Liberty Heights: Overcoming Adversity'

 

For Coach Mike Wright, he has endured a tremendous amount of difficulty and adversity over the past six months. He lost two players in James Hampton and Mikey Maddox. James Hampton (Team United) 'collapsed and died at a Nike EYBL basketball game in Hampton, Virginia. A few months later, Mikey Maddox died from a bicycle accident. Maddox was enrolled at Liberty Heights and was expected to be the starting point guard. One thing is for sure, Coach Mike Wright has shown remarkable faith throughout the entire season. When speaking to him about this, he replied “I know God has in store something powerful ahead for us. Keep us in your prayers.”

Coach Wright does have a talented roster and great things are expected on the basketball court. However, we’ve had Liberty Heights at several of our events. It goes much deeper than basketball. It’s about life and the lessons learned. For this Liberty Heights, they are truly blessed to have an individual that cares so deeply about them; something we have observed in several settings. This team has gone through a lot. They 'understand the important of life through life’s own personal tragedies, but they keep representing and playing. This coming Saturday, December 15th, Liberty Heights will be playing in the Phenom Capital City Classic. The team is blessed with tremendous talent and are scheduled to play Lakewood High School (SC) at 8:15pm.

Liberty Heights is led by Alabama signee 6’7 Juwan Gary who is a consensus top 75 player nationally. Gary is a physically strong and athletic wing that excels in transition, but has really improved his range and overall game. More than anything, we have been impressed with his tireless work ethic and approach to the game. He’s a big time competitor and values winning and playing as hard as he can. Gary has had to endure the majority of the scoring at times due to the many injuries the team has faced this season

In addition, Coach Wright loss three year starting point guard Davier Dixon to an Achilles Tendon tear, not to mention 6’7 2019 Shayne Scruggs who also has been out with an injury. For Coach Wright, his team has endured heartache, injuries and tremendous adversity. That being said, it’s refreshing to see a coach that understands the big picture in life. For Coach Wright, it is all about the kids, it’s never about him and it clearly shows with the passion that is given toward each and every player.