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Speaker 1: Welcome, and I'm Attilie Man. You are listening to All

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Speaker 1: Ball and we have we got a great story for you,

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Speaker 1: Anthony I and he joins us um in in mere moments,

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Speaker 1: former Michigan State Spartan dog walk on Big Man out

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Speaker 1: of a town very close, very close to East Lansing,

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Speaker 1: and he has a unique tale. He's a first Division

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Speaker 1: one athlete to come out and say I'm I'm autistic,

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Speaker 1: but you'll be blown away by by the way in

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Speaker 1: which he tells his story. Is a new book coming

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Speaker 1: up and Will Will Will Will basically tell some of

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Speaker 1: his story and and maybe ask some of his opinions

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Speaker 1: on if you're coaching a kid who's on the spectrum,

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Speaker 1: how should you do it? If you're trying to help

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Speaker 1: kids on your team, understand how to approach a kid

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Speaker 1: who's on the spectrum, hows you do it? We'll get

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Speaker 1: to that upcoming in a moment. I do want to

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Speaker 1: talk about Ben Simmons, who's requested a trade from the

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Speaker 1: Philadelphia sevent sixers. Matter of fact, he's no longer requesting now,

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Speaker 1: he's demanding, I'm not showing up a camp, trade me

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Speaker 1: right blanking now and puts Derrick Booman. Darry moorey in

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Speaker 1: a tough spot and obviously he's been trying to deal him,

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Speaker 1: but he's been unable to recruit the package. He thinks

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Speaker 1: that Ben Simmons is worth And it's always funny to

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Speaker 1: me on hell a guy wants to be traded and

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Speaker 1: yet goes out and makes this public and says, I'll

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Speaker 1: never play for the six Ers ever again, which of

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Speaker 1: course hurts his trade value, which lessens the likelihood of

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Speaker 1: being traded in general, but also being traded to the

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Speaker 1: team you want to be treated trained trade to. I

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Speaker 1: like Ben Simmons, but I'm gonna say this because I

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Speaker 1: believe it to be true. I don't think he's a winner,

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Speaker 1: and it's not because he didn't win at L s U,

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Speaker 1: but it does play a little bit of factor. It's

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Speaker 1: not because he hasn't won at all in Philadelphia, but

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Speaker 1: it plays a little bit of a factor. Um, I

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Speaker 1: think his talent could have helped Team Australia. You know,

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Speaker 1: it could have helped Australia in the Olympics, but he

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Speaker 1: wanted to go to Wimbledon with his girlfriend instead of

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Speaker 1: working on his game and helping his home country. UM,

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Speaker 1: try and get a gold medal, but he wouldn't do it.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it's not that he's not a marvelously

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Speaker 1: talented player, but there are things you have to do.

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Speaker 1: There are sacrifices you have to make if you want

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Speaker 1: to be a championship caliber player at any level, and

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Speaker 1: at the NBA level, no matter how good he is

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Speaker 1: that everything else he does, if he doesn't fix the shooting,

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Speaker 1: because even now, when he fixes the shooting, it's when

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Speaker 1: do you shoot? It makes you really hard to coach.

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Speaker 1: When you're switching teams. I think they'll get a lot

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Speaker 1: for him. I believe he'll be traded, but I think

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Speaker 1: he heard his trade value. And it's really hard to

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Speaker 1: control the destination when you're limiting your options because they're

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Speaker 1: gonna want so much and only the bad teams have

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Speaker 1: that much to give. All right, let's get to Anthony.

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Speaker 1: Irony a lot to his story, which is fascinating of course,

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Speaker 1: graduated Michigan State, now a motivational speaker. Here's my talk

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Speaker 1: with the first ever college basketball Division one college basket

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Speaker 1: player to say, I'm autistic. Um, okay, so I want

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Speaker 1: you to be able to tell your story. But let's

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Speaker 1: let's start where'd you go? I grew up in mist Michigan,

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Speaker 1: which is right next to Michigan to Michigan State. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so Oakland is like, um, that's where they have Oakland University,

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Speaker 1: right and so so so Alchemist, Michigan is right next

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Speaker 1: to East Lansing and then Oakland University of Rochester Hills. Okay,

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Speaker 1: oakum oacha must So I mean is it a butt

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Speaker 1: Lansing and East Lansing or is there like ten miles

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Speaker 1: in between? Like when you say it's right there, give me,

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Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm not. I'm not from Michigan. So so

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Speaker 1: my high school is literally like five miles from campus,

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Speaker 1: so it's really not that far. Okay. So you grow up,

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Speaker 1: what what's your when? When's your first engagement with basketball?

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Speaker 1: When you start hooping? So I started playing competitive ball

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Speaker 1: when I was seven years old. Um, but I was

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Speaker 1: around you know, my father, Greg, who worked in n

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Speaker 1: C double athletics for a long time. He was at

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Speaker 1: Virginia for a few years and then at oh A

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Speaker 1: University for eight, then at Michigan State for twenty six.

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Speaker 1: So I was around all all kinds of athletes and

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Speaker 1: athletics when I was a younger kid, but like when

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Speaker 1: basketball really didn't come into play for me until I

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Speaker 1: was about seven years old. And of course at that age,

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Speaker 1: you know, I was like everybody else. I was watching

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan when w g N was on cable at

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Speaker 1: the time, because we got that in mid Michigan at

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Speaker 1: the time, and so just watching Michael and the Chicago

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Speaker 1: Bulls and those mid nineties like is what really kind

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Speaker 1: of sept the tone for me at such a young age.

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Speaker 1: We're always bigger than everybody. Were you lay them? Oh? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I was bigger than everybody. I mean, you know, when

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Speaker 1: I was eleven years old going in the sixth grade,

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Speaker 1: I was six ft tall and I wore size their

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Speaker 1: team shoot and so yeah. So when I was a

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Speaker 1: fifth grader, I was around five ten, five eleven, so

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Speaker 1: I was I was a pretty big I've been a

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Speaker 1: big kid, and I was a big kid through them

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Speaker 1: a whole life. When were you diagnosed? So I was

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Speaker 1: diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder also known as pdd N

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Speaker 1: S when I was four, So that was in nice

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Speaker 1: ninety three. And what's really unique about that is nobody

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Speaker 1: really knew what autism was in the mid nineties. You know,

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Speaker 1: there was no resources for there was no path and

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Speaker 1: that was also a time period where that was the

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Speaker 1: more the a d D d h D era for

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Speaker 1: for diagnosis, right right, just put them and put them

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Speaker 1: on riddling, right, Yeah, their kids, their kids are hyper right, exactly.

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Speaker 1: And and like you know, that's when my mom, you know,

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Speaker 1: first asked the doctor when they found out, you know,

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Speaker 1: when I was diagnosed with autism, was okay, so we're

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Speaker 1: gonna put them on riddling, right, And the doctors were like,

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Speaker 1: you know, I could subscribe all the riddling you want,

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Speaker 1: but it's not gonna make a difference. And so but yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know, usually in that time period, you know,

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Speaker 1: riddling was usually the one thing that was suggested, you know,

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Speaker 1: whenever there were kids at a d D at that time,

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Speaker 1: at that age, or even on the auto and speculm

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Speaker 1: at that time. So how did your parents know to

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Speaker 1: get you diagnosed? And then and and and and understand

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Speaker 1: that there was something that wasn't a d D. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't hyperactivity. So if my mom, so say, my mom

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Speaker 1: gave me a direction, you know, if she had told

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Speaker 1: me to go pick up the toys and put the

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Speaker 1: toys away, in the toy room. So instead of pulling

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Speaker 1: the toys away, I do the complete opposite, and I

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Speaker 1: would get more toys out. She had told me to

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Speaker 1: go into my room and go pick out a red shirt.

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Speaker 1: I would come out with like a green or a

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Speaker 1: blue shirt instead. So she kind of noticed that something

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Speaker 1: was really off. And she also noticed, how, you know,

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Speaker 1: when we went to Ohio University football and basketball game,

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Speaker 1: she kind of noticed, how, you know, just the crowd

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Speaker 1: noises and the lights and the buzzer on the scoreboard,

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Speaker 1: which would make me kind of freak out, have wig

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Speaker 1: out moments. And she kind of realized that, you know,

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Speaker 1: that just wasn't you know, something just didn't look right.

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Speaker 1: So initially she took me to get diagnosed the first time,

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Speaker 1: and the doctor came back and said it was a

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Speaker 1: d D. But my mom, who had coached volleyball, I don't,

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Speaker 1: I don't know have a university at the time. She

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Speaker 1: was the head coach there, you know, She said to

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Speaker 1: the doctor, No, I know what a d D is, Like,

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Speaker 1: I have volleyball players on my team who you know

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Speaker 1: who have a d D. Like, I know what that is,

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Speaker 1: and it's not it's not it. And so they took

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Speaker 1: me to Children's Hospital in Columbus and then UM and

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Speaker 1: that's where the diagnosis came in, came into play. Oh,

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Speaker 1: were you in some sort of altering education? So I was.

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Speaker 1: I was mainstream classroom my entire you know years in

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Speaker 1: KP through twelve. But when I was in kindergarten through

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Speaker 1: fifth grade, I had a pair of pro with me

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Speaker 1: UM and in all my classes, I had speech therapists

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Speaker 1: twice a week. Um, you know so, and then UM

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Speaker 1: middle school to high school at a resourceroom. So I

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Speaker 1: was always mainstream, but I still had those extra resources

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Speaker 1: and accommodations to help me be successful in the classroom.

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Speaker 1: Um okay, So did did anybody else? Like it was

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Speaker 1: a little I mean, obviously now it's less taboo, but

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Speaker 1: I can't imagine in mid nineties, did anybody know outside

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Speaker 1: of your teachers? Did kids know you're diagnosis? Did anybody

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Speaker 1: say did they call you names? Like how were you

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Speaker 1: treated when you're an elementary school? Junior high school? Hih school?

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Speaker 1: So nobody so elementary school, no, in middle school? Nobody

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Speaker 1: really knew about my AUNTI diagnosis outside of the Oklamist

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Speaker 1: the Olkamist public school administration, my teachers in principal um.

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Speaker 1: You know, the so how I was treated like, I

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Speaker 1: was really bullied a lot as a kid. I was

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Speaker 1: really taking advantage of um. You know, when I was

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Speaker 1: in first grade, I had a fifth grader who would

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Speaker 1: stick up for me all the time on the playground.

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Speaker 1: He always called me his little brother. I called him

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Speaker 1: big brother. But he actually saw my sister and I

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Speaker 1: went to elementary school together for a couple of years

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Speaker 1: and so, but he was in my sister's grade, and

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Speaker 1: he kind of had an idea that you know, if

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Speaker 1: you tell Anthony to do something or something, he'll do

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Speaker 1: it because he's tricked really easily into doing it. And

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Speaker 1: that's what happened. And then one day during the wintertime,

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Speaker 1: like him and his buddies came out, came out on

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Speaker 1: the playground and took me over the jungle gym the

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Speaker 1: monkey bars and say, hey, hey, Anthony, need to try this.

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Speaker 1: You know, we were sticking on our we were sticking

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Speaker 1: our tongues on the poll earlier, and it was really

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Speaker 1: cool and it felt really cool. And so they tricked

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Speaker 1: me into doing that. And then after that I became

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Speaker 1: the victim of their bullying and teasing for a while,

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Speaker 1: and so just I was taking a mantage of by

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Speaker 1: a lot of people. And you know, because of how

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Speaker 1: I would have wig out moments sometimes in the classroom,

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Speaker 1: on the hallways, just moments I could not control at

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Speaker 1: a younger age. You know, I can control them now.

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Speaker 1: And that's when basketball kind of really helped me out

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Speaker 1: a lot, because you know, if I was playing those

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Speaker 1: kids in little league, they had to guard me, and

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Speaker 1: I end up taking advantage of that, you know, in

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Speaker 1: dropping twenty or twenty five points on him in the game.

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Speaker 1: But high school, you know, my freshman year, I got

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Speaker 1: disrespected a lot because a lot of people were doubting

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Speaker 1: me and didn't think I can achieve or accomplish anything

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Speaker 1: in athletics or let alone basketball. But it was going

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Speaker 1: into my sophomore year of high school, after a full

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Speaker 1: summer of a au there were some rankings that came

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Speaker 1: out on Michigan preps dot com and they had ranked

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Speaker 1: me the number one center in my in my class,

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Speaker 1: which was the class of two thousand and seven in

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Speaker 1: my state. And so when word of mouth kind of

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Speaker 1: got out that I was the number one center in

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Speaker 1: the class two thousand and seven for that for that summer.

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Speaker 1: You know, I go to school first day of school,

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Speaker 1: and the people who were disrespecting me and doubting me

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Speaker 1: in the first day of school, in my freshman year,

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Speaker 1: it was complete, you know. One eight after that, you know,

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Speaker 1: I started, I earned their respect. You know, they were

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Speaker 1: talking to me about it and so but I knew

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Speaker 1: after that, like the work wasn't done because I had

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Speaker 1: more things I want to achieve and accomplished. Because you know,

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Speaker 1: when I was five years old, I had a group

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Speaker 1: of doctors and professionals who told my family that because

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Speaker 1: I have autism, I wasn't gonna achieve or be successful

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Speaker 1: or do much in life. They actually told my family

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Speaker 1: that I would barely graduate from my school, never go

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Speaker 1: to college, never be an athlete, and likely end up

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Speaker 1: in a group institution with other individuals like myself for

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Speaker 1: the rest of my life. And you know that that

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Speaker 1: my parents told me that story going into my freshman

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Speaker 1: year of high school. So you know, at the same

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Speaker 1: time I had I had I had an agenda, and

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Speaker 1: that agenda was to shut everybody up who doubted me

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Speaker 1: and disrespected me, and to go on and prove people

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Speaker 1: wrong and show people that I can do things in

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Speaker 1: life despite having autism. Did that come from your parents?

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Speaker 1: That just come from internally? Like? Where does that come from?

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Speaker 1: I think it just came internally because you know my dad.

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Speaker 1: You know, the one thing my father has always taught

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Speaker 1: me in my life is the harder you work, the

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Speaker 1: more you earn, and you block out the noise and

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Speaker 1: just focus on what you gotta do. And my mom

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Speaker 1: is you know, she's been a volleyball coach, has always

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Speaker 1: been one to not only encourage me, but you know,

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Speaker 1: she also had to make a lot of sacrifices to

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Speaker 1: help me be successful to at a younger age. I mean,

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Speaker 1: my mom went a whole year of not working so

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Speaker 1: she could just help support me and make sure that

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Speaker 1: I got the services and the accommodations I needed to

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Speaker 1: have in school. Yeah she she um. So, so like

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Speaker 1: we're having a conversation. I there's no You're no different

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Speaker 1: than me, right, We're right. So I don't like, how

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Speaker 1: did how did how do you go from your diagnosis

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Speaker 1: at four years old to the man you are today?

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Speaker 1: I like, what is it simply therapy? Is it therapy? Medication?

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Speaker 1: Is it? Like? Um? Yeah, you know in full disclosure,

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Speaker 1: one of my kids is uh has what do you

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Speaker 1: call when it's really she struggles with executive function, right, Okay,

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Speaker 1: just cannot organize yourself, You just can't do it. And

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Speaker 1: then she has um I would say, mild too severe

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Speaker 1: anxiety and social anxieties years as well. And so it's

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Speaker 1: constantly a process of some mismedication but also therapy. But

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Speaker 1: it's it's really hard as a parent, your process when

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Speaker 1: you're in middle in high school, medication, therapy and therapy.

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Speaker 1: What was it? So? Not education? Not not not medication.

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Speaker 1: I didn't take any anytime of medication when I was

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Speaker 1: a kid. But I think a lot of it just

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Speaker 1: has to do with my parents and my teachers because

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Speaker 1: you know, when I was you know, diagnosed, and then

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Speaker 1: that meeting happened when I was five. You know, my

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Speaker 1: parents had you know, they had the expectations always stayed

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Speaker 1: high because my dad told those doctors in that meeting, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, he is going to graduate from high school.

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Speaker 1: He is going to go to college and graduate, and

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Speaker 1: you know, we're gonna find a way to do this.

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Speaker 1: And after that meeting, my mom and dad just looked

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Speaker 1: at each other like, Okay, how are we going to

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Speaker 1: do this there at Sandy McDonald, who was the assistant

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Speaker 1: director for Special Education and olchamist, she was in on

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Speaker 1: that meeting and she stayed with my parents afterwards and

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Speaker 1: she looked at them and said, you know, you're right,

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Speaker 1: you know, we are going to find a way. And

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Speaker 1: so so everything that my parents did, you know, everything

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Speaker 1: that my principal did, my teachers did, everything that was

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Speaker 1: put in my i e P. My Individualized Education Plan

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Speaker 1: were ways to help me, you know, kind of get

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Speaker 1: used to certain things. So one of the things my

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Speaker 1: mom always had with me as a younger kid was

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Speaker 1: I had to be on a strict, set schedule and

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Speaker 1: so so so as I got older, I learned that

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Speaker 1: everything was not always going to be on a set schedule,

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Speaker 1: that things were going to change. It happened because one

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Speaker 1: of my big biggest weaknesses growing up, Doug was, um,

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Speaker 1: you know, if if if something were to change, like

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Speaker 1: so for example, and obviously we'll talk about Michigan State

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Speaker 1: in a little bit, but so when I got to

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Speaker 1: Michigan State after I transfer Grand Valley State, you know,

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Speaker 1: if my girlfriend at the time now my wife, if

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Speaker 1: we're going to go to the movies at eight o'clock

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Speaker 1: at night, and you know, we're getting ready to go,

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Speaker 1: but then we get a text from coaches or the

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Speaker 1: assistant coaches saying, hey, we got film at eight o'clock tonight.

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Speaker 1: I would just kind of lose my mind because you know,

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Speaker 1: I would say to my my girlfriend and I'd be

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Speaker 1: I'd be like, Okay, we were supposed to go to

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Speaker 1: the movies at eight o'clock and which is really bother me,

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Speaker 1: And she was like, well, I'm not going anywhere. Just

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Speaker 1: go to film and come back. But if that was

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Speaker 1: the five year old Anthony any it would have been

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Speaker 1: twice as worse. I would have been throwing things. I

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Speaker 1: would have been waking out because you know, I had

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Speaker 1: to be on a set schedule. But because of my parents,

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Speaker 1: because of everything they did for me, everything from communicating

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Speaker 1: with my teachers to making sure everything and my I e. P.

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Speaker 1: Playing was strict to the team, making sure my teachers

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Speaker 1: followed it. I think that's what helped made me successful.

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Speaker 1: And you know, as far as like the basketball piece,

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Speaker 1: like I couldn't. I couldn't. I barely went to Michigan

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Speaker 1: State football and basketball games as a younger kid because

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Speaker 1: the the stimulation of the lights, the sounds, and the crowd,

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Speaker 1: and like I would put my head on my mom's

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Speaker 1: lap because it was just too much for me. And

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Speaker 1: I'm just kids, like having a wig out moment, what

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Speaker 1: is going on? And so but then when I got older,

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Speaker 1: and once I started to learn, you know, counting from

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Speaker 1: zero to twenty and twenty back to zero, I would

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Speaker 1: watch the scoreboard clock and then as it was counting

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Speaker 1: down from five to zero, five four, three two, I

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Speaker 1: put my hands over my ears. Clock goes off. And

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Speaker 1: then what I did, Doug was I would slowly take

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Speaker 1: my hands off my ears so I can kind of

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Speaker 1: get used to like the sound. If it was too much,

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Speaker 1: I put my hands back on my ears. The same

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Speaker 1: thing with crowd noises and the crowd went nuts, hands

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Speaker 1: over my ears and that would slowly take them off.

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Speaker 1: So I did that every game. And so there were

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Speaker 1: just little I guess you can call them little things,

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Speaker 1: but to some people maybe a big deal. But like

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Speaker 1: it was just the little things that I did to

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Speaker 1: help me kind of overcome you know, I guess my

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Speaker 1: fear of loud noises and just the stimulations of crowd

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Speaker 1: noise and arenas. But that was also a big testament

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Speaker 1: to my teachers in my family because they taught me that.

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Speaker 1: They taught me to find the little things to help

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Speaker 1: me kind of overcome the big things if you will.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing. It's amazing. My daughter has that where she

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Speaker 1: just can't do the crowd, she can't do the noises,

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Speaker 1: and it's it's it's um, it's you have to It's

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Speaker 1: a different way of you know her, she's so she

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Speaker 1: gets so hyper stimulated. You know that the smells tastes.

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Speaker 1: It's just it's different than what I experienced. Fox Sports

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Speaker 1: Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

346
00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,880
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot

347
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,920
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app search f

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Speaker 1: s R to listen live. Okay, so the number one

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Speaker 1: center in the state of Michigan as a sophomore. Um,

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Speaker 1: but you went to Grand Valley State. Yeah, why they

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Speaker 1: were people? What did did coaches know about the autism?

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Speaker 1: And so they stayed away and recruit you. What why

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Speaker 1: why were you that good, that big, that strong, and

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Speaker 1: that you have We had to be skilled and why

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Speaker 1: go to that level? So throughout my recruiting process, like

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Speaker 1: I was recruited by a lot of teams. UM. You know,

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Speaker 1: obviously Michigan State recruited me throughout my whole career. They

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Speaker 1: didn't have scholarship to give me, so offered me prefer

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Speaker 1: a walk on spot. UM. Oakland University was the first

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Speaker 1: school to actually offer me and UM, but I had

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Speaker 1: interests from Gonna Produce, Fort Wayne, Balpo, UM, Wisconsin, UM,

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Speaker 1: Eastern Western Central Michigan, so a lot of the MAX

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Speaker 1: schools at that time and so UM and in a

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Speaker 1: few more big time schools. But you know, the more

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Speaker 1: and more I realized that you gotta perform at a

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Speaker 1: higher level, which I'm not saying I didn't, you know,

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Speaker 1: I did, UM, and we had really good teams. You know.

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Speaker 1: My junior we went to the state championship game. UM,

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Speaker 1: we lost in double overtime by uh Sagon Arthur Hill,

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Speaker 1: That's who beat us. And it was it was our

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Speaker 1: best player, uh, a guy by the name of dark

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Speaker 1: Quebus Tucker went to DePaul Yeah, so doud so that

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Speaker 1: to this day, it's still considered one of the great

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Speaker 1: Class A state championship games in state history. And we're

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Speaker 1: all we're all proud to be a part of that,

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Speaker 1: which I wish it would have been a gold medal

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Speaker 1: hanging around. My next tedis silver. But you know in

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Speaker 1: that game, I put up twenty three and nine, and

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Speaker 1: then you know, I figured, okay, my recruiting is gonna

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Speaker 1: shoot through the roof now. But obviously a few things

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Speaker 1: in AU happen, you know, playing for the Michigan Mustangs,

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Speaker 1: that just didn't work out for me. So I had

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Speaker 1: to go to another team, which worked out pretty well. Um,

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Speaker 1: and that's worth the a FE Wizards out of Dearborn.

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Speaker 1: A f E stands for athletes for education. So you

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Speaker 1: weren't so what you weren't getting the ball. You weren't

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Speaker 1: getting minutes. They're all going one on one, they went

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Speaker 1: through it inside. Yeah, I wasn't getting minutes because you know,

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Speaker 1: we were so the guy who organized the team putt

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Speaker 1: put me in the top you know, top center, in

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Speaker 1: top power forward, all on the same team, and he

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Speaker 1: was going to try and start us all at the

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Speaker 1: same time. But I don't know how we were all

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Speaker 1: gonna be on the floor at the same time because

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Speaker 1: to six nine guys in a six eight forward, like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you were going to do that.

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Speaker 1: So so I wasn't getting a lot of playing time

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Speaker 1: going to my last year with the Mustangs, and so

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Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, if I'm gonna find

400
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Speaker 1: a place to play in college, I gotta go somewhere

401
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 1: around them. And so, you know, next tournament in UH

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Speaker 1: four when Indiana, I'm starting for a few Wizards, and

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Speaker 1: that's where Grand Valley Stay really noticed me after that. Um.

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Speaker 1: But the one thing I noticed was there were a

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Speaker 1: lot of schools who kind of found out about on

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Speaker 1: me a little bit. And I think a lot of it,

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Speaker 1: Doug had to do with the fact again we talked

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Speaker 1: about resources, Like a lot of the schools that recruited me,

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Speaker 1: I don't think they had a lot of resources for

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Speaker 1: individuals with disabilities or autism at that time, and I

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Speaker 1: think that's why they kind of, you know, went away

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Speaker 1: from recruiting me, which you know, I get that. I

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Speaker 1: understand that recruiting is the business too. UM. I thought

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Speaker 1: about going to Oakland University because our start point guard

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Speaker 1: had committed there in the spring, and so there was

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Speaker 1: really a lot of thoughts about me following him because

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Speaker 1: he and I worked so well together on the court.

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Speaker 1: We were, I mean great friends off the court too,

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Speaker 1: and then Oakland pulled my scholarship and gave it back

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Speaker 1: and gave it to another kid out of Wisconsin, and

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Speaker 1: he committed right on the spot. And so my choices

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Speaker 1: were either Grand Valley State one the top t as

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Speaker 1: your two programs in the country at the time, or

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Speaker 1: Michigan State. And I didn't know what to do. And

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Speaker 1: because Michigan State, Doug was always my dream school from

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Speaker 1: day one. And I told tom Is at eight years

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Speaker 1: old after a after a game, I said to him

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Speaker 1: when I when I first met him, I said, I'm

429
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 1: gonna play for you in Michigan State. And of course,

430
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,040
Speaker 1: I'm sure coach at that time was probably like, oh

431
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,000
Speaker 1: this is this is cute. And an eight year old

432
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,439
Speaker 1: kid tell me he wants to play for me me

433
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,119
Speaker 1: at Michigan State. Nobody at that time really thought that

434
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,240
Speaker 1: was gonna that dream is gonna be become a reality.

435
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:31,879
Speaker 1: Um So I've no coaches for a long time, but

436
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,240
Speaker 1: I wanted to get his input on what I should do,

437
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,959
Speaker 1: because it's either go to school out of full right

438
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,960
Speaker 1: scholarship where everything's taken care of, your family doesn't do anything,

439
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 1: or you go to your dream school and you try

440
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 1: to earn a scholarship. But the but the odds of

441
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,720
Speaker 1: that happening, as I prefer walk On are not always

442
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,480
Speaker 1: gonna be in your favorite So he and I had

443
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 1: a meeting for about an hour, you know, going into

444
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,159
Speaker 1: my senior high school. I said, Okay, I'm I'm stuck

445
00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,960
Speaker 1: between a rock and hard place because I love Michigan State.

446
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,160
Speaker 1: I want to be here, but it's a full ride.

447
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,879
Speaker 1: What should I do? And he was straight up with me.

448
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:05,439
Speaker 1: He said, Look, I'll be honest with you, like I

449
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,480
Speaker 1: don't have scholarships to give, Like there's a reason why

450
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,199
Speaker 1: we offered you to prefer and walk on spot, like

451
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 1: you're good enough to play here, but you know I

452
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: have scholarships to give. But whereas you have a full

453
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 1: right offer on the universities in the state of Michigan.

454
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 1: So not only will you have a chance to play

455
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:23,840
Speaker 1: at one of the top D two programs in the country,

456
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:25,920
Speaker 1: but you're gonna get a great education in the process.

457
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 1: So if you don't take that full right offer, like,

458
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,960
Speaker 1: I'm gonna treat you like one of my players in

459
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,920
Speaker 1: this office tonight, and I'm gonna yell at you right now.

460
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,640
Speaker 1: And so, but the last thing he said to me, Doug,

461
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,640
Speaker 1: he said, but just know that if things don't work

462
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,199
Speaker 1: out of Grand Valley State, just know you have a

463
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,159
Speaker 1: locker in a jersey here waiting for you if you

464
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,480
Speaker 1: ever want it. So even though that, even though I

465
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: was at Grand Valley State, like that offer was always

466
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 1: on the table and I and to this day like

467
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,880
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for that, but for for for tom

468
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,400
Speaker 1: Izzo to splat out and be honest with me and say, hey,

469
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,160
Speaker 1: take the full ride. It'll change everything. And I listened

470
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: to him like he wasn't coach at the time. I mean,

471
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:02,359
Speaker 1: this is a guy who I wanted to play for.

472
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,679
Speaker 1: But you know the fact that he encouraged me to

473
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,920
Speaker 1: take the full ride, you know, told me that not

474
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: only how much like that conversation meant to me, but

475
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:11,639
Speaker 1: it showed like how much he cared as a person

476
00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 1: as well. What was his Grand Valley stad Like I

477
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 1: tell people, out of the five years I had in college,

478
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,000
Speaker 1: it was those were two of the best years I've

479
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: had in college because you know, I hold a special

480
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: place in my heart for Allendale, Michigan and Grand Valley

481
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: State University for a reason because I met so many

482
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:33,440
Speaker 1: great people there, um from school administrator's staff and faculty too,

483
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: you know the other athletes, you know on sports teams

484
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,359
Speaker 1: on campus, and everything was right there, Doug, like literally

485
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 1: like if I had if I had class at eight

486
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning, like my dorm room could be

487
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,359
Speaker 1: like a five minute walk to class. And that's what

488
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 1: I loved about so much, was everything was right there.

489
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 1: If you wanted to go off campus and talked to

490
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 1: meet up with people, it was literally like a mile

491
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,160
Speaker 1: walk from where you would live on campus. And so

492
00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 1: everybody was just so supportive of each other. Everybody loved

493
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,199
Speaker 1: being a Laker and and it felt like home. It

494
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 1: really did. I remember during freshman orientation, I was walking

495
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:09,639
Speaker 1: back to the basketball offices and it had that home feeling,

496
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,840
Speaker 1: and I remember walking past the bell tower in the

497
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,880
Speaker 1: middle of campus. It reminded me of Michigan State and

498
00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 1: just the friendships that I made in the relationships I

499
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,760
Speaker 1: made that still then team to this day. It's one

500
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,600
Speaker 1: of the biggest reasons why, you know, I have such

501
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,160
Speaker 1: love and respect for Grand Valley State and the support

502
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: that they still give me to this day, even though

503
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:29,480
Speaker 1: I was only there for two years. It just goes

504
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: to show you how how how incredible of a of places.

505
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,480
Speaker 1: It really was, and you know, basketball wise, it was

506
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,800
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to um. We were thirty six

507
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: and one my freshman year, we actually beat Michigan State

508
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,479
Speaker 1: in that exhibition game, uh to open up the two

509
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 1: thousand and seven season. And my and in my freshman

510
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,439
Speaker 1: my sophomore I had a chance to start. But you know,

511
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: there were just some things that went on with the

512
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,680
Speaker 1: coaching staff and me, whereas you know, they were really

513
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,120
Speaker 1: sarcastic a lot, and I don't think they knew how

514
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,359
Speaker 1: to coach an individual like me because some of the

515
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: things that I struggle away from a language perspective. But

516
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: you know, I just told myself, you know, even though

517
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: it didn't work out for me, like I still have

518
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 1: so much love and respect for Grand Valley State. And

519
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 1: if my kids, you know, if my six year old

520
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,280
Speaker 1: and my three year old, or if they ever become

521
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 1: basketball studs one day and Grand Valley State is then

522
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 1: like their top three, and you know, and they asked

523
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:22,480
Speaker 1: me what I think. I said, you know, what you

524
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 1: go to obviously number one, you want to go to

525
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 1: a place that you love, but you really consider granting

526
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:31,040
Speaker 1: you sugar. I tell people any recruit doesn't matter what sport.

527
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,199
Speaker 1: It is a Grand Valley States in your top final,

528
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,160
Speaker 1: top two or top three, really look into them because

529
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: they really are an incredible school and they have an

530
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: incredible athletic program. What so you transfer to to Michigan State. Um,

531
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: it was like, well, what's what's the experience like when now,

532
00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,719
Speaker 1: like now you're hopping into big time college pass one.

533
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 1: I think your red shirt year, didn't you? Guys? You

534
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,439
Speaker 1: only I mean like you won like thirty one games.

535
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think you're I think that was your

536
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 1: red shirt year. Um, maybe it's your first year was

537
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,880
Speaker 1: oh nine two thousand ten or so, oh nine tents.

538
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: So we went to before and that here. Um, but

539
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: did you get to go because you're retchir No, I

540
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,960
Speaker 1: didn't get to travel with the team, but I was there. Um,

541
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:17,840
Speaker 1: you know, I was still in the stands, still participating

542
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: team meetings and everything like that. And you know, I

543
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: tell people, Doug, like the toughest part about that year

544
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 1: was like even though I was on the team, like

545
00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: I was on the team post of the team, media

546
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,120
Speaker 1: guy and everything, I really didn't feel like I really

547
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,159
Speaker 1: was because the only time people would see me was

548
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 1: at the end of the bench. Wearing this, you know, um,

549
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,919
Speaker 1: wearing this black jumpsuit, warm up jumpsuit. That's people actually

550
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 1: thought I was an assistant trainer because you know, everybody

551
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 1: else was just wearing you know, jumpsuits, you know, warm

552
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: up suits at the end of the bench. And so

553
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:47,479
Speaker 1: that was the tough part for me because the only

554
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,240
Speaker 1: thing I was doing was practicing. The only thing I

555
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,080
Speaker 1: was doing was just being a part of team meetings

556
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 1: and stuff. But you know what I loved about a

557
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,640
Speaker 1: lot of those guys and the team was they made

558
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 1: me feel like part of the team no matter what.

559
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 1: So a good example of this is when, um is

560
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,800
Speaker 1: when we're in St. Louis for the Sweet six team.

561
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,000
Speaker 1: You know, I went down to St. Louis for the game,

562
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: went there for practice, watch practice, watch film, and in

563
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,879
Speaker 1: team meetings with the guys and Draymond Green afterwards. You know,

564
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,160
Speaker 1: Draymond Dada was a senior sophomore at the time. UM,

565
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 1: So everybody got like, you know, pizza and team meals

566
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 1: after we beat uh. I think it was Northern Iowa.

567
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: And you know, Draymond at the time was trying to

568
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 1: you know, start start losing weight, and then he didn't

569
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 1: want his pizza and he said to me, here, Ai,

570
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,399
Speaker 1: you take it. You know I'm good. I'm trying to

571
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: trying to share some weight right now. And he didn't

572
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 1: need to do that, but he wanted me to be

573
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: a part of the team in some fashion, and so

574
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: then I then I left St. Louis before we played

575
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: the Elite eight game in Tennessee against Tennessee, and I

576
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 1: texted Draymond. I said, hey, so if we win today,

577
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:47,879
Speaker 1: so doing me a favorite cut down a piece of

578
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 1: net for me, will you? He said, I got you.

579
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 1: I'll make sure he gets done. So after we won,

580
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,359
Speaker 1: team comes back, bus pulls in for the Final four celebration.

581
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,680
Speaker 1: Draymond gets off the bus. I give him a hug.

582
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:00,639
Speaker 1: He goes, hey, I got some for you, and he

583
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: pulled out a long string of the net that he

584
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: cut down for me. And because he wanted me to

585
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 1: be a part of it, even though I wasn't there

586
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,720
Speaker 1: in person, and so for some of those guys to

587
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 1: make sure that I was still a part of it.

588
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 1: The atmosphere, you know, as a as a member of

589
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: the Michigan State Spartan program, I mean, it was still

590
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: one of the greatest experiences I had and you know,

591
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: for me to still be able to tell my kids

592
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 1: that I was part of a Final four team and

593
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of people that that can say

594
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: that and so um. But the experience I had playing

595
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: for for tom Izzo and Michigan State, it was one

596
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: of the greatest experiences of my life. You know. I

597
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,639
Speaker 1: got to play against guys who are in the NBA,

598
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 1: I mean, And the one thing that I got from coaches,

599
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: oh was you know, the one thing he told me

600
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,239
Speaker 1: about about me, was he respected so much? Was I

601
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,479
Speaker 1: did all the dirty work in practice. You know, I

602
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,040
Speaker 1: was captain in the scout team. I had to go

603
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 1: up against Draymond every day in practice. I had to

604
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 1: take charges on him. I had I had to go

605
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: up against Derek Knicks, which was not a easy tax task.

606
00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 1: I had to go up against Adrian Pain, which was

607
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: not easy. And so for me to do that every

608
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: single day, that was the one thing that he really respected,

609
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: you know, about me the most. And it's funny because

610
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,360
Speaker 1: I kind of I kind of like to tell people, Doug,

611
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: I don't want to make I don't like making a

612
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:13,879
Speaker 1: parison sometimes because it gets into the pates, like we

613
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,159
Speaker 1: try to compare Michael Jordan's Lebron James, which, you know,

614
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,960
Speaker 1: two different eras of basketball. You try to compare the two,

615
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 1: you just can't because it's two different eras, two different players. Um.

616
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 1: But you know, one of our former players called me

617
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 1: the Rudy of Michigan State basketball one time, and the

618
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:31,640
Speaker 1: more I thought about it, I was like, you know what,

619
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,879
Speaker 1: my story and Rudy, Rudy, your story are almost the same.

620
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 1: You know, the same story. You know, both guys want

621
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:39,880
Speaker 1: to play for their dream schools. Both guys end up

622
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,880
Speaker 1: playing for their dream schools. Just two completely different paths

623
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 1: and two completely different endings. But just the experience I

624
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: had and the guys that I got to be a

625
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:49,960
Speaker 1: part of on the team, the guys want proud to

626
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: call my brothers. To this day, it's one of the

627
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: it's one of the great things that you know, made

628
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: my experience so great. And there's a reason why you know,

629
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 1: we are called the Spartan Dog family is because we

630
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 1: are family. And you know, no matter where we are,

631
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 1: no matter how far we go in life, no matter

632
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,600
Speaker 1: what we do in our careers, we're always still in touch.

633
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 1: And so it's to this day, you know, it's still

634
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 1: honored to be a part of the Spartan family for life.

635
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 1: UM show, where did you come up with the idea

636
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: to write a book? So it actually started about seven

637
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: years ago. UM. I had a lot of people, you know,

638
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,160
Speaker 1: school administrators, especially because I do a lot of motivational

639
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,640
Speaker 1: speaking and kake through twelve schools, universities and conferences all

640
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:34,320
Speaker 1: over the country, UM regarding bullying and autism. And I

641
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: was doing a presentation at a high school or at

642
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: a middle school excuse me, in Macomb County, Michigan. And

643
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 1: after I got done, I was talking to the administration

644
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,600
Speaker 1: of the principle and the principle said me, hey, UM,

645
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: have you ever thought about writing a book? And I

646
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: was like, nah, it's like, you know, my schedule is

647
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 1: so busy right now. I'm on the road in most

648
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 1: five days a week going to different towns and states, Like,

649
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,239
Speaker 1: I don't know if I would have time to do it.

650
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 1: And they said, well, you should really consider it, because

651
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: you know, our students only get to hear maybe one

652
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 1: fourth year life story. I think it'd be incredible that

653
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 1: they heard your whole life story. Just tell them even

654
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: more stories about what you've been through When you grew

655
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: up and you know how how parents were. Kids with

656
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,360
Speaker 1: lots of them can see things differently now other than

657
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,239
Speaker 1: seeing you on stage, and it could really take your

658
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: motivational speaking career to a level you never thought I

659
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 1: could go to. So I was like, Okay, I'll think

660
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 1: about it, and so um. So in the spring of

661
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen, I started talking to people and

662
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,640
Speaker 1: that's when it really started to really kind of get

663
00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 1: my head more and more about Okay, maybe I should

664
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,120
Speaker 1: do this. I think it's time and so um one

665
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,240
Speaker 1: of the Free Press free press writers in Detroit UM

666
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: Chris Slari, who covers Michigan State football and basketball. He's

667
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: a beat writer for them, and Chris and I initially

668
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: talked about doing the book together, but then Chris got

669
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: the job as the head beat writer for the Free

670
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 1: at the time, and so Chris didn't have time to

671
00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:53,000
Speaker 1: do it. So I was like, Okay, well I need

672
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: to think of something. And so so my middle school,

673
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 1: my middle school resource froom teacher, UM Susie Hall, so

674
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,080
Speaker 1: shout out to her. She introduced me to her husband's cousin.

675
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,720
Speaker 1: She said, you should talk to Rob, you know Rob Keiths,

676
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 1: because you know he was a journalism grad from Michigan State.

677
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: He's worked for magazine, He's done magazine articles. Like you

678
00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 1: should talk to him because he knows a lot of

679
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: people in the writing community. So I sat down with

680
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: Rob and I talked about what I wanted to do

681
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 1: and he's like, well, I would love to write it

682
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 1: with you. And so that's when our partnership started. So

683
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,440
Speaker 1: not even like a month after we talked, we sat down,

684
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,480
Speaker 1: We did about five interviews that were about two or

685
00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: three hours each, and the rest of history. We got

686
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: done writing the book in the fall, team we signed

687
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 1: with our agent, Joe Perry, a Perry Perry Litterally Incorporated

688
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: out of New York. And then in the summer last year,

689
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 1: twenty was signed with Howyou Preston now Here we are

690
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,520
Speaker 1: September seven and the release date from my book centered

691
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: and so I'm just super excited. But it was a

692
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 1: lot of people, a lot of people getting my ear

693
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,720
Speaker 1: in my ear about it. But it also took me

694
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:56,720
Speaker 1: some time to think about, Okay, should I do it?

695
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 1: Should I not? But when I really talked to my

696
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,479
Speaker 1: mom and my dad about what I should do, just

697
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: their encouragement and for them to go, you know what,

698
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,120
Speaker 1: You've talked about it all these years. It's time to

699
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,280
Speaker 1: do it. And so but like I said, it was

700
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: that support system, and my support system really pushed me

701
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: to do it. My wife was really interested in me

702
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 1: doing it. Um, you know what, I want my kids

703
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,000
Speaker 1: to be able to read the book when they're old

704
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 1: enough and look at everything their father went through, and

705
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,240
Speaker 1: then get done reading it and go, you know what,

706
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: my dad is not only the greatest dad in the world,

707
00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:30,120
Speaker 1: but he's also the most inspirational guy that I know.

708
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 1: It's amazing. Um. You know, you find as you get

709
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,760
Speaker 1: older that the things that you go through in life,

710
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,480
Speaker 1: when you share them with other people, they're like, oh,

711
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,200
Speaker 1: it's like we're talking about autism and and and child

712
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 1: development and you sharing your story allows me to kind

713
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 1: of share a little bit of what I have going

714
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,480
Speaker 1: on at my house. Right. The same thing when you're

715
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 1: trying to have kids, you're like, well, you know we

716
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 1: actually went to prove yeah, like into therapy. We got

717
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,320
Speaker 1: a divorce, I got have been divorced, Like all of

718
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,000
Speaker 1: these things that happened that happened people have attency to

719
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: talk about. But if you are going to tell because

720
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of basketball people listen to

721
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,800
Speaker 1: this pod. A lot of dads like coaches, listen to

722
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:19,000
Speaker 1: this pod. Um, if you're gonna tell them, hey, how

723
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 1: do you first in terms of parenting? Because your parents

724
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 1: obviously did an amazing job, your mom especially advocating for you,

725
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 1: putting together that schedule, talking to your teachers. But if

726
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,120
Speaker 1: you are going to say, hey, here's a couple of

727
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,880
Speaker 1: things that a parent can do to really help their child.

728
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 1: It doesn't even have to be autism. Somebody who is

729
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 1: who has autism, what would you recommend? Well, the first

730
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 1: thing I would say is to always keep your expectations high,

731
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 1: no matter what for your child, um, you know, autism

732
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:51,840
Speaker 1: or not. Because I think that's the one thing I

733
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:53,960
Speaker 1: give my parents so much credit for Doug, is that

734
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,760
Speaker 1: the expectations, you know, stayed way up here. You know,

735
00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 1: if there were days where I struggled in school and

736
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,560
Speaker 1: my teachers call and say, oh, well this happened with

737
00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:04,720
Speaker 1: the Anthony today, my parents expectations were Okay, Well, the

738
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 1: expectations are staying up here, they're not changing. Well, this

739
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 1: didn't This didn't work out from his I P plan.

740
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,320
Speaker 1: So we had to go into this into this direction. Okay,

741
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 1: that's fine. The expectations still stay about here. So no

742
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 1: matter what happened, no matter how much I pushed my parents, like,

743
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,920
Speaker 1: the expectations for me always stayed high. Because interesting, Interesting,

744
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:28,320
Speaker 1: I think what parents do is they without trying to

745
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 1: make an excuse for their kids, like all my kids, right,

746
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: and their kids will play down to that level. They

747
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,839
Speaker 1: just yeah. And and this is where like I gave

748
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,920
Speaker 1: my parents more credit, was they they've always told me

749
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 1: to never pull the autism card because they didn't want

750
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,120
Speaker 1: me to use it as an excuse like I did

751
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,240
Speaker 1: that one time in college. And you know, I remember

752
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: calling my mom, you know, telling her about how you

753
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 1: know I didn't do so good at a test one

754
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 1: day because because another thing doug as a student like

755
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:56,839
Speaker 1: I was not a great test. Certain question I would

756
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 1: easily getting used by because you know, one word can

757
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,400
Speaker 1: mean another another thing, because there's there's there's nuance, especially

758
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:05,920
Speaker 1: English is very very different, right, right, And that's what

759
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,920
Speaker 1: I mean when you're autistic, you don't understand nuance. And

760
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,239
Speaker 1: some times and pecasts and things and things like that,

761
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:15,120
Speaker 1: it's done. Did you get extra test time? Yes? So

762
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 1: the accommodations I had from middle school all the way

763
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:19,839
Speaker 1: soil I graduated from college was I had an extra

764
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 1: time at extra time on my test, I had a

765
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: reader because again that that reader helped me understand your

766
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 1: phrases differently in wording better. Um. I took my test

767
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,080
Speaker 1: in the separate room because if you and I took

768
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,759
Speaker 1: a test right here and now live in person, I'll

769
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:36,360
Speaker 1: be more worried about what you're doing instead of focusing

770
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,719
Speaker 1: on the test at hand. Um. So just those accommodations

771
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 1: really helped me, you know, take my test, like take

772
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 1: my time and like not worry about what's going on

773
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,200
Speaker 1: around me. And having that reader that really helped me

774
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,960
Speaker 1: out too. But I remember I pulled the autism card

775
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 1: to my mom one time, and she stopped me. She

776
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:53,800
Speaker 1: goes to stop right there. I'm just gonna tell you

777
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: right now, your autism was not the reason why you

778
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,479
Speaker 1: failed this test. You know. It's either because you didn't

779
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 1: study enough, or you didn't or you were just slacking, like,

780
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 1: but don't ever pull the autism card. And so that

781
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,800
Speaker 1: was my parents. They never wanted to pull that card

782
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 1: on their end or my end, because they did not

783
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: want to use it as an excuse and I know, Doug,

784
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,840
Speaker 1: there may be parents, are you know, educators or basketball

785
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,279
Speaker 1: folks that listen to this and go, well, my son

786
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 1: or daughter is not going to be like Anthony AI

787
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,720
Speaker 1: because they may be on the lower end of the spectrum.

788
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 1: But you know, my parents and myself, we've always encouraged

789
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,320
Speaker 1: parents like ye, we and I understand that, Dug, Like

790
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,879
Speaker 1: I know everybody's different, Like I don't expect every person

791
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,960
Speaker 1: in the autism director to being Anthony because there may

792
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,800
Speaker 1: be folks on the autism spectrum who do greater things

793
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:40,719
Speaker 1: in areas that I'll never be successful in. And that's

794
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:42,920
Speaker 1: so that's okay, that's what makes all of us unique, right.

795
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:47,479
Speaker 1: But I've also told those parents, like, keep the expectations high,

796
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,520
Speaker 1: lift your kids high, and push them up. But so

797
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,880
Speaker 1: that's what and that's what being a parent is all about,

798
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,520
Speaker 1: is pushing our kids to places where we don't expect

799
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,319
Speaker 1: them to go. Because you know, with my kids, Doug,

800
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 1: I mean my ex year old who starts first grade

801
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,879
Speaker 1: in a week, and it's crazy to think I'm gonna

802
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:07,000
Speaker 1: have a first grader already. Um as six years old,

803
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,439
Speaker 1: he's shooting on a ten foot rim with a men's

804
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,840
Speaker 1: ball already and he's doing something, he's doing things I

805
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,759
Speaker 1: couldn't do. Now, I'm still gonna push him as high

806
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:16,560
Speaker 1: as he can go, because as a parent, you want

807
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:18,680
Speaker 1: to support your kids no matter what, no matter how

808
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,240
Speaker 1: far they go in life. So but I've always encouraged

809
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 1: those parents, like, no matter where your kid is at

810
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: the spectrum, always continue to push them high because they're

811
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:28,399
Speaker 1: gonna go far, and they're gonna go higher in life

812
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:31,000
Speaker 1: than you think they can originally go. And so that's

813
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:32,920
Speaker 1: one thing I've always learned from my parents, and that's

814
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,359
Speaker 1: always the advice I'm gonna give to every single parent,

815
00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: whether they have a child with autism or not. If

816
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:46,400
Speaker 1: you are going to tell um a coach how to

817
00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:51,279
Speaker 1: discuss it with players, I think that's the that's all.

818
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:56,879
Speaker 1: That's a hard conversation, which is hey, Anthony's artistic. Now.

819
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,720
Speaker 1: One of the things that's really interesting about parenting nowadays

820
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:02,920
Speaker 1: is these discussions are had a lot more often in

821
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:05,719
Speaker 1: front of kids then when when you were a child

822
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:08,920
Speaker 1: or when I was a child. Right, my kids are like,

823
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,359
Speaker 1: we have a discussion the other a couple of weeks

824
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:17,320
Speaker 1: ago by like LGBT plus Q, you know, and myself

825
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,920
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I have friends. Kay, you're talking.

826
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 1: You know I'm not gay, he's gay. I'm using that

827
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: as they know what they understand, at least on some

828
00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:33,560
Speaker 1: level autism, high functioning, lower functioning. Um, they know different things,

829
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:37,400
Speaker 1: but how to in a team the interaction, as you

830
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:42,719
Speaker 1: point out, sarcasm doesn't always translate. Um a basketball coach,

831
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 1: when you have a kid who is on the spectrum

832
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,759
Speaker 1: and you're trying to have other kids be sensitive, but

833
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,360
Speaker 1: also like you don't want to screw up their experience

834
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 1: and and the locker room field. Or you're in a

835
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 1: van drive into Chicago for a tournament, or to Detroit

836
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: for tournament, or of Minneapolis for tournament, or to Iowa

837
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:06,680
Speaker 1: to Vegas, how would you handle with kids? So obviously,

838
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 1: like I've always told coaches, Doug to make sure you

839
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,600
Speaker 1: continue to educate yourself about what autism is and getting

840
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,319
Speaker 1: to know your student athlete more and more and better

841
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:17,480
Speaker 1: and better every day, because the more and more you

842
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:19,879
Speaker 1: educate yourself about autism and the more you learned about

843
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:21,840
Speaker 1: your student athlete is going to work out in the

844
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,399
Speaker 1: long run. But the other thing at the same time

845
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,279
Speaker 1: is I've also told coaches it's completely up to the

846
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,520
Speaker 1: student athlete if they have autism, if they want their

847
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,920
Speaker 1: teammates to know or not, whether they're on the spectrum,

848
00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 1: because some may understand it, some may not. So a

849
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,720
Speaker 1: good example, Doug, I didn't tell my teammates in Michigan

850
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: State about it. Only only two people knew it was

851
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,120
Speaker 1: Austin Thornton m Austin and I have known each other

852
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,000
Speaker 1: for seventeen years. We played on the same AU team

853
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 1: for two years, so we've known each other for a

854
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,920
Speaker 1: long time. And then Mike Keebler because Keeps and I

855
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,759
Speaker 1: went to high school together. But I don't think at

856
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,719
Speaker 1: the time Keeps really new um the autism piece as

857
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 1: well as Austin did, because Austin was around me more.

858
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,759
Speaker 1: But those are the only two guys. But if there

859
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 1: were times where you know, Draymond was sarcastic with me,

860
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,040
Speaker 1: or del Von Rowe or Kaylin Lucas or Raymond Morgan, whoever,

861
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,919
Speaker 1: and I would just like, you know, get sensitive about

862
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:16,640
Speaker 1: it if you will, because I couldn't tell if they

863
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,560
Speaker 1: were actually joking or if they were being serious. Like

864
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 1: Austin was always that guy to go, hey, hey, I

865
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:24,759
Speaker 1: it's okay, Like it's just a joke. You know, we're

866
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 1: all you know, they're they're just playing around. But there

867
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: were times like if we were at you know, a

868
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 1: team dinner at Champs Sport at at Champs restaurant and

869
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,279
Speaker 1: I ordered the same thing and Draymond would get on

870
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,360
Speaker 1: me and joking me about that. There were times I

871
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,040
Speaker 1: wanted to jump across that table and then had to

872
00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:41,319
Speaker 1: text Draymond and say, hey, he's literally going to jump

873
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,399
Speaker 1: across his table right now. You need to chill out.

874
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 1: But um, but it's funny how my teammates actually found

875
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,399
Speaker 1: out though. So going into my second year in Michigan State,

876
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:54,840
Speaker 1: Um are so, for those of you listening, we do

877
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 1: something and I think a lot of colleges do this.

878
00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,120
Speaker 1: We do something called a bo to workout. So at

879
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,600
Speaker 1: the fresh and a lot of incoming transfers, you know,

880
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:05,759
Speaker 1: they had to do the v O two workout once

881
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,120
Speaker 1: in their careers. Um, So what a v O two

882
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,720
Speaker 1: workout is? They test your endurance, They measure your blood pressure,

883
00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,360
Speaker 1: your oxygen level, everything, and they hook you up to

884
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: like the treadmill machine, all these masks and everything. So

885
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 1: I hated it because if you put me on a track,

886
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,160
Speaker 1: Dug and you're gonna say, hey, you need to be

887
00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 1: done in one lap in fifty two seconds go. I'm

888
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:27,480
Speaker 1: gonna like wig out because it's like, okay, I better

889
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: get going or otherwise be in trouble from my coach.

890
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,640
Speaker 1: I'll make my time and so um so I. So

891
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: I got done with the BO two workout the first

892
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 1: year I transferred. The next summer, Draymond came up to

893
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,080
Speaker 1: me and said to me, Hey, I talked to coach

894
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 1: Zo today. He said, you need to go do the

895
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,320
Speaker 1: video workout after this, I was like, wait, are you serious?

896
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: Like if if coaches I said it, it's like okay,

897
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:53,520
Speaker 1: then it has to be true, right. So, but the

898
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:57,640
Speaker 1: entire workout, he kept going on and on about it. Hey,

899
00:41:57,719 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 1: coaches said's got to do the BO two workout off

900
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:01,800
Speaker 1: forget and I would start and I would kind of

901
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:03,799
Speaker 1: wig out. I was wigging out and freaking out over

902
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:05,239
Speaker 1: because it's like, Okay, I don't want to do this.

903
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:06,680
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure what I was supposed to do it

904
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,440
Speaker 1: once and so when I found out from Austin and

905
00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 1: some of the guys that it was a joke, I

906
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:16,879
Speaker 1: got in Draymond's face about it afterwards and he said

907
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:18,600
Speaker 1: to me, hey, if you can't be on the team,

908
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:20,239
Speaker 1: if you can't take a joke, then don't be on

909
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: the team. And you know, he and I started shoving

910
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:25,239
Speaker 1: each other and then guys started shoving each other after that,

911
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,640
Speaker 1: and Mike Fork pitch you know work, our strength and

912
00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:30,799
Speaker 1: conditioning coach. Vorks know on me since I was ten,

913
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,000
Speaker 1: so he understands um. He understands my weaknesses and what

914
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,200
Speaker 1: makes me click and what doesn't make me click. He

915
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,799
Speaker 1: pulled Draymond aside and said, hey, Draymond, do you wanna

916
00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:43,719
Speaker 1: why Anthony cannot understand your jokes and sarcasm. Sometimes it's

917
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,799
Speaker 1: because he's autistic, Like everything is black and white for him.

918
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,520
Speaker 1: He doesn't understand your jokes. He thinks you're picking on him,

919
00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:51,960
Speaker 1: so everything is really black and white for him. So

920
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:54,440
Speaker 1: that was kind of like the cat was out of

921
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,759
Speaker 1: the bag after that. I remember Vorke looked at me

922
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 1: and he was shocked because he didn't know if he

923
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:05,640
Speaker 1: was supposed to tell Draymond about it right, And he said,

924
00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 1: are you okay if I tell him this? And I

925
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:09,120
Speaker 1: looked at work. I said, well, it's out now, so

926
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:10,600
Speaker 1: you might as well just go ahead and tell him,

927
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,600
Speaker 1: and so so Derek Knicks, you know, at the time,

928
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:18,240
Speaker 1: overheard Vork telling Draymond about me being on the autism spectrum,

929
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:21,000
Speaker 1: and Derek goes, well, I don't see what the big

930
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,600
Speaker 1: deal is. You know, if if AI is artistic, you

931
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 1: know I'm artistic too, And Vark look at Derek and goes,

932
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 1: what did you just say? Derek goes artistic? That's what

933
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,680
Speaker 1: you said, right, and Vork was like, autism, autistic, buddy,

934
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:42,560
Speaker 1: not art with crayons, paint brushes and art like, not that.

935
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:46,320
Speaker 1: And again that's how very little my teammates knew about autism.

936
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,240
Speaker 1: You get everybody down. Did you guys have a meeting

937
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:51,759
Speaker 1: or was it like, hey, he's autistic, you guys do

938
00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 1: some reading and figure it out. So so Draymond came

939
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,080
Speaker 1: to practice the next day, the next strength and conditioning

940
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:02,080
Speaker 1: lifting day, and he pulled me aside said, hey, you know, Anthony,

941
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:03,600
Speaker 1: why didn't you tell me any of this? And I

942
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 1: found out told him. I said, you know, day day.

943
00:44:05,719 --> 00:44:07,200
Speaker 1: I didn't know how you're gonna take it. I thought

944
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:08,920
Speaker 1: You're just gonna be like everybody else that I've known

945
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,600
Speaker 1: in my life who found out and then started treating

946
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:14,360
Speaker 1: me differently after that, just and he looked at me

947
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:17,719
Speaker 1: and said, well, kudos to you, because look how far

948
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 1: you've come in your life despite having this. And you know,

949
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,080
Speaker 1: from here on out, like if you need, if you

950
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,359
Speaker 1: feel like you don't understand something, just let just let

951
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,759
Speaker 1: me know. And so from that day forward, like it

952
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 1: wasn't just Austin who I can lean on too, It

953
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:33,200
Speaker 1: was dayDay I can lean on to. It was Derek Nick.

954
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,839
Speaker 1: So it was all my teammates because you know, once

955
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:39,000
Speaker 1: they started, once they started to understand why I got

956
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:41,759
Speaker 1: so emotional and why I was gonna wig out during

957
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:44,799
Speaker 1: you know, sarcastic or joking moments, or why I stepped back,

958
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:48,600
Speaker 1: they understood and and like I said, and I think

959
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 1: that that was a testament to tom Izzo, you know,

960
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:53,719
Speaker 1: and his in the family atmosphere was it doesn't matter

961
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 1: what you go through in your life, you know, it

962
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: doesn't matter where you're from or what you do. You

963
00:44:58,120 --> 00:44:59,680
Speaker 1: are a part of this family and we're going to

964
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: treat like family because that's who we are. And so

965
00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:04,560
Speaker 1: you know, it was a blessing in disguise. I guess

966
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:07,560
Speaker 1: you could say, Doug that that that little incident quote

967
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:11,840
Speaker 1: unquote happened because it changed our relationship forever and everything

968
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,799
Speaker 1: that you know, he and I do. You know, he's

969
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,920
Speaker 1: in the n b A. I'm motivational speaking now, but

970
00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:18,759
Speaker 1: we're still talking, you know, from time to time because

971
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:20,319
Speaker 1: he always wants to make sure that I'm doing okay,

972
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: and I always make sure that I stayed on him

973
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,239
Speaker 1: about things. So but you know, from my teammates to

974
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:29,920
Speaker 1: see what happened and find out why, you know, and

975
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,920
Speaker 1: for them to understand it. That that really when it

976
00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 1: really showed me how much they were willing to understand.

977
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 1: And not just that Doug, but like after I graduated,

978
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:41,400
Speaker 1: my teammates were still my teammates were still asking me

979
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:43,799
Speaker 1: questions about it. I had. I had Dane Fife who

980
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:48,239
Speaker 1: is now an assistant and had at Indiana. After I graduated,

981
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,319
Speaker 1: he was asking me questions about it because because here's why,

982
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:54,040
Speaker 1: he said, you know, if I recruit, if I recruit

983
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:55,759
Speaker 1: a high school player one day and I find out

984
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 1: he has autism, I need to understand you know, some

985
00:45:58,680 --> 00:46:00,520
Speaker 1: of the some of the things that may make a

986
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:02,880
Speaker 1: player click or may not make them clicks. So what

987
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:05,320
Speaker 1: worked with you that worked for us or the or

988
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:07,759
Speaker 1: the other way around. So the fact that I got

989
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,719
Speaker 1: our assistant coaches asking me questions, it shows me that

990
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,040
Speaker 1: Number one, you know, they're getting ready for the future

991
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,279
Speaker 1: because there are gonna be more athletes out there who

992
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,160
Speaker 1: will be on the autistic spectrum. You know, Doug I

993
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,680
Speaker 1: was the first known Division one college basketball player in

994
00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:25,440
Speaker 1: NC double ay n C double A history with autism,

995
00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:28,040
Speaker 1: and after I graduated, I knew there was gonna be more.

996
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:30,160
Speaker 1: And there's gonna be more. And it's been any more

997
00:46:30,239 --> 00:46:34,719
Speaker 1: that haven't been diagnosed to exactly, That's exactly. Yeah, there's been,

998
00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,200
Speaker 1: there's been, There's been other kids. He was a quiet kid.

999
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:41,319
Speaker 1: He didn't understand sarcasts right Williams School. He couldn't understand things.

1000
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 1: He struggled with processing, Like I mean, he's autistic, but

1001
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:47,120
Speaker 1: he was never valuate. So it was just different, and

1002
00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:49,760
Speaker 1: he didn't have parents that advocated for him and understanding

1003
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:52,760
Speaker 1: and a plan put in place. The book is called Centered.

1004
00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:57,600
Speaker 1: It drops when September seven, I can't imagine how excited

1005
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,960
Speaker 1: you are. I'm excited. It's like it's like a life's work,

1006
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 1: but you still have a whole life to live, exactly.

1007
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,800
Speaker 1: But I appreciate you sharing with me your story. I

1008
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:10,560
Speaker 1: can't wait to read the book. It's fascinating. It's something

1009
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 1: that I think you'll be overwhelmed by the response and

1010
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:18,880
Speaker 1: support and how important it is for parents, for coaches

1011
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,080
Speaker 1: and society what you're able to provide. So I really

1012
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,399
Speaker 1: really thank you, no, thank you, Doug. It's been an honor, man,

1013
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:28,520
Speaker 1: and I can't thank you enough. It's been a privilege. Allright, brother,

1014
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:33,520
Speaker 1: take care of those kiddos. Thank you. I will. All right.

1015
00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: Let's let's let's close up shop with a little talk

1016
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:39,760
Speaker 1: about the Lakers. The Lakers have six of the eleven

1017
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:44,759
Speaker 1: oldest players in the NBA. That's a crazy statistic. They

1018
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:47,160
Speaker 1: also have I think eight players from the two thousand

1019
00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:51,480
Speaker 1: twelve All Star Game. That's crazy. My issue with the

1020
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:54,640
Speaker 1: Lakers is, just like anybody else is, man, You've got

1021
00:47:54,719 --> 00:47:58,640
Speaker 1: a lot of older pieces, and older pieces breakdown. That's

1022
00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:01,640
Speaker 1: really what it comes down to. On paper. I think

1023
00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:03,959
Speaker 1: they got better. I think you can see the plane.

1024
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,080
Speaker 1: You know the plan. You know you got Dwight Howard

1025
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:11,200
Speaker 1: and Rondo and Trevor. Rea's guys that are professionals. They've

1026
00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:13,800
Speaker 1: been through all of the wars, they've all won a

1027
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,800
Speaker 1: championship all this stuff, But can you really count on them? Remember,

1028
00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:20,319
Speaker 1: not right now? Can you count on them nine months

1029
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,560
Speaker 1: or ten months from now when you're playing in the

1030
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:27,160
Speaker 1: play after playing in a regular season. Russell Westbrook has

1031
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,320
Speaker 1: been a bad playoff player, you know, since they lost

1032
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:33,400
Speaker 1: to the Warriors, because when you get to the playoffs,

1033
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:38,319
Speaker 1: he can't shoot. Um Rondo was so bad last year

1034
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:40,600
Speaker 1: for the Clippers they had to pull him from playing

1035
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,719
Speaker 1: in the playoffs because he was killing the team. Dwight Howard,

1036
00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:45,400
Speaker 1: you had kind of a nothing year. Granted, he'll be

1037
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:50,239
Speaker 1: a backup, And I'm I just it's reasonable to be

1038
00:48:50,360 --> 00:48:53,239
Speaker 1: concerned one with their age, and two with where these

1039
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:56,080
Speaker 1: guys actually are and whether their ego tells them they

1040
00:48:56,120 --> 00:49:00,080
Speaker 1: should be. That's not my problem. That's the coaching that

1041
00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:04,200
Speaker 1: that's that's that's Frank's problem, right, not not my problems.

1042
00:49:04,200 --> 00:49:07,319
Speaker 1: Still gonna be super interesting in the Association this year.

1043
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:09,000
Speaker 1: All right, Thanks so much for listening. To Remember. The

1044
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:11,520
Speaker 1: doug Otlive Show is daily three to six Eastern, twelve

1045
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:14,120
Speaker 1: to three Pacific I Heart Radio app, Fox Sports Traded

1046
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:16,080
Speaker 1: dot com, or of course, you can download as a

1047
00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,680
Speaker 1: podcast the same place you download this as a podcast,

1048
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:20,560
Speaker 1: I'm Doug gotlieb in This is All Ball.