This one’s a diamond in the rough, so I thought I’d spend a blogpost on it.
Pleasanton native Kevin Laue is 6′10″, just got a Division I NCAA scholarship to play at Manhattan College in NYC, and was born with only one hand.
Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the article…
The demands on Laue’s time are so great that his mother, Jodi Jarnagin, was happy when he lost a fall election for freshman class president at Manhattan.
“He’s a little overwhelmed,” Jarnagin said. “The media thing does not make a difference to him. Affecting people’s lives does.”
…because I know someone else who’s a first at something, commands a lot of media attention, and has a bit of burden on his shoulders.
Here’s another quote I really like…
Coach Fletcher Arritt, who says he has sent more than 200 players to Division I schools in his 40 seasons, said he needed just one look to know Laue was Division I material.
“He catches the ball better than some guys with two hands. And remember, it only takes one hand to block a shot,” Arritt said. “If he had two hands, he wouldn’t have been at Fork Union. He’d have been at Kentucky or North Carolina.”
…because someone saw through the superficial and evaluated him purely from a basketball skill standpoint. More people should have, but that’s the way it goes. Again, sounds like somebody I know.
Here’s the link to the article:
