Persistence & Faith With A Lot of Patience -Aaron Anderson

Have you ever had a desire that weighed on you mentally? Come with me through my basketball journey and find out that patience, persistence, and faith is key to accomplishing your dreams.

Let’s not mess around; let’s jump right to high school. Growing up as a kid you want to go to the best high school and play for the best coach in the state. For me, that was outside the school district. Sacrificing playing with friends from elementary and junior high is what I had to do, I chose to play in another city. This is where I learned about politics in sports. Due to coaches not knowing me I had to prove that I belonged and was better than the players already there. I attended the schools' open gym scrimmages and showed that I’m able to compete and play at a high level.

The coaches took notice of me, as a freshman they told me to sign-up for the sophomore tryouts. After going through tryouts I made the team and had a good season. Now in my conscious, I knew it was time to make the JV/Varsity team as a sophomore. I made the JV team and was told I’d get some varsity playing time. The season starts, I’m doing well during the JV games and practicing well against the varsity team. Our season is going well, then injuries started happening. I’m supposed to be the next man up, but I never got my shot. As the season ended I had a meeting with the coach. He told me, “You lack an aggressive mindset, and you’re too nice of a kid to play at this level.” I had to make a tough decision, I didn't want to leave my new friends but I had to make the best decision that would help me get looked at for college scholarships. You guessed it; I ended up transferring back to the school I was supposed to attend. I used his words as motivation.

Now I’m a junior at my homeschool. The chip on my shoulder is big. I want to prove to my old coach that he made a mistake. The season starts, I’m killing it on varsity. I didn’t want to waste the opportunity I was given playing alongside one of the best big men to come out of our school. At the end of the season, we were in the state championship game ironically playing against my old high school. We lost the game. At the end of the game, my former coach let me know he noticed the hard work I put in and congratulated me. I made the All-Tournament Team and went on to have a successful senior year.

During my last AAU season, I was on a stacked team with the top players in the state. We were on the Adidas Circuit playing against top competition. We finished the season winning 8 out of 11 tournaments. The end goal of your last AAU season is to receive scholarships to play in college. Although I was having fun, we were winning tournaments, and I was as accomplished as my teammates, they were the ones receiving scholarship offers. After each tournament, I was still trying to gain interest from colleges.

In the “dead” period, I took matters into my own hands. I went to college Elite Camps in different states to showcase my skills. During the last week is when I finally got my break. After putting on a show and winning camp MVP, I received a scholarship on the drive home. That was one of the best moments in my journey because it took a lot of hard work to get the first offer. I received more as the AAU season went on. Once the season was over, I pretty much knew where I was going. I took a visit to the first school that offered me and ended up committing once the tour was over.

Now we fast-forward to my time in college and the grind it was to reach my new goals. My first year tested my patience. My goals going in were to start all four years and leave a lasting legacy at the University. I come in working hard, trying to do all the right things to earn the starting spot. The season is about to start. In a team meeting, I find out I didn’t make the starting lineup. I didn’t let that stop me. I worked hard the whole year and helped my team bring the school its first conference championship in the first year of being a division-one program.

The summer going into my second year was all business. I stayed at school the whole summer and worked on my game. I worked out two to three times a day and watched film with one of my assistant coaches who had pro level experience. He’s had the most impact on my game to this day. All the work from that one summer set me up to start my last three years. My teammates and I ended up bringing one more championship to the school and made the post-season play in all four years. We had a lot of fun together but at this moment its time for me to focus on my lifelong dream.

I’ve always dreamed of playing professional basketball. I knew it would be a tough accomplishment, but I didn’t think it would be this tough. It’s just like trying to move up in any career field; everything takes time.

Once I finished college, I signed with an agent that promised he could find me a job. A full season went by overseas and I didn’t receive a single offer from him. I took control of my opportunities again and became my own agent. I bought access to the overseas website and sent my resume to every team in every country available. Two months go by, and I finally receive an answer. A team in Australia wanted to sign me. I was on the first flight out a week later. I’ve been playing there for the last four years, and I’m very thankful. This past season I got the door to open. I practiced and played preseason games for a team in the Australia NBL. My end goal is to play in the National League in Australia or Europe.

As I sit here writing about my journey, I’m happy to share that this story just received good news. I’ve accomplished my goal and accepted an offer to play in Europe in Kosovo for KB Trepça. It’s a step in the right direction for my career. I’ve waited 4 years to step foot in Europe, now that I finally got my shot I’m going to make the most of it.

I’ve had to be persistent, being a small guy playing a big mans game. During the tough times, I still had patience and faith that everything would happen. If you are striving for something and it hasn’t happened yet, work hard and keep going! Everyone’s journey in life has its own route. If it’s not happening right now doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all.

  "But I Can't Call It!"

- Just Wait On It-

-Aaron Anderson