Curtis Haggins...

 This is a very personal post.  There is talk that I have been nominated to be inducted into the California Community College Hall of Fame.  Previous inductees include Jackie Robinson, Bill Walsh and John Madden.  And now, Justin Love?  This kind of notoriety gives me pause because I feel I like I don't deserve this honor.  I was just one piece of a puzzle.  I had a great coach in Mike Legarza.  We had great players and together we made a great team.  The committee may feel I earned and deserved this looking at my stats and team production.  I know I worked hard my two years at Cañada, but let's give credit to the right people.

As my senior year was winding down at Sacred Heart Cathedral, I had no idea what came next. I was Player of the Year for West Catholic Athletic League, and my team had just won the championship of the league.  Obviously I was a good player but not good enough to get a Division one scholarship.  I thought about walking on at a 4 year university, but I didn't just want to be on the team.  I didn't want to be a cheerleader.  I felt I had enough talent that I could play at that level.  I also didn't want my parents to pay 20 thousand dollars a year just to see me sitting on the bench.  It was going to be a waste of their money.  I wanted to go to college and play basketball.  The only way that was going to happen was to figure out what community college I could go to and play basketball.

 I was invited to play in the Golden Gate Classic, which was a basketball All-Star game for seniors in high school in the Bay Area.  These were the elite players in the area, the who's who of Northern California.  If I hadn't already played against a player in this game, I for sure had read about their success in the sports pages.  I was humbled just to get a chance to play in the game.  Not only did I play in the game, but this game changed my life.  If fact, a certain person changed my life.

 I'm not one to brag, but I dominated the game.  I didn't win the MVP award however.  The person that did win the award is who this post is about, and his name is Curtis Haggins.  Maybe he didn't deserve to win that MVP, but he is the MVP that lead me to where I am today.  I knew Curt from my high school team beating his during my senior year (I had to throw that in there!).  Curt was the big name on my team for this All-Star game.  I'm making shots, but I'm confused because he keeps passing me the ball!  He's not only passing me the ball, but more importantly I'm getting the ball right when I'm open!  This is strange to me, it's new.  I thought hard about it during the game, like is he trying to get assists?  He is trying to get assists!  Curt was enjoying me making shots MORE than I was!  I don't want to bash my high school point guards, but during my sophomore year our point guard led the league in scoring.  This lead to me learning how to be a good offensive rebounder.  My junior and senior year we ran plays, but if the play wasn't for me I wasn't getting the ball.  Curtis was going out of his way and looking for me, because he knew I was going to make the shot.  After the game the discussion was where everyone was going to go to college.  I had no clue.  Curt tells me he is going to Cañada and wants to know where I'm going.  I thought about it for a second or two and my mind was made up.  I was going to Cañada too!  I would have followed Curt anywhere.  We just had chemistry, and I loved playing with him.  He wanted to play against the best players and didn't back down.  Curt made other players better not just with his play but also by verbally motivating them.  He was a true leader.

 This blog was about being nominated into the California Community College Hall of Fame, and I don't feel I deserve it.  There were games where I played terrible and Curt would whisper in my ear, "Come on Justin we need you right now!".  Does he not see how bad I'm playing?  I'm trying to be invisible, but my bad play doesn't matter to him.  Curtis was our team's engine.  When your teammate lets you know he's right there with you, then you can't disappear from big moments.  We are a team. In today's game if a player has an off day, other players would look at the situation as it's my chance to shine.  Me Me Me Me Me!  I can ball too!  I'm going to take over!  At Cañada we could be down two points late in the game, and Curt would tell me and the whole team, "look we are going to get a stop on defense.  We will get the ball back and then we will win the game".  Then he would whisper in my ear, "when we get the ball back I'm coming to you and we are going to win the game".  He said it so matter of fact that I couldn't do anything but believe him.  Curtis always was the one to validate the teams trust in me.  I know it wasn't just me but every player on the team.

 Fifteen years later, and the wrong person gets credit.  I've got so much respect for Curt, and I owe what I have to him.  He was my mentor, my friend and my dad all rolled into one.  After I think about everything, Curtis was the man.  I looked up to him.  He took a step back for the team to succeed, and not because the coach told him to do this.  The players on the team didn't tell him to do this.  He just did it, and he was the star.  Even though he had two teammates who went on and went big time, he will always be big time in my book.  I never asked him why he did what he did.  Even in situations in the game when he had beef with our coach, he never let that beef interfere with what we had to do as a team.  Curt's focus was always on what we had to do next to win the game.  He is a true leader and the real person who should take my place in the Hall of Fame.