Steuben player finds motivation from tragedy - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Maxey1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-24T03:37:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-24T16:17:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fea3def060e1aa3608cfb2ad6e1c070\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/von-steuben-player-finds-motivation-from-tragedy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Maxey1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Maxey1.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":766,\"caption\":\"Photo at top: Donovan Maxey shoots free throws during practice Tuesday night. 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