NY Autistic basketball star**MAY REQUIRE TISSUES!

[jme829]

DId anyone catch this story on the news this past weekend?? Apparently in NY at Greek Athena HS, there was an autistic kid that didn't make the team officially but they made him the team manager and let him do all the odd jobs for the team.. WEll they had this game over the weekend and the team was up pretty good and there was 4 minutes or so left in the game so the coach points to him and says "you're in" jsut to let him play for a few minutes (I believe the kid is a senior and never played in any game before) This kid goes in and the place just erupts. His first 2 shots he misses, then all of a sudden, he hits 6 3-pointers in a row and a 2,,,he ends up with 20 points in 4 minutes. Every shot he made the whole gym just went nuts. The coach was hoping he would just get to shoot and maybe make one 2 pointer and he ends up scoring 20 points . When I first heard it I thought well maybe the coach is just going to put him in for "show" but what was really incredible is that despited his disabilities, even after he missed the first few shots, his team mates kept passing him the ball instead of playing "around" him...they honestly gave him every chance to play without just making it "look good" to have the him in. What an awesome story ....that says a lot about the character of not only the kid with the autism but of his entire team and shcool....As soon as the buzzer went off they just mobbed him...His parents must feel like they won the lottery. Its so nice to hear a "happy" story on the news once in awhile instead of all the problems. On one of the news shows this weekend, they had scheduled a different story, but pre-empted it and covered this one instead because it was so incredible.

 

[dg39]

Yep, I read about it. The story put a huge smile on my face. His parents must feel extremely proud. I agree, it was nice to read a happy story in the news for a change...

 

[robinb]

Here is a video. Warning! Have some tissues ready .

http://www.wfmynews2.com/sports/article.aspx?storyid=58418

 

[madalynns mom]

Funny, I saw this last week and ment to post about it. I actually cried when I watched it!! Such a great story

 

[ElizaB39]

I saw this too and the coach said this would be the most memorable moment of his career. He cried too.

 

[Martha7]

That was amazing! I teared up too, but I'm too cool to have let my DH see it!

 

[robinb]

That was amazing! I teared up too, but I'm too cool to have let my DH see it!

That's one advantage to having a DH who travels for business .

 

[tw1nsmom]

It just goes to show that you can never underestimate what a special needs kid can accomplish given a supportive and nurturing environment. It also shows how much a community can benefit from including special needs kids in their lives.

 

[minkydog]

WOW! We need a "tissue alert" in the title. Thanks for posting this.

 

[jme829]

WOW! We need a "tissue alert" in the title. Thanks for posting this.

OK I changed the title to state you may need tissues,..LOL Thanks for the idea!!

 

[TEENEE]

That story says a lot about the coach and the families of the other players. Obviously those kids were taught well. It's awesome that the other kids included him in the game. As the op stated, they could have played "around" him.

 

[castoff]

It's a great story. They call him J-Mac. It happened on Feb.15th and they are still talking about it here. The name of the high school is Greece Athena. The team has since played other games but J-Mac is happy to just be the manager. The family is overwhelmed by all of the attention they are getting. It was on Good Morning America, CNN, ESPN. He just has the biggest smile on his face when talking about it. Disney has approached the family on doing a movie...........that would be one movie I would see.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We saw this as well and thought it was great. It will be a memory that he will never forget.

I wonder if the coach is wondering if he should have played him more.

 

[wcduke]

that's AWESOME!!!

 

[minkydog]

OMG, now I really am gonna cry. Did ya'll ever see "Radio", with Cuba Gooding playing the mentally handicapped man? It was a three-box-er. If they make this story into a movie, I'll float away

 

[HayGan]

As the parent of an autistic child, the tears that go along with story flow for so many reasons. It is such a great story!

 

[2BigKIdz]

OMG, now I really am gonna cry. Did ya'll ever see "Radio", with Cuba Gooding playing the mentally handicapped man? It was a three-box-er. If they make this story into a movie, I'll float away

My cousin Parker goes to the HS in Anderson, SC where "Radio" is, he is still there helping out!!!

Sounds like J-Mac should have been playing all year! 20 pts!!! What a great story!

 

[Steamboat Marti]

We live near the area and it still makes news here - today's news was also interesting - all the video that you've seen on the television stations was shot by another Greece Athena High School student and they are giving him his five minutes of fame. It's really nice to see good high school students excel; but especially J-Mac. I hope my son turns out half as good as this young man!

 

[tinker1bell]

That was just a wonderful story.