Below you will read about the many coaches and players that cross my path throughout my athletic career and to those I say thank you. My interest in athletic began in my parent’s backyard when I was eleven years old. At that time my cousin David Brown was attending Prairie View A&M University. He was an All-Conference tackle; David would show me how to properly get in a 3 point stance. He would then knock me around for hours, but I was persistent and so eager to learn. He was my first football mentor. Mr. Robert Tapscott the athletic director at Julia C. Hester House was my next mentor; he started a Pop Warner football team there and I got my first taste of organized football.

While at E. O. Smith Junior High School, my next mentor was Mr. Frankie Brazos, head basketball coach, and Mr. Carmen Stewart the assistant coach. I played three years under their guidance’s. We won the city championship three consecutive years. I was named to the all-city team and along with Robert Shaw were team captains. Coaches James Bryant and Leslie Minified were also instrumental in my football development at E. O. Smith. I also was named to the All-City football.

After completing junior high school, I made a major decision in my young athletic career, which was to not enter Phillis Wheatley High School, instead enroll at Kashmere Gardens Junior Senior High School because basketball was my first love and my chance to excel at basketball was greater at Kashmere than Wheatley.

My sophomore season at Kashmere I played on the junior varsity teams in both basketball and football. My football skills were further developed under the tutorship of head coach Billie Matthews, assistants Olga Ross, Tillman Henderson, Herman Mabrie, Kirby Jones, Lawton Smart, Tom Hendricks, Julius Simon, and Leon Bedford. I met and befriended Charlie Lewis who was the kicker for extra points and field goals. He had the patience to teach me how to kick effectively. I eventually became the kicker for our team after Charlie graduated. At one time I held the school record for kicking the most extra points in a single season. My junior year I was named to the all-district and all-city football team at linebacker. My senior season I received many accolades which included all-district, all-city, all-state and Most Valuable Defensive Player on our team.

The basketball coaches that help honed my skills at Kashmere were head coach Weldon Drew, Coach Jordan, and Henry Stevenson. My junior season I made the all-district and all-city basketball team.  My senior season we ran the table in the Houston area beating Wheatley to advance and represented Houston in the state tournament at Prairie View A&M University. Many of the players on Wheatley team were my teammates in junior high so it was a bittersweet victory. This was an incredible accomplishment for us, after losing two starters at mid-term to graduation. We lost in a close battle to a much taller Beaumont Charlton Pollard team and finished as runner-up to state. There is no doubt mid-term graduation cost us a state championship.  That year I also made all-district, all-city and all-state as I closed out my athletic career at Kashmere Gardens Junior & Senior High School.