Basketball came naturally to Troy Jones. He was only a junior attending West High School, a small school where he had been the star of the basketball team since freshman year. From the start of the year he was a hot topic in the local newspaper, The Gazette, and he was an overwhelming favorite Connecticut Mr. Basketball. As a sophomore he was second in the county in scoring and he had already received his first division one offer from UNLV, but his dream was to play at Duke. Troy had never felt challenged in a basketball game and he was a cut above any opponent who dared defend him. Troy really did feel as if he was better than anybody he could be put up against. To some extent, Troy was right; nobody in Connecticut could match his talent.

Troy knew he let his success get to his head. He began partying and drinking. Being such a star in his small high school, Troy was treated like royalty at parties. When Troy was not out, he sat around at home, playing the newest NBA 2K13 on XBOX. It was a rare occasion that Troy did his homework or, outside of weekly basketball practices, did any kind of working out. Part of Troy realized that he wasn’t making the right decisions, but he overlooked that. Besides, he was still the best, and he would be fine if he waited until college to start working hard. So Troy continued his off-season in an extremely lackadaisical manner.

As a team captain, Troy entered the regular season. By the end of the season, his team was undefeated, he led the state in points per game, and remained the favorite for Mr. Basketball. He had even been featured in an ESPN segment for top high school players. As he looked at his profile on television, he loved what he saw. He was being called a natural scorer with one of the smoothest jump shots in the nation. The only criticism he heard was that they called him slow. He couldn’t believe that. Slow! What do they know? Troy thought. Besides, if he was already the number 3 high school player in the country as a junior, how big a deal was speed? So Troy brushed this off, knowing he would prove the analyst wrong at the next recruiting tournament.

West’s team was notified that they had received the first seed in the state tournament. Troy was excited, and he envisioned a tournament MVP in his future. He began trying harder at practice. He knew that any team in the country would take a state championship MVP. As the week before the first round went on, Troy even began to enjoy practicing harder, as nobody could oppose him in the slightest. On the day of the first game, Troy felt better than he had in a long time. He put up 40 points as West High School won their first round game in a blowout. Returning to practice the next week however, Troy lost his drive once again. Fatigue was setting in, and Troy thought the extra work would only serve to hurt him.

At first, Troy didn’t realize how important the tournament was to him. His performance in the state championship could make or break his junior season. If he played well, Troy knew he would likely win Mr. Basketball and would begin hearing from coaches immediately. Troy also knew the consequences if his performance was poor. His status as a recruit would be debated, his stock would go down, and he would be pressured to a huge extent by coaches and peers. Further, the only chance Troy had to be invited to play for the USA in the u19 championships the next year was to win the state championship. Troy didn’t worry about these consequences, however.

The week went on, and, not surprisingly, West High School continued to the state championship game. They were to play Jefferson High School. Troy found that laughable, as Jefferson didn’t even have one player in the ESPN top 100 recruits. In his eyes, the Jefferson squad was just a bunch of farm boys who played basketball to prepare for football season. Troy traveled to University of Connecticut’s stadium, already considering himself a state champion.

The morning of the game, Troy’s home phone rang. His mother picked up and talked for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, she explained to Troy that Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University had called. He had seen Troy play, and told her that Duke would take Troy’s performance that night into serious consideration. Troy was ecstatic after hearing this, as he had the chance to fulfill two of his dreams that night.

Troy wasn’t very focused going into the game. He had a lackluster warm-up, but he knew he would have his mind right before the start. After starting lineup introductions, Troy shook hands with his match up. He was big and had only played basketball for a few years, but was an all-county linebacker. Troy already envisioned himself with the MVP trophy in his hands. The game began, and the tip was directed right to Troy. With the opposing defense scrambling, Troy pulled up right after the 3-point line and scored the first points of the game. Troy’s success didn’t last long however. The very next play, Troy tried to drive by his defender, and could simply not get around him. He was too big and quick, so Troy just threw up an ill-advised shot, which bounced off the rim to the other team. Troy continued to try and score, but his defender continued to get the best of him. His defender wasn’t even a factor on offense, but had started simply to play defense on the best player, which was extremely frustrating for Troy.

During a timeout in which Troy displayed his emotions by kicking a chair, his coach told him to look to pass on every play. Troy began to use his ball handling skills to his advantage and tallied double-digit assists, but he could not score. His defender was too strong and too fast, and there was no way Troy could create separation.

Somehow, with the help of Troy’s assists, West managed to keep the game close. Down by one point with 4 seconds left in regulation, Troy had the ball. He drove to the basket, and was once again stopped. But, to Troy’s surprise, a foul was called. He had one last chance to make his mark on the game and win the state title. He was ecstatic, and he could feel his teammates, who had worked so hard, rejoicing.

Troy approached the line slowly and received the ball. This was one of the biggest moments to Troy’s life, and he was confident. Troy let the ball hit the ground once, and he began thinking. What if I miss? What if we lose? Troy dribbled again, trying to clear his mind. My whole school will hate me. My college stock will drop. No Duke. I don’t know if I can handle this. The ball hit the ground one more time. This cant be happening. I can’t do this. I’ve had a terrible game, that can’t change now! With his mind racing, Troy let the ball leave his hands for the first free throw. The crowd was silent as the ball traveled through the air. But this silence was nothing compared to the dead atmosphere when the ball hit off the rim. Troy, the star player, had missed his first free throw. Devastated, Troy got the ball back at the line, knowing he had a chance to at least tie the game. Again he tried to clear his mind. But the thoughts kept racing. Until finally, a shattering thought passed through Troy’s mind. I’m going to lose this game. Troy put the shot up. It had the range, it looked like a made basket. Maybe I was wrong, we can win this in overtime, Troy thought as the ball traveled in midair.

The ball hit the back of the rim and bounced out. An opposing player picked op the ball, and hurled it toward the ceiling as he let out a yell. Troy stood, frozen at the free throw line. He looked around. Half the gym erupted in cheers. The other team ran out to the court and started a dog pile as two slackers poured water on their coach’s heads. Troy’s view then faded to West’s side of the gym. He noticed college scouts leaving and discussing the game, each of them shaking their heads. Coach K was nowhere in sight. He fought back tears as he saw disappointed faces. His coach was looking straight at the floor, while his teammates, who had played their hearts out, lay demoralized on the floor. Then Troy looked straight at the ground. So many emotions hit him at once, not one of them positive.
Without drawing any attention as chaos erupted around him, Troy slipped out of the gym. He got in his car and just started driving, choking back tears. He didn’t think about where he was going, but his muscles worked automatically until he arrived outside of his neighborhood rec center. Unconsciously, Troy entered the gym and, hardly glancing at the form, applied for a membership. After applying, he paid for a one-day guest pass.

“Aren’t you that boy from ESPN,” the receptionist asked as he handed her the money.

“No,” Troy replied, “I think you have me confused with someone else.” Troy knew the he lied to her. He was well aware that he had been on ESPN, and he had wanted people to know that. But his identity was transforming as a result of the loss. Troy didn’t feel like someone who had been featured on ESPN. He felt like a failure. For the first time, Troy did not feel like he was any good at basketball.
Troy directed himself straight to the weight room, despite never having been in the gym before. He had never lifted weights on his own, only when he was forced to at some sort of workout. But he was alone in the gym, as the rest of the town was still at the University of Connecticut stadium, either celebrating Jefferson’s win or grieving West’s loss. Whether the people were happy or sad, Troy felt completely responsible. He was the reason West lost, and he was the reason Jefferson had won.
Robotically, Troy began loading the bench press machine with weight. He had no idea how much weight he could rep, but that wouldn’t matter. Even if it was too heavy, he had to lift it, because he had to make it up to his team. Troy lay back on the bench. He grabbed the bar. Half of him thought, for the second time that day, what if I can’t do it? But Troy shut that part of his mind off. His mind stopped racing, and he focused on one thought. Never again. Troy lifted the bar from its resting position. Never again will I let my team down. He let the bar fall and hit his chest. Never again will I miss a free throw. Troy inhaled. Never again will I allow myself to be defended in a basketball game. Troy tried to push the bar up, but it was too heavy. He could feel that he was wrong again. Again he was going to fail. Once again he was going to let himself, and his team, down.
It was then that something clicked in Troy. His last thought was that he would never again convince himself he could not so something. Immediately after, his train of thought altered tremendously. With the bar resting on his chest he thought, I will be the best basketball player I can possibly be. Everything fiber of Troy had changed. No longer was he complacent with being the best player in Connecticut. Now he had to be the best player in the nation. He wanted to be the best that he could be, and he was willing to change in order to reach his new goal. Troy, exhaling, pushed that bar up with difficulty. He decided that he would never let anything pull him back. Troy was going to be the fastest, the strongest, the smartest, and the best. He had told himself that in the past, but this time it was different. Every ounce of his body believed it, and felt a need for it.
With this new mentality, Troy let the bar come down again. The weight was no longer an issue. Troy was a different person. For the first time in his life he felt a certain drive that only an athlete could feel. Troy continued lifting the weight without issue. For the time being, Troy felt like nothing but a disappointment. He was enraged and upset with himself. Despite these overwhelming bad emotions, Troy couldn’t help but feel good, as he knew it was only a matter of time before he would come back even better than before. He knew that it wouldn’t be long before he was the best once again.