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Grantland.com’s Jonathan Abrams has written about his road trip with NBA Draft Prospect and former John Calipari recruit Royce White. [URL=”http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8096247/on-road-nba-draft-prospect-royce-white”]In the article[/URL], White opens up about his side of the Calipari’s recruitment of White:
[QUOTE]After leaving Minnesota, White saw the success of his high school peers, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins among them, and felt he could still play with them. He wanted to prove his skeptics wrong. John Calipari wanted White to transfer to Kentucky. White never got on the plane.
“The main reason was because my girlfriend was pregnant and we found out we were going to have the baby in January or February,” White said. “Me and Coach Cal met and from what he told me about Kentucky, it just sounded like a place where you couldn’t bring your future son’s mother. Kentucky ain’t for that. We talked about where the players live, there’s no girls around. They’re just really hands-on about what the players do in their free time. Me, about to have a first-born son, it wasn’t conducive in Kentucky. That was more the reason. I wanted to be close to home. I wanted to be able to have her have support. And if I was going to be playing and traveling, I wanted to be able to be there when I could.”
Calipari told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that he’d met with White and his mother.
“It was done and I was happy,” he told the newspaper. “I said, ‘You know what? This is going to be something good.’ And then he couldn’t get on the plane.”[/QUOTE]
It’s interesting that White mentions that his son’s mother wouldn’t receive the support that she needed in Lexington. The cynical among us will assume that White wanted financial support for her. It would be easy to say that [URL=”http://vaughtsviews.com/?p=10967″]DeAndre Liggins’ child and [/URL][URL=”http://vaughtsviews.com/?p=10967”]fiancée[/URL] had no problem living amid the Kentucky basketball program. But the major difference between White and Liggins is that Liggins & his family didn’t have to relocate several states away.
The Grantland article details White’s ongoing battle with anxiety issues. Calipari referenced these issues in the “he couldn’t get on the plane” quote. The article does a fantastic job of showing how White’s issues aren’t just a B. A. Baracus-like fear of flying. White’s anxieties penetrate him deeply and nearly derailed not only his basketball career but his entire life.
As someone who also deals with anxiety issues, I can relate to White’s trials. The article is polished to appear that White has a good understanding of his anxiety & maturity issues; I hope that is true. Unfortunately the article also makes a mention of White’s physical health problems that possibly postponed or cancelled a workout with an NBA team. Those physical aliments might cost him more money on his rookie contract than the potential red flags previously waved for his anxiety.
