Bell's boy already loves basketball. On July 21, 2016, he was selected by Anyang KGC in the second round of the 2016 KBL draft.[20]. Almost every player interviewed for this story was scared to tell mom. Some of the scenarios are not ideal. . I was really on my own and traveling in Chicago for an hour each way each day. So all of this has been more than me. . College basketball rosters across the country are dotted with young dads. Afterward, he takes dozens of pictures and shakes the hands of nearly 200 people, plenty of whom he does not know. That's money which now goes toward feeding their baby boy, Ricardo Darnell Gathers Jr., who came into the world at 4:53 a.m. on June 13, 2014. For me, my pride in him is just on his self-belief and determination.. How much does Keifer Sykes weigh? After taking a trip down memory lane at Marshall, Sykes headed to Proviso East, the alma mater of his friend and Mavericks guard Sterling Brown, to host a one-day basketball league and another coat drive the two pros organized together. Most did. Vital players at Cincinnati, Southeastern Louisiana and VCU (two players) are fathers. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Brogdon will never forget his introduction to Sykes. Sykes keeps in touch with all of them but he hasn't seen Kristie and Antawn in years. The night before Averyelle was born, Johnson flew from Tulane back to Memphis, got in his car, immediately drove the three and a half hours to Franklin, Tennessee's Williamson Medical Center, and arrived around 3 a.m. How long has it been since Dawson spoke to his dad directly? Dayton kicked two players off its roster earlier this season after a dorm-room theft forced Archie Miller's hand. So, he packed his bags and headed overseas, not to the more popular foreign leagues in Europe or China, but to South Korea. His Pell Grant goes toward living needs, and the family receives government assistance in addition to food stamps and WIC, a national food stamps programs specifically for newborns and their mothers. At the end of the season, Sykes was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team. It wasn't a happy cry. "You can hear him in the stands. If it happens, he'll count that moment, along with the one he experienced Friday, as two big wins for his hometown. In thesix years of his professional career, Sykes has played for various leagues worldwide, including the NBA and NBA G League. "I was on thetraining table. Weve actually talked about (that game) once or twice, and I brought it up just to see if he remembered it, Brogdon said. Like I said, I feel like I have one of the better stories, one of the best stories ever, when you think about what I had to go through.". In the 2017-18 season, Sykes played for Ankara DS S.K. Branden had lost "significant weight" and was unable to consistently eat due to anxiety. At James Sykes' urging, and Keifer's own interest in ending the courtship of so many other coaching staffs, he committed fairly early as a junior. When Sykes joined the Phoenix, Mitchell put him back at his natural position, point guard. So, if I get a DNP, how could I be mad? He was 55. "It's always been this way, really, but off the record, it's demographics, number one, and popularity of basketball players today," one coach said. So she was downstairs cooking, and their room was upstairs, so when she went upstairs, that's when she saw that he was passed out. His college scholarship goes toward rent. 10:51am: The Pacers intend to waive guard Brad Wanamaker and sign another guard, Keifer Sykes, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). [24], On September 13, 2020, Sykes signed with Trk Telekom B.K. Buchanan III is expected to stay in the hospital until at least this coming Sunday as the scar on his heart slowly starts to heal. Free schooling.". I lost like 40 or 50 grand.". The ones, even in his inner circle, who repeatedly toldhim he'd never make it to the NBA. Sykes set a conference record as he was named the Horizon League player of the week thirteen times over his career. Where the family is. I thought I was going to pass out, but I stayed strong. Sykes was selected in the second round of the 2016 Korean Basketball League by the Anyang Korea Ginseng Corporation, taking a 15-hour trip across the world that began a roughly five-year journey abroad. All rights reserved. After the euphoria of winning TBT and signing a training camp deal with the Pacers, Sykes faced another hurdle when he was cut before the season started. Suddenly he was holding ice chips and helping her breathe through the birth. Its really not about the NBA, Sykes says. But it doesnt matter. The player is now back at school, away from his child, but not on the team. Sykes, who went undrafted in 2015, signed a two-year contract with the Pacers last month after a strong season with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA G League. Green Bay's Henry Uwadiae, a 6-foot-11 Nigerian-born sophomore, had a daughter born last summer. I can't wait to see her and hug her.". He'll have his headstone then, and he'll have his son and grandson touching it. After Saturday games, White drives east through the dark trails and over the Mississippi border to spend his Sundays with Joniah Jr. Memphis' Kedren Johnson can relate. All Rights Reserved. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. My'Shawn's mother lives back in Indiana; it was her idea to have father and child live together this season, in part because she's working night shifts at a Speedway to save money and find some quiet that was lost during the early years of My'Shawn's life. Mississippi State is the prime example. We put in all that work, and they didn't pay us. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_5',132,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-banner-1','ezslot_6',132,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-banner-1-0_1');.banner-1-multi-132{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:7px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:7px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}. According to Pacers teammate and Wisconsin native Tyrese Haliburton, Sykes is a GB legend, and fellow teammate Malcolm Brogdon had the chance to see that legend in the making during college. Keifer Sykes scanned the gym at Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois, watching as grade school children ran around playing basketball the game thats taken him around the world but never kept him away from home. Breakups, forced relationships, long-distance relationships, fractures between families, money -- these are stresses that, comparatively, make basketball seem so simple. I remember being cut by the Pacers (before the season) and having to tell my son that I got cut, feeling like I just got cut in front of everybody, and I still had to do a seventh- and eighth-grade camp the next day. Even when I got here, (Boucek) just following me on Instagram and Twitter, and telling me alwaysto continue to chip away at it.". On April 5, the 5-11 guard was autographing mini basketballs and. "I can finally say I made it," Sykes said. Without her, I wouldn't have been as successful as I have been this year.". 1:08; See All. We had nothing. pic.twitter.com/4JC9VJNSpW, James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 7, 2022, "Everything that she did for us, losing my dad, taking care of everybody she deserves this more than anybody, Keifer Sykes said. "I do not want to go pro overseas," he said. She took in five kids, taking care of my kids when I told her I wanted to play college basketball. We come from poverty. He was on a trip for a basketball tournament, and that's when he called his mother at work. But in true Sykes fashion, he blocked out the naysayers and helped the Phoenix make the playoffs, finishing fourth in the 10-team league before being knocked out in the final four. Magee is now enrolled at Grand Canyon University. Its been an overflow. He later joined the San Antonio Spurs on 28 September 2015. More than a decade later, and after making a name for himself overseas, the only box Sykes said he had left to check was to beat the odds his younger self foretold and finally play in an NBA game. Gathers, who's likely to return for his senior season, said his household of three is living off $15,000 per year. It's a seven-hour drive round trip from Green Bay to Chicago. "It's the first time I had to do real school work. Buchanan flew into Detroit after Sunday's Rams practice, then spent his Monday helplessly pacing around the University of Michigan Medical Center as his 18-week-old son underwent open-heart surgery. More:Pacers swingmen Torrey Craig, Justin Anderson enter NBA's COVID-19 protocols. The hardest thing was the drive. Most guessed higher than 75 percent. Until now, Sykes has never told the story of how he became a father, what the birth was like, the angst he went through and how scared and shocked he was by the process. Sykes said having his contract guaranteed through the end of the season is "the highlight of my professional career," and he's thrilled that his 6-year-old daughter, Kennedi, and 11-year-old. This June will mark a decade since Keifer Sykes father died, 10 years of carrying on without his biggest fan. Sykes was the undersized and underprivileged kid who was supposed to be swallowed up by the inner city, broken after his fathers death and discouraged by the countless doubters who told him reaching the NBA was a pipe dream. You can go D-I. These were things that I had doubts of. His players have brought their children over for playdates with Ray's son, who was born in 2013. With these body stats, he has recorded his highest vertical jump of 44.5 inches. Because a lot of people dont even know the half of what it took for me to be here. It made my heart weep in joy, not weep in sorrow but in joy that, Wow, he really feels that way about me.. During the opening scenes of Chi-Town the documentary that follows Sykes journey from playing at Marshall High School in Chicago to overseas in the Korean Basketball League a young Sykes is shown in his backyard, shooting on a makeshift court. Its been a blessing. Four-year starter Gary Bell Jr. hopes to have his son, Gary Bell III, in the stands come the first weekend of theNCAA Tournamentin Seattle or Portland. Keifer Sykes, Indiana Pacers As a small guard playing in a big city, Sykes was consistently underappreciated and underranked. From there, Sykes bounced around the fringes of the NBA, joining the Cavaliers for the 2015 Summer League, then signing with San Antonio his father's favorite team and appearing in three 2015-16 preseason games, before being waived and picked up by the Spurs D League (now G League) affiliate, the Austin Spurs. Once she looked up at me, it was over after that.". Turning 5 will be the milestone. Every time dad gets home, son takes it right to the hoop. [30][31] He was waived on April 7, 2022. We were all riding every possession and rooting for him, high-fiving each other whenever he dropped in another 3, Mitchell said. Over Indianas past two games,Sykes is averaging 20.0points, 5.5assists and 3.5rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the field, 50.0% on 3-pointers and 85.7% at the free-throw line. Burrell's daughter, Alyson, is in Puerto Rico. "We felt defeated," he said. Follow IndyStar Pacers beat writer James Boyd on Twitter:@RomeovilleKid. He's a guy that people have underestimated, whether its his size or what school he went to, and hes clearly continued to work on his game, to grind, to believe in himself. , but I stayed strong to do real school work on his self-belief and determination.. much! Of 44.5 inches Uwadiae, a 6-foot-11 Nigerian-born sophomore, had a daughter born last.. Kicked two players off its roster earlier this season after a dorm-room forced... His self-belief and determination.. 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