Sports

Michael Avery is from Lake Sherwood, California who stands a good 6 foot 4 inches from the ground. His dream of playing college basketball has finally come true. He has been asked to play for the Cats. The only problem is that this offer has come a good 4-6 years too early as he is still in the 8th grade!

Right now Avery is attending the Ascension Lutheran School in Thousand Oaks. He has just recently moved to the east and interviewed with a private school in Culver, Ind. – which he is thinking about attending next year. It was during this trip that the coach of Culver’s upstart basketball programs introduced the family to the Indiana Elite AAU staff who eventually invited Avery to join their team in the King James tournament in Akron, Ohio.

According to Avery, Gillispie was scouting the event when the young player caught his eye.

“The second game we played, coach Gillispie was there watching a couple of other players that he may have had an interest in,” Avery said. “There was a 7-footer from Africa, a 6-10 player and a 6-8 player, so there were a lot of talented players at that game. I don’t even think he was aware of Michael before this game.

“Michael came off the bench each half and had a good game against some really good competition. From what I understand, he displayed a total skill set and the basketball IQ to know when and where to use that skill set within the context of the game. I think that’s what really impressed coach Gillispie.”

Rules prohibit college coaches from initiating contact with prospects and their families at events like the King James tournament, but word was later filtered through the Indiana Elite staff that Gillispie was very impressed with Avery.

“So what I proceeded to do was make contact with coach Gillispie,” Avery said. “I got a contact number for him and left him a message, but didn’t hear back from him. I started wondering, does he really like my son? When I got in Los Angeles Monday morning, I decided to try again, and he answered the call. He told me he remembered my son, and that he was really glad that I called. He explained that he wasn’t allowed to call me back, so it had to be me that initiated the call.

“We talked for a while and he said, ‘I like your son. In fact, I like him so much I want to offer him a scholarship here at Kentucky.’ I was like, ‘You’re joking, right?’ He said, ‘Nope. I’m serious. I really love the way he plays.”

It was hard for Avery and his family to keep their excitement in when they heard news of the  scholarship offer.

“I think Michael wanted to commit right then,” Avery said. “But this is all so new to us, and I’m aware of the unusual nature of an eighth-grader giving a commitment to a college. I wasn’t really sure how to react to it at first. A lot of people will say it’s too early in the process, but after talking to some people who know coach Gillispie, we decided it really can’t get much better than this opportunity.

“It’s a dream school for any kid who grows up wanting to play basketball. There’s only a few of them out there: Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Indiana back east; UCLA out here. If you’ve got an opportunity to play for one of those schools and get a great education, why not? We don’t need a hundred offers; we just need one great program and one great coach.”