34. Ben
BEN
My last class has finished for the day, and I’m now standing on the basketball court, mindlessly dribbling the ball as we wait for our new coach.
Yep, that’s right.
Nolan U has found us a replacement, and I can tell that we’re all nervous about it.
Well, maybe not Mac. He’s lounging on the bottom bleacher, no doubt sexting on his phone, while Jimmy paces the length of the court, dribbling the ball the same way I am.
Darian’s practicing jump shots with Sawyer, and—
“All right, gather around, gentlemen!” A tall white man who looks like a replica of Ben Affleck—just older and grayer—strides onto the court, blowing his whistle once and expecting us to fall into line.
We glance at one another and slowly shuffle into a circle around the man.
“Let’s move it, people. We’re wasting time here.”
Adonis and Jamal pick up their pace, jogging over, while Mac continues to take his sweet time. The coach gives up waiting for him and eyes us up, addressing us all in a booming voice.
“I’m Coach Paxton, and it is a privilege to be here today.
I don’t take on this role lightly. I was mere weeks away from retirement when I found out about Coach Wiggins.
We had a chat, and I put my name forward.
This will be my last coaching job before I hang up my whistle.
” He chortles, but we all stand there, silently trying to assess this guy.
He’s nothing like Coach Wiggins. This guy has spark, spirit.
The determination vibrating off him is powerful, and I think our basketball practices are about to change big-time.
“I’ve spent the last week reviewing film from your previous three seasons, and I can tell you right now that what I see is a bunch of guys… ”
Here we go.
I brace myself for the thinly veiled insults.
“…who have a lot of potential. Potential that is not being realized. You may be the shortest, smallest team in your league right now, but I don’t see why that should be a disadvantage.
Muggsy Bogues, five-three; Earl Boykins, five-five; Yuki Kawamura, five-eight.
” He lists them off, raising one finger per name.
“You need me to keep going?” He looks around us.
“You think they let height stop any of them?” He pauses, obviously waiting for an answer.
Finally, Darian murmurs, “No, sir.”
Coach Paxton’s eyes dart to him, and he nods before eyeing us all up again.
Resting his hands on his hips, he lets out a soft sigh. “No, they did not.”
His eyes crinkle at the corners as he continues to look us over. I grip the basketball against my thigh and wait it out like everyone else. The silence is awkward, and I share a quick glance with Jimmy until Coach starts talking again.
“Gentlemen, what I see on game day is a team that doesn’t know how good they are. They don’t know that with a whole lot of hard work, they could get themselves to the top of the table this season.”
Mac lets out a light scoff.
Coach’s gaze darts to him before he clenches his jaw and grits out, “You men have been cruising, treating this like some gym class and not a professional sport. Now, I don’t care if you think college basketball isn’t worth treating professionally.
And I don’t care if any of you have NBA aspirations or not.
But I do care about how you show up on this court, which is now my court, and I’m expecting your best.”
I swallow, looking to my right and catching Jimmy’s eye again. He gives me a worried frown before turning back to Coach.
“You are way more capable than you obviously think you are. What you’ve been delivering on game days does not reflect your ability.
And we’re going to change that this season.
No more bottom of the standings. No more assuming you can’t do better than that.
” He claps his hands together, and the sound echoes off the walls.
“Now. Are you ready to work? Are you ready to show this school that you’re not some low-level team that’s not worth caring about?
Because if you’re not, you can get the hell off my court.
If you stay, I’m expecting commitment, energy, determination.
” He counts these qualities off on his fingers.
“I’m expecting a willingness to see yourself differently and an openness to the possibility of how great we could be. ”
Mac lets out snicker and mutters, “He means he’s gonna work us into the ground. Fuck that.” He moves out of the circle, making a break for the door.
“Mac, get your ass back here!” Darian snaps, spreading his arms wide when Mac glances over his shoulder. “What the fuck, man?”
Stopping, he turns back to give Darian the finger. Our roommate growls and makes a move to get him, but Jimmy rests a calm hand on Darian’s chest and speaks directly to Mac.
“Come on, man. Please stay. We need you.” A silent plea crosses his expression, and it’s clear to everyone that he’s saying, “I need you.”
With a snicker and an exaggerated eye roll, Mac moves back to stand beside his buddy.
The coach has been silently watching this exchange, no doubt assessing that Mac’s gonna be trouble and Darian likes to think of himself as the leader, even though he’s not officially our captain.
The guy naturally assumes that position, though, and we all just let him… because he’s good at firing us up when we need him to.
He’s obviously liking this new coach and gives a little nod in the man’s direction, silently telling him to keep going.
Coach Paxton smirks for a second, then clears his throat and runs his gaze across each of us.
“Like I said, it’s a privilege for me to be here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all.
I’m excited about what this team can do.
There’s some real talent among you.” His eyes land on Jimmy.
“I’d really love to see you unleash a little hell on this court when it matters most—game days.
And that’s what I’m gonna teach you how to do.
Over this week, I’ll be assessing each of your skills, and we’ll also be spending time on game strategy and mental toughness.
That’s a real area of weakness with this squad, and we’re going to fix that.
We’re going to turn this thing around, and by the end of the season, there will be no more ‘last in the league.’ You hear me?
We’re gonna win!” He claps his hands again, indicating that speech time is over. “Now, let’s get to work.”
Stepping back, he rattles off instructions like a drill sergeant, and we’re soon practicing like we never have before.
He makes us work until my body is aching and sweat is pouring off me like rainwater.
We have to repeat, repeat, repeat until we get it right.
The squeak of sneakers, the bouncing of balls, the puffing breaths of tired players on the verge of collapse are the only things to fill my ears as we show the new coach exactly what we’ve got.
Damn, this season is gonna be hard work.
My legs are about ready to buckle when he gives the whistle a double blow and stops us all.
“Time’s up for the day. I’ll be emailing you all a book I’d like you to read.
It’s called Mind Gym, and we’re going to be studying it together.
Eighty percent of winning a game is done up here.
” He taps his forehead. “You guys get mentally strong, and all this work on the court will come together into win after win after win.” His eyes start to glow with enthusiasm.
“This is our year, men. We’re gonna show this school…
this whole country… that we are elite. No more easy wins over the Nolan U Cougars, you hear me?
” His voice rises. “You hear me!” He spreads his arms wide, and Darian’s the first to let out a whoop.
“Hell yeah, Coach!” He claps, and Coach Paxton points at him with a grin that quickly grows as we all start to clap and cheer like some cheesy sports movie.
I really want to think it’s lame, but I can’t help getting into it, cheering along with my teammates and thinking about our game against Lennox.
We are capable of winning.
And maybe with Coach Paxton at the helm, we can do it more than once this year.