Act 2 Chapter 2
An old man sat at his desk, quivering in anger as he reads the screen of his tablet, while a man wearing a black polo stood in silence in front of him.
“Lost 62-52 to Montverde?!” the old man slammed down his tablet on his desk. “First, we lose out on Andrew Crawford, the number one eighth grader in the nation and a home talent, to them. Now this?! What the hell are you guys doing?! This is unacceptable!”
“But, sir, they have-” a polo-wearing man attempted to refute before the old man blindly threw the tablet blindly in his direction.
“Montverde isn’t even good this year! They don’t have Cade Cunningham or Scottie Barnes this year! Who do they have? Ryan Nembhard? We lost to a team full of third-rate players!”
“I assure you that we will do better next year.”
“Next year?” the old man chuckled. “There will be no future for you here. You’re fired.”
“Fire me? Hold on a second,” the polo-wearing man folded his hands and placed his elbows on the table like he is about to make a prayer. “I’ve brought this school three straight state championships. You can’t just let me go.”
“State championships are the bare minimum that I expect out of this program. But what have you done nationally? You’ve had the best roster in the nation three years in a row with only accomplished two first round exits and now a massive choke-job in the championship against a neutered down Montverde team. I’ve brought you here to elevate this program, not to make us an embarrassment.”
“Please give me one more chance,” the polo-wearing man pleaded in desperation. “Our entire core will be intact for next season. I’m 100% positive that we can win nationals next year.”
“What about your recruiting class? Who are you bringing here next year? You know my grandson will start attending here this fall. He needs a strong supporting class built around him for the next four years. If you couldn’t bring in Crawford, who do you get instead?”
“That’s…a work in progress.”
Shaking his head, the old man groaned as he stood up and turned around to look at the forest through his wall of windows. “Not very convincing now, Mr. Conatus.”
“Sir, please. Just one more chance. Next year’s seniors have been with me since I was first hired here. Let me coach here at least until their careers here are done.”
“Fine,” the old man replied, continuing to bask in the view through the window. “Championship or bust. You have one more chance.”
“Thank you so much, sir! I-”
“On one condition,” the one man raised up one finger. “I will be in full control of the recruiting.”
--
“Slow day, huh,” K.J. said to himself, swiftly scrolling through Instagram posts on his phone.
“K.J.! K.J.!” Landry bounced up and down in excitement.
“What’s good, Landry?”
“Eden Prep is holding open tryouts at the park tomorrow!”
K.J. put his phone down and looked Landry straight in the eye. “You for real?”
“I’m dead serious,” Landry nodded. “They’ve been holding these tryouts around the country for a few days now. Today, it looks like they’re doing them here.”
“What’s Eden Prep?”
The one inquiring was Tavon, who was previously fast asleep on the desk during the previous class period.
“You’ve never heard of Eden Prep?” Landry covered his mouth as he gasped. “They’re like one of the most elite boarding schools in the country! Graduates there have a 100% success rate in employment and college admission! Recently, they have started to put more money into their athletic programs. Their basketball team have three-peated the state championships in the past three years and have been regular participants in the GEICO nationals.”
“Huh,” Tavon replied with an unenthused tone. “That’s cool, I guess.”
“Tavon, you should tag along with us,” K.J. once again offered another invite.
“How many times do I have to fucking tell you, man? I don’t play.”
“Come on, dude. It’s a chance to get into Eden Prep! Get into the school, and you’ll be set for life! There’ll be like hundreds of people going. I doubt we’ll be selected. Let’s just do it for fun memories and shit!”
“Pass.”
“K.J., come on. We gotta do some training for tomorrow.” Landry tapped K.J.’s shoulder, whose legs were trembling in excitement.
“Aight, fine,” K.J., though unsatisfied, gave up persuading Tavon and followed Landry out of the classroom. Just as he was heading out the door, K.J. turned around and looked back at Tavon. “Tavon, if you change your mind, you can find us at Cascade Park. It starts at 10 AM.”
Tavon watched K.J. exit the classroom before deciding to leave school himself.
--
A slightly overweight older man blew his whistle and pointed to the exit of the courts. A substantial number of teenage boys gloomily stepped off the courts, returning to their life of normalcy. The tryout to the Eden Prep basketball team was now entering its final stages. Eighth graders around Seattle were tested in several tests that included evaluating categories such as speed, stamina, and technique.
“Goddamn it…” K.J. gasped for breath, drops of sweat rained down his scalp. “Sorry I had to do it to you.”
“Don’t worry about, K.J.,” Landry shrugged. “I didn’t think I’d make it this far.”
“Nah, fuck that shit! This shit ain’t fair! Out of all people, why did I have to go against you?!”
“Dude, it’s okay. You won fair and square. Just win for me, alright? I know you got this.” Landry winked at K.J. before leaving the court along with the others who were eliminated.
The recent test was a game of HORSE but with a twist—the person must try to make a shot while being defended. If the shot goes in, then that person must prevent the opponent from making the same shot. Then like regular HORSE, one will get a letter if they are unable to make the shot.
Landry has always been a catch-and-shoot type player who struggles to shoot off dribble. Combined with the fact that he must be guarded by a defensive specialist like K.J., his chances of advancing to the next round were slim to none.
From over 500 total entrants at the beginning of the tryouts, there are now only 16 participants remaining. The entrants were split into four groups in different locations, but those who have made the cut to the final round will now come together back at Cascade Park.
“To all that made it, welcome back,” a bald man wearing sunglasses applauded the 16 survivors in front of him. “We will now be starting the final test!”
He places a large box with a hole in the top onto the table to his side. “For your final test, you will be split into four teams of 4. Two teams will play each other, and then the other two will afterward. The victors of the two games will play in the last round. Winner of that will pass the tryouts and be welcomed to the Eden Prep team.”
“I have a question,” one boy in the front of the group asked.
“Good question,” the bald man responded and cleared his throat. “When you signed up this morning, do you remember being given a number? Those numbers assigned to you were placed into this box. First four numbers picked will be one team and so on.”
After the teams were selected, the eight players on Team A and Team D gathered on their court for the first game of the afternoon. K.J.’s number 8 was one of the last numbers selected, which puts him on Team D. Typically, one would be unfamiliar with their teammates in such a situation as the teams were selected at random. For K.J., however, he recognized a familiar face on his team.
K.J. slapped both his cheeks to check if he was dreaming, but alas he was wide awake. “What are you doing here?” he questioned one of his teammates.
His teammate’s mouth was agape at the sight of K.J. “Oh, you made it here? Honestly, I thought you would be one of the first ones eliminated.” It was Tavon, who somehow went unnoticed by K.J. at the beginning of the tryouts before everyone split up for the earlier stages.
“Tavon, do you have that little faith in me?”
“Yeah.” Tavon nonchalantly answered, which K.J. sucked his teeth in response.
“You two know each other?” one of the other two teammates approached Tavon and K.J.
“Yeah, we go to the same school,” K.J. responded.
Their teammate heaved a sigh, clutching his chest. “Oh, that’s a relief. At least there’s some chemistry on this team. I’m Mateus. I was the 2 guard at Eckstein and been a starter on Rotary since sixth grade.”
“The fuck is a Rotary? Isn’t that a Pokémon?” Tavon scratched his head.
K.J.’s forehead creased as he heard ignorance coming from Tavon’s mouth. “It’s the best AAU team in Seattle, dumbass.”
“Oh.”
“Over there is Leo,” Mateus continued. Leo tried to wave at the three but was unable to get any of their attention. “He’s a big man who played for Aki Kurose, who made it to the state finals this year. Unfortunately for them, they had to deal with the Andrew Crawford show.”
“Nice to meet you guys. Name’s K.J. and this here’s Tavon. We’re both from Mercer.”
“Ah, that’s why you look familiar! I remember playing you guys during the season. Y’all weren’t half bad. I don’t think I’ve seen Tavon before though.”
“I’m not on the team. That’s why,” Tavon answered.
“Do you play AAU?”
“Nope.”
“So you just play recreationally?”
“No, never.”
Sweat started to drench Mateus’s face. “Do you play basketball at all?”
Tavon shakes his head. “Mm-mm. I don’t play.”
“Wallahi, we’re finished,” Mateus squatted down, grasping the back of his head so tightly that several hair follicles fell off. “The other teams have top level AAU talent while I have someone who doesn’t even touch a basketball.
A whistle was sounded, which signaled to both teams that the game between Team A and Team D was about to start.
“I will explain the rules,” the overweight older man steps forward between the two teams huddled around center court. “The first round will be first to 21, ones and twos. If you make it to the last round, it will be first to 50. Everyone understand?”
--
“Booooooring.”
Sitting atop one of the many apartment buildings surrounding the park, a girl sipped her cup of tea freshly brewed by her butler who accompanied her on her antics.
“Milady, we should really be heading back to the school. It’s getting quite late.” The butler insisted to his master, knowing full well that it was futile. Once she comes up with an idea, she does not stop until she is fully satisfied.
“Winston, do you think any one of these guys can be ‘the one’?” the girl inquired, ignoring her butler’s pleas.
“If I may say, I believe this whole escapade is a complete waste of time. Eden Prep’s scouting is the cream of the crop. They have already recruited the best possible basketball talent for next year.”
The girl shook her head, clicking her tongue. “We’re human, Winston. We’re bound to overlook something. There is a plethora of examples of that in sports. The term ‘draft steal’ was coined for such situations in professional sports. Tom Brady, Nikola Jokic, Mike Piazza. There will always be someone who will slip the cracks of these so-called professional scouts.”
Using her binoculars, she looked back down at the court as a game was about to start. Upon closer inspection, she felt something was off. She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow.
“Hey, Winston. Why are they playing 4-on-4?”
“From our sources, the final test was supposed to be a regular 5-on-5; however, not enough participants passed.”
“That’s strange. How did that happen?”
“It appeared that one of the groups only had one person pass while the other groups had five. The reason for how that happen is unknown.”
“Hmmm, is that so? Do we have any info on the lone representative from that group?”
“One moment please,” Winston swiped through his tablet until he landed on his target. “Number 498, Tavon Cash. Age 14. 5’11”. No middle school or AAU experience.”
“Eh? No organized basketball in the past two years? What about prior?”
“No data about any previous basketball experience was found. Quite unusual. He is the only one in the database without any record of playing basketball or even any other sport before.”
“Interesting,” a large smirk grows on her face. “Tavon Cash, huh…”
