{"id":56032,"date":"2017-03-15T15:08:10","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T20:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=56032"},"modified":"2017-03-15T15:08:10","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T20:08:10","slug":"basketball-builds-a-brotherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/basketball-builds-a-brotherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball builds a brotherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alan Suriel <\/strong><\/p>\n

For some people basketball is just a sport to play when they\u2019re bored. For others, basketball is a sport in which they give up everything. They give up your social life. They give up television. They give up rest and relaxation. For those people, basketball is life. <\/p>\n

Every so often, a person who is committed to the sport finds a group of players with the same passion. Those guys become teammates. They then find a man who has been around the block for a few decades. That man has played the game. That man has taught the game. Those teammates call that man \u201cCoach\u201d.<\/p>\n

East-West University is far from a big-time basketball program. As a matter of fact, they aren\u2019t even affiliated with the NCAA. It is an independent program that uses basketball to better their players on and off the court. <\/p>\n

However, what they didn\u2019t expect was for the players to form a brotherhood, not only on the court, but away from it as well.
\n[vimeo 208547776]
\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys are like brothers,\u201d said Carl Moore, who is a sophomore forward at East-West. \u201cOutside of school we hang-out. I\u2019d give the shirt off my back for them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Head Coach Tommie Posley has gotten his players to buy into his culture. Players who failed to get recruited by other schools are now excelling at East-West. <\/p>\n

Posley says that success on the court starts with trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell them to just trust each other,\u201d Posley said. \u201cThis whole thing started with trust. When I recruited them, they put their trust in me, and I put my trust in them. Together we can build something great at the end of the day if we just have trust.\u201d <\/p>\n

One reason why this East-West University team is so close is because they have enormous amount of respect for one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a freshman, but these guys still treat me like I\u2019m one of the leaders,\u201d said Stevlon Warren, who is the starting point guard. \u201cThey listen to what I have to say. These guys have never told me to shut up and they\u2019ve always showed me respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basketball is what makes these guys whole. Without it, their lives don\u2019t have the same purpose. It\u2019s not because they can\u2019t pursue another dream. It\u2019s because this is what they love.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t playing basketball at East-West, I would probably be coaching kids,\u201d said Bryan Asberry, who is in his first year at the school. \u201cI want to give back to the kids. It would be cool to show them what I\u2019ve learned throughout the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, to Posley, this program is much bigger than just wins and losses. He wants his players to build long friendships, and successful futures. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want these guys to be ready for their career after basketball,\u201d Posley said. \u201cHaving them in the gym is a way to keep them focused and out of the streets. Basketball is just a way for them to be more disciplined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, 12 individuals were brought in to be a part of a team. Through good times and bad times these same dozen players stuck together. They\u2019re all bonded by an orange ball. Today, those 12 individuals are one brotherhood. <\/p>\n

Photo at top: East-West gathers for a team huddle. (Alan Suriel\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alan Suriel For some people basketball is just a sport to play when they\u2019re bored. For others, basketball is a sport in which they give up everything. They give up your social life. They give up television. They give up rest and relaxation. For those people, basketball is life. Every so often, a person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":56173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nBasketball builds a brotherhood - 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\/basketball-builds-a-brotherhood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basketball builds a brotherhood - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alan Suriel For some people basketball is just a sport to play when they\u2019re bored. 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