By the time freshman year arrived, basketball was very much what my life revolved around. Any available time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week was spent either playing basketball or working to get in better shape. For the next four years, weights, weight vests, running, jumping, dribbling, shooting and such consumed my time and I loved it! One Friday night during that freshman year we had a "camp out" in the gym. We literally played and shot baskets all night, finally laying down to sleep at 5:30 A.M. and then getting up again at 7:00 A.M. to go again. Sleep came quite easily that Saturday night!
At some point during those junior high years it was brought to my attention that the group of young men that I'd become privileged to join had set a goal a few years earlier that had been instilled in them by their coach during the third and fourth grade years. That goal was to win the state championship in basketball! It was a goal that was embraced by us all and we spent hours and hours chasing that dream for the remainder of our high school careers. We'll get back to this later in the history of Durwood's life!
There's very little in life that can give you more satisfaction than having the privilege of engaging in something you love and basketball was a game that I really enjoyed. Our team that freshman year was very good and we won most of our games, but the next year is one that really stands out in my memory. Our sophomore year was a really special year for us and in a lot of ways became a preview of coming things for our team. We only had eight players that year but we ended the year with a record of 18 and 1. That single loss for the season was to a school that was two classifications above ours and we didn't lose by much even though they had a bench full of players to throw at us. Perhaps the most memorable game that year was one in which all but four of us fouled out early in the fourth quarter but we managed to hang on and win that one. We ended the season by winning the county tournament, putting a nice finish on a great season.
During our junior year, our basketball season turned out to be something quite unexpected even by our coach. Three of the best players from our previous year's team had moved up to the varsity team and no one thought we'd be very good that year, especially our coach! As it turned out, after eleven games we were 9 and 2 and doing very well – at least as far as our record was concerned. Coach, however, was another story as he was not happy with our "effort". One particular day of practice after a game that we had won, he made us run suicide sprints and what we called six pointers for 45 minutes without a break! He was crazy I tell you! By season's end, we had experienced a pretty decent year, winning far more than we lost – perhaps overachieving in the eyes of some. Our senior season was going to be special, we just knew it!
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