Jan '25 (edited) • 🏀 Basketball
On this day... Playing against NBA PG straight out of High School!
On this day... Playing against NBA pg straight out of High School @ Louisville Gardens
On this day Jan. 10, 2004.... I played against Sebastian Telfair our senior year @ Pleasure Ridge Park infront of 20+ NBA scouts & Rick Pitino & D1 coaches in a sold out Louisville Gardens. This game & events surrounding became part of an amazing basketball documentary/movie called "Through the Fire." My true bball junkies have probably seen this movie many times but if you haven't I highly suggest you watch it, its a very powerful & amazing doc about Sebastian's journey as the last high school pg to ever be drafted in the lottery (top 13 picks) into the NBA. Here's a clip below from the doc.
Here's the backstory:
My senior season at PRP high school (Louisville KY) we were a top 5 ranked team in the state & our top player was my best friend & UofL signee, 6'10 nationally ranked center Terrance Farley. I remember our coaches Mabs, Kihnley, Bax coming to practice & announcing we'd added a huge game to our schedule that would sell out the famous Louisville Gardens arena against the top ranked PG in the country. It was the flashy & gifted NY pg Telfair who had just committed to UofL & Rick Pitino as well with Terrance.
But here is the story that few know about leading up to the game. Our other starting guard was suspended at the time so I moved over to playing full time PG just before this big game was happening. On that night we played Western HS & Telfair's team had flew in early from NY to watch us from the stands. I had great game, lead us in scoring (not normal) & their scout was to put Telfair on me to guard in the following game. There was a lot of hype in the city surrounding this game, News outlets & the word that Rick Pitino & NBA scouts were all coming to watch Telfair. So here I was with an opportunity.
I had no idea that a documentary movie was being filmed as well. I just remember me & Terrance got pulled out of school to go attend a press conference on the news! Suddenly we were on a stage together at this conference with Telfair & I started to realize this is a big deal because he had a camera crew following him around everywhere he went. This was 2004! Way before influencer culture & Gary Vee made this normal to film yourself. Even in the game when I spoke to Telfair I noticed he was mic'd up & I thought that was so wild at the time. Again no one did this, I don't even think the NBA was mic'ing players up at that time.
Funny story: When I saw my matchup was Telfair I was shocked bc our other top guard returned for that big game. There was so much energy in the arena Louisville Gardens. Again if you've ever experience that place its amazing when its packed, its our Madison Square Gardens for sure. They added an extra 1500 seats in there on the floor so this place was buzzing! I'll never forget the first play of the game I tested Telfair by making a quick move & he was so fast that he beat me to my own spot & slapped the ball out of bounce LOL. I remember thinking ok this is NBA level speed & athleticism. Then it happened....
He kept guarding me & pushing me to my left (which I liked driving to my left). He kept yelling out "he only goes left, he only goes left" but the truth was Telfair was so fast I couldn't get back to my right he was forcing me left haha. Then I got a fast break downhill & he was waiting for me at the 3 pt line, I leaned & faked left & he bit on it to anticipated my drive. I crossed him over finally to my right & I remember all of Louisville Gardens yelling "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh" LOL. I was so hyped & shocked that I missed the pull up haha. Would've been the highlight of my season lol.
To close, I'll say Telfair was amazing that game. He was so fast our press could not lock him down. He had a great game, what was most impressive was his incredible vision & assists. Their team ended up beating us by 9 but what a fun experience & amazing exposure for PRP & our players. Myself & Terrance finished with solid games. Telfair went on to be the first & last point guard ever to be an NBA lottery pick out of high school.
**Please make a posts telling me a fun basketball story or experience you had. Hope to see you on our live community call this Sunday.
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On this day... Playing against NBA PG straight out of High School!
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