Autistic HS kid shoots 6 3-point shots @ last game of year...

[elehhhhna]

Anybody see this just now on GMA?

He's the HS BBall team "Manager. The coach put him in for the last Q of the last game & he shot 6 (Yeah--6!) 3 pointers! At the end of the game the people in the stands emptied onto the court & carried him around, screaming.

Sweet. I'm in tears.

[Pirate Smile]

1. I saw it. It was great. I bet that coach wishes they had used him

more if he could pump in 3 pointers like that.

The stands were on their feet every shot.

You could tell everyone was just ecstatic for the guy.

[elehhhhna]

2. More:

Autistic teen scores major points in basketball game


By KATU.com Web Staff
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - An autistic teenager proved hoop dreams can come true. Jason McElwain is the basketball manager for Athena-Greece High School. For three years, he suited up and sat on the sidelines during every game.

On Feb. 15, the coach let him play in the school's final varsity basketball game of the season. What happened on the court surprised everyone.

Jason scored from behind the three-point line. Then he did it again. And again. In all, Jason netted 20 points during the last four minutes of the game.

The crowd went crazy, surging onto the court. Players and audience members lifted Jason onto their shoulders, with a big grin across his face. Jason's secret: stay focused on the game.


http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=83601

[madokie]

3. Thanks for posting this. What an upper and we all know we needed one

talent knows no bounds

[txindy]

12. That video is absolutely great!

:applause:

:applause:

[Chipper Chat]

29. Reminds me of Todd Leary (Indiana Univ) a few years back.

Teammates say he could hit 4 of 5 three-pointers in practice, but he was a sub in varsity competition. He showed off his skills in the 2nd half of IU's "already lost" NCAA tourney game and almost single-handedly tied the game at the end.

[Pirate Smile]

4. They just did the story on CNN also.

[wicket]

5. That's awesome!

:kick:

[elehhhhna]

6. t makes me really emotional because it reminds me of an incident

when I was in HS. We had the best speech team in the State (Thornwood Thunderbirds--Rah!) and made finals in every event -- State Champs 2 years runnning--but one year at Sectionals a student we knew from a sister school made finals. He had a pretty drastic problem--limited movement, confined to a wheelchair--but they'd paired him with their best actor in a "Dramatic Duet" event, can't recall what play, but he played the Father and did a great job...and had worked harder than any of us ever had in order to get there.

When he & his partner made State Finals, OUR team went absolutely WILD...I mean APE-CRAZY.

Our coach said his proudest moment ever was not winning state, but seeing his team pull so hard and have such joy for someone else.

[Missy M]

7. What a heartwarming story. Has me in tears too.

[Cocoa]

8. they should call him "Rain Man"

:wow:

[AngryAmish]

21. That is Shawn Kemp's nickname

his other nickname should be "The Father of Our Country"

[Old Smokey]

9. Great Stuff

Thanks for posting

[fishwax]

15. welcome to du

:hi:

[txindy]

10. Okay, that is just the most heartwarming story I've read in a long while.

Thanks for sharing it.

[qanda]

11. I just watched it

I'm with you-- in tears.

[WeRQ4U]

13. That is just sweet.

The best part is how stoked his teammates are.

[npincus]

14. saw it- I loved when he said he was

"hotter than a pistol" or something like that!

[SupplyConcerns]

16. Why do DUers always end up in tears?

Whether it's from terrible news or touching news? When people say that, are they being figurative , or is there a large number of us crying at our keyboards at any given time?

[qanda]

17. I swear I was really crying on this one

For some reason it just touched my heart, but then again I go through a box of tissue on The Color Purple. Sometimes I think it is figurative, as in it's heartbreaking and someone, somewhere is crying over this, but DUers do seem to cry a lot.

[elehhhhna]

19. lol.

[kentuck]

18. I saw that !

That is a great story! They could make a movie about it.

[earth mom]

20. Loved it-Thanks for the uplifting story-I needed it!

:applause:

Hope I get to see it on the news tonight! (don't have cable and the link didn't work for me)

[Javaman]

22. I wonder if the coach is kicking himself for keeping him on the bench..

the whole season. And then only puts him in when it's safe.

The story here is not that this kid made those shots (which is a wonderful achievement), but that the coach refused to let the kid play until it was "safe", meaning they didn't have a chance at winning any sort of division, regional or championship.

Be happy for the kid all you want, he deserves it, but I am pissed off a the coach for his obvious bigoted coaching style.

"Beware of late bloomers"
-Steven Spielberg

[txindy]

28. After reading this, I was curious about the circumstances.

So I did some research and came up with a few details. It turns out that Jason, the young man in the story, was never a player on the team. He was the team manager, period. Due to his extreme dedication to the team over the past three years (never missing a practice or game), the coach added him to the roster as a player for the final game of the regular season. He never refused to play Jason. The boy was not on the team as a player until that game.

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=7B0124C0-7D58-49A3-81EC-EF50A0D8D673

As a student assistant, Jason McElwain helps out the team. But, all that changed on February 15, when coach Jim Johnson decided to give Jason his shot to suit up.

"He said, 'This was my senior present, my chance to get out on the floor as an actual basketball player for the night,' " Jason said.

Oh, and the team is pursuing a post-season title. They begin sectional play on Saturday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060223/ap_on_sp_ot/bkh_what_a_night

http://www.rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=35044&rnews_story_type=18&category=10

Jason McElwain had done everything he was asked to do for the Greece Athena High School basketball team — keep the stats, run the clock, hand out water bottles.

............

That all changed last week for the team manager in the final home game of the season. The 17-year-old senior, who is autistic and usually sits on the bench in a white shirt and black tie, put on a uniform and entered the game with his team way ahead.

............

McElwain, 5-foot-6, was considered too small to make the junior varsity, so he signed on as team manager. He took up the same role with the varsity, doing anything to stay near the sport he loves. Coach Jim Johnson was impressed with his dedication, and thought about suiting up McElwain for the home finale.

............

The coach was not a bigot who kept Jason from playing. He gave the young man a gift to honor his dedication to his friends and teammates.

[Javaman]

33. I stand corrected and withdraw my bad comment. I'm glad to hear...

that there is so much more positive things about this story.

Thanks for the info!

[KamaAina]

23. And I thought I was the autistic Jim Thorpe!

my highlight-reel moment came in a college intramural softball game in which I bashed a bases-clearing triple over the center fielder's head -- right to the spot where he would have been had he not moved up right behind second, erroneously thinking that was as far as I could hit it...

But under no circumstances could I drain six threes in a single quarter. Aren't quarters eight minutes long in high school hoops? Few "typicals" could pull that off! :bounce:

[slipslidingaway]

24. Thanks, what a great day for this kid! n/t

[blue neen]

25. What a wonderful moment for this young man and his family.

:) :) :)

This story absolutely made my day.

[Nikki Stone 1]

26. This was a really happy story

:)

[Rainscents]

27. I saw this on the evening news tonight, made me cry.

He did all of these in last 4 minutes! Wow...

[anitar1]

30. I was reaching for the kleenex myself. Made me feel so happy for

him , and also all of the kids our there with that problem. What a guy!!

[henslee]

31. link to video....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBYPaNc57Ik&search=autistic

[Neil Lisst]

32. I smell TV MOVIE!!

and a book deal