Featured Point Guard
Derrick Rose - University of Memphis
Path from Chicago to Memphis full of potential traps, but siblingsteered Rose
By DanWolken (Contact)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
As a boy, Derrick Rose would run through the streets of Englewood,one of Chicago'sroughest neighborhoods, to the most secure place he knew. At his grandmother'shouse, Rose could escape the realities of the single-parent home he grew up inand a community marked by decaying buildings, rampant poverty and violent crime.
Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal
A highly regarded basketball player like Derrick Rose oftenattracts the wrong kind of attention. But with a big assist from his olderbrother Reggie, who is also a former player, the Tigers' star freshman steered clear.
"She was like my savior," Rose said.
She called him "Pooh," taken from the fictional bear Winnie thePooh, whose obsession with honey reminded her of young Derrick's desire forsweets, which he still indulges.
The nickname stuck, but it was not until years later, after Rose had dunked a basketball in the seventh grade, after word began to spread all over Chicago that a prodigy was living among them, that Rose realized there was a greater significance revealed by looking at the letters backward.
Hoop.
There are so many stories wrapped up in that little four-letter word. Everyday, it spawns countless urban dreams of NBA riches. And every day, it inspires just as many to prey upon those rare few with the talent to achieve them.
Unlike many from his neighborhood, Rose has already come this far, to the University of Memphis, where Monday the 6-foot-3 pointguard will play the first game of his college career.
For Rose, the path to this moment has been carefully orchestrated by histhree older brothers, who knew early on what he could become and did all theycould to ensure Rose would not end up like some of the other talented hoopdreamers who never made it out of Englewood.
.At Simeon Career Academy,where Rose went to high school, the best player on the basketball team traditionally wears No. 25 to honor Ben Wilson, a point guard who seemed destined for stardom until he was shot to death on Nov. 20, 1984, the day before thefirst game of his senior season.
That tragic story resonated deeply with Rose's brothers. By his early teens,it was already clear that Derrick's uncommon blend of athleticism, strength,basketball IQ and unselfishness would attract both opportunities and opportunists.
Reggie Rose, the second-oldest brother and now age 32, was well acquainted with both elements of Chicago's basketball culture. Out of high school, he was offered a scholarship to Cincinnati but did not qualify. So he went to junior college, then the University of Idaho,then came back and eventually went to work for Pepsi.
Because of his background, Reggie Rose recognized the street agents, drug dealers and others ready to move in on the young star. So along with his brothers, Dwayne and Allan, they built a protective wall around Derrick andkept most everyone else out, providing the same sense of security he had feltin his grandmother's living room.
"I said, I need to cover this up right away before it gets out of hand,"he said. "I didn't have any other choice.
"In the support system they built, Derrick was always monitored closely. His whereabouts and even his friends were subject to constant scrutiny. Derrick,however, was not always a willing participant.
"You had people taking him all the way to the west side of Chicago, where he wasn't supposed to be," Reggie Rose said. "It was hard because of what people were telling him. He said to me, 'You're trying to choose my friends.' Isaid, 'No, I'm not trying to choose your friends. You're 15 years old. There's no way you should be hanging around a 34- or 35-year-old man who doesn't have a son your age."'
"I got real mad," Derrick Rose said. "He didn't want me hanging near people he thought were not good for me. But I listened to him, and everything's good."
After that episode, Reggie pulled Derrick out of the AAU program he had played in and began his own, coaching Derrick and the Mean Streets Express. For other AAU coaches, college recruiters and media members, access to Derrick was limited, and the message was clear. To get to Derrick, you went through Reggie,and Reggie alone.
Memphis coach John Calipari says he only spoke to Rose twice during the entire recruiting process and didn't talk to Rose's mother, Brenda, until the end.
Derrick Rose - University of Memphis
Path from Chicago to Memphis full of potential traps, but siblingsteered Rose
By DanWolken (Contact)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
As a boy, Derrick Rose would run through the streets of Englewood,one of Chicago'sroughest neighborhoods, to the most secure place he knew. At his grandmother'shouse, Rose could escape the realities of the single-parent home he grew up inand a community marked by decaying buildings, rampant poverty and violent crime.
Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal
A highly regarded basketball player like Derrick Rose oftenattracts the wrong kind of attention. But with a big assist from his olderbrother Reggie, who is also a former player, the Tigers' star freshman steered clear.
"She was like my savior," Rose said.
She called him "Pooh," taken from the fictional bear Winnie thePooh, whose obsession with honey reminded her of young Derrick's desire forsweets, which he still indulges.
The nickname stuck, but it was not until years later, after Rose had dunked a basketball in the seventh grade, after word began to spread all over Chicago that a prodigy was living among them, that Rose realized there was a greater significance revealed by looking at the letters backward.
Hoop.
There are so many stories wrapped up in that little four-letter word. Everyday, it spawns countless urban dreams of NBA riches. And every day, it inspires just as many to prey upon those rare few with the talent to achieve them.
Unlike many from his neighborhood, Rose has already come this far, to the University of Memphis, where Monday the 6-foot-3 pointguard will play the first game of his college career.
For Rose, the path to this moment has been carefully orchestrated by histhree older brothers, who knew early on what he could become and did all theycould to ensure Rose would not end up like some of the other talented hoopdreamers who never made it out of Englewood.
.At Simeon Career Academy,where Rose went to high school, the best player on the basketball team traditionally wears No. 25 to honor Ben Wilson, a point guard who seemed destined for stardom until he was shot to death on Nov. 20, 1984, the day before thefirst game of his senior season.
That tragic story resonated deeply with Rose's brothers. By his early teens,it was already clear that Derrick's uncommon blend of athleticism, strength,basketball IQ and unselfishness would attract both opportunities and opportunists.
Reggie Rose, the second-oldest brother and now age 32, was well acquainted with both elements of Chicago's basketball culture. Out of high school, he was offered a scholarship to Cincinnati but did not qualify. So he went to junior college, then the University of Idaho,then came back and eventually went to work for Pepsi.
Because of his background, Reggie Rose recognized the street agents, drug dealers and others ready to move in on the young star. So along with his brothers, Dwayne and Allan, they built a protective wall around Derrick andkept most everyone else out, providing the same sense of security he had feltin his grandmother's living room.
"I said, I need to cover this up right away before it gets out of hand,"he said. "I didn't have any other choice.
"In the support system they built, Derrick was always monitored closely. His whereabouts and even his friends were subject to constant scrutiny. Derrick,however, was not always a willing participant.
"You had people taking him all the way to the west side of Chicago, where he wasn't supposed to be," Reggie Rose said. "It was hard because of what people were telling him. He said to me, 'You're trying to choose my friends.' Isaid, 'No, I'm not trying to choose your friends. You're 15 years old. There's no way you should be hanging around a 34- or 35-year-old man who doesn't have a son your age."'
"I got real mad," Derrick Rose said. "He didn't want me hanging near people he thought were not good for me. But I listened to him, and everything's good."
After that episode, Reggie pulled Derrick out of the AAU program he had played in and began his own, coaching Derrick and the Mean Streets Express. For other AAU coaches, college recruiters and media members, access to Derrick was limited, and the message was clear. To get to Derrick, you went through Reggie,and Reggie alone.
Memphis coach John Calipari says he only spoke to Rose twice during the entire recruiting process and didn't talk to Rose's mother, Brenda, until the end.
