Trust

I've always gotten along great with kids and animals. They're honest and straight forward. There is no hidden agendas. You know exactly where kids and animals stand. You know exactly how they feel.

Growing up I was full of trust. We never locked our doors, not the doors of our home, not the doors of our cars. I didn't even understand the concept of not trusting someone or something . . .

. . . until I met the adult world.

During my senior year of high school I set out to find a college that offered me a chance to continue playing basketball as well as pursue an education in publishing.

Unfortunately my high school coach was not very experienced in placing players at the next level. He actually tried to disuade it.

So I took off on my home, a kid full of trust thrust into the adult world.

I liked Old Dominion. It was a Division I school where I felt I could play ball. I liked the location, Norfolk was really growing economically, and it was near the beach, and a little warmer weather then Pennsylvania.

I dragged the family down to visit the school. Unfortunately Old Dominion offered nothing in the fields I was interested in. They were very heavily geared towards engineering and science with a very meek arts program that seemed to barely exist at all.

I was also invited to visit Temple, and I went. As far as basketball was concerned I felt I was up to the challenge but kept getting visions of being the white guy at the end of the bench. Temple had an outstanding arts program, and plenty of great opportunities to learn all about publishing. But, the bottom line was location - North Philadelphia, no thank you.

I received a few calls from some of this area's Division 3 schools, Gettysburg especially wanted me to play ball there. But for some reason, at the time, I wanted to go to a school that was much larger than my high school. I wanted to get lost in the crowd a little bit, rather than have everyone know everything about me. Plus I didn't think our local Division 3 schools were worth the exhorbitant price tags they held for tuition.

A sports reporter for the local paper heard that I was looking into colleges, and recognized that my high school coach was of no help. He approached me and asked me if he could take me to meet the head coach at Shippensburg, his alma mater.

I said sure, it was a Division 2 school where I felt I could play ball right away. The school also offered a Journalism degree, which fit into my plans.

We went and I was introduced to the coach. He went on and on and on about how much he wanted me to play there, how he needed a 6'4" guard on the team with my track record. The coach gave me a little tour of the fieldhouse and then turned me over to the captain of the team for a complete tour of the campus.

The coach explained that he did not have any athletic scholarships to offer. But, he really hoped he'd see me at practice in the Fall.

My mind was made up. I enrolled at Shippensburg.

On the first day of school, which was a freshman orientation day, I headed straight for the fieldhouse. On my way I noticed a team running laps on the track behind the gym. There was no mistaking it. You just don't see a dozen guys all over 6'4" running together. This was the basketball team.

I hustled down to confirm my suspicion. It was true I learned. It was the basketball team and they've already been at school practicing for the past two-weeks.

Why wasn't I told?

I made a beeline for the coaches office. He was sitting at his desk reading.

"Excuse me. I'm Jim Albert. Why wasn't I told about the start of basketball practice?"

"You're who?" the coach asked. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you."

We had a rambling confusing conversation. I was dumbfounded and furious. I was heartbroken. The guy who told me he couldn't wait to get me on his team, now was telling me he had no room for me.

After years and years and years of practicing every day, suddenly organized basketball was over. Suddenly I had a couple hours a day that I had no idea what to do with.

As time went on, I met player after player after player that the same stunt was pulled on. I even met the guard from Warwick that I played against in the Lebanon-Lancaster league finals. The same thing happened to him.

It became obvious that this coach was over-recruiting purposely to make sure if we didn't play for him, we didn't play against him. He was taking advantage of kids full of trust for his own gain.

And as time went on, those non-existent scholarships actually existed. He awarded four scholarships to four big guys from Philly. Three of them quit school after the first semester.

It changed my life in many important ways. And one way, for certain, is that it made me lose innocence, and lose trust. The first thing college taught me was how to be cynical.

That college coach retired a few years ago and Shippensburg University awarded him for his great leadership and dedication.