Throwback Thursday: St Joes, Stevie Wonder, and Lou Hobson

As I was listening to the Stevie Wonder station on Pandora this morning one of my favorite songs came on.  The title of the song is "Sign, Sealed, and Delivered" by Stevie Wonder.  The song reminds me of St. Josephs gymnasium, and the first time that I met Lou Hobson.  

 A lot of great ball was played there.  Up until the end of my sophomore year I knew very little about St. Josephs.  I had recently returned to the hoop scene after a three year hiatus due to my parents being fed up with my lack of effort during middle school. 
 
In reality, I was not that serious about basketball, and didn't care about getting better. I was the complete opposite of everyone on my former C.A.Y.A. team.  C.A.Y.A stands for Central Area youth Association.  

"In 1964, CAYA was formally established with O.L. Mitchell as the first Director. The purpose of formalizing the organization was to provide education, recreation, and social development activities for youth between the ages of 9 – 18."  It was an extremely important organization during my childhood. This is my seventh grade CAYA team.  Im number seven.  Lots of memories.  I learned a lot from these guys, and had a lot of fun traveling and basically watching them play.  I went on to play high school and college basketball with number five Will Conroy.  

 
From fourth to seventh grade, I traveled to various cities in the US, more as a spectator than a player.  In retrospect practice was huge for me in terms of development.  I was the weakest link, and it was evident a lot of the time.  The two players that were equal in size were way more developed, socially, and physically speaking.  I developed an understanding for basketball by watching my teammates play in games, as well as playing against them in practice.  Little did I know that it would be the foundation for what was to come down the road.    

Lou Hobson was a large reason for the talent explosion that took place in Seattle from 1998-2010.  Although I was a relative nobody on the prep hoop scene following my junior season, and had no intention of playing basketball for Lou’s basketball program, he still allowed me and lots of other kids to work on our games in that gym.  I gained a lot of confidence and respect from my basketball playing peers up at St. Josephs. St. Josephs provided kids with a competitive, safe, positive, all inclusive environment.

"Courtesy of Post Intelligencer"
Lou Hobson

 

St. Josephs, or St. Joes for short is a private school located in the Central District/Capitol Hill area of Seattle.  During the day the gym was full of kids that attended the private school.  At night the gym transformed into a training ground for some of the best ball players to come out of Seattle in the last twenty years.    

  

My life started to change after my first year of high school as I was five-eleven,  I didn't play basketball and had no intention of playing. Going into my sophomore year something special happened.  I began what would end up being an eight inch growth spurt over the next year and a half.  Even then I was not interested in playing.  It was not until coaches and friends who did play started to tell me I had to!  Honestly the thought of playing for Garfield was a dream.  Never thought it was going to be a reality.    

I made the Junior Varsity Squad my sophomore year at 6'4" and I made the Varsity squad my

 junior year at 6'8". 

One of the best teams ever assembled in the state of Washington.  As a result I had to wait my turn.  Number twelve in the back.  I was tall, but still getting use to my new body as I grew eight inches in the year and half prior to my junior year.    

I was clumsy, but knowledgeable about the game.  I had some ability as a result of one on one games with my older cousin Max, playing ball at the local parks with my father and uncles, as well as my time with C.A.Y.A..  Now that I was tall, all I lacked was the confidence and the skill to be a good player.

. 

Lou provided me the environment to gain confidence and raise my skill level.  My first meeting with Lou Hobson was also my first time playing ball at St. Joes.   As I entered the lobby of the gym two sounds stood out to me outside the obvious sound of basketballs bouncing.

The first sound was Stevie Wonder's, "Sign, Sealed, and Delivered" blasting on the stereo that was located on the east side of the gym on the sideline at mid court.  The second sound that I heard was from a man who was not yelling, rather speaking loudly.  It was Lou Hobson.      

I loved Stevie so I was excited upon entering the lobby, what excited me more was the atmosphere within the gym.  I saw kids of all ethnicities.  Male and female all in the gym working on their games.  All different skill levels, yet not one kid acted better than the other.  I remember being amazed at Lou’s ability to debate some basketball related topic, rebound for a kid, mediate an issue, and teach hoop all at the same time.  Future prep, collegiate, and NBA stars in the gym as well as future accountants, and doctors. 

To some that drive by St. Joes, it’s simply a private school, but to me it’s where I started working on becoming a real ball player.   If not for my time at St. Joes, and Lou’s guidance I would have never been in a position to play for a scholarship.  

I went from playing 1.8 minutes a game my junior year of high school for the Garfield Bulldogs to becoming a Nike Camp All-American within months of the season ending.  The confidence gained playing at St. Joes was a huge reason for it.  

"Sign, Sealed and Delivered", reminds me of the love, respect and appreciation for basketball that was present in St. Joe’s gymnasium.