Overlooked: A Basketball Novel

[TheDominator273]

Chapter 1

Miller. In South Dakota that name is royalty in basketball circles. Most notably for Mike Miller, the best player to come out of this state, but the name is rooted deeper in the fabric of South Dakota basketball than that, with its legacy going all the way back to 1967 when Tom Miller came to Dakota Wesleyan University to play basketball.

Tom’s brothers Chris and Alan followed him to DWU, and the family set roots in Mitchell, SD. It wasn’t long until Tom’s kids were starring at Mitchell High School, first Ryan, then Jared and finally Mike. Not to be left out, Tara, Tom’s youngest child, won a state title playing with her cousin Tara, who is the oldest child of Alan Miller. Not too long after that came Alan’s next children, Jordan and Jade who were both standouts, and finally there’s Macy Miller who is a standout at South Dakota State destined for the WNBA.

While I hold the same last name as this legendary family, I am not basketball royalty in South Dakota. In fact, not only am I not related to them, I’m not from South Dakota. My family moved here the summer after 8th grade when my dad took a promotion that moved us to Sioux Falls. Since then, every tryout or basketball camp I attend, after every game I play, someone asks if I’m related to that legendary family. When I tell them I’m not you can see their interest in me immediately drain.

Its not like I’m a bad basketball player, in fact I’m quite good. I’ve been All Conference since my Sophomore season, I’ve been All State both my Junior and Senior years, I was named a finalist for the South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year, and I’m the only player listed on 247sports from South Dakota in the 2018 recruiting class. I’m the #273 recruit in the nation according to them right now but that hasn’t exactly translated to any D1 offers. In fact, the only information packet I’ve gotten from a D1 school have come from South Dakota State and Duke…after I requested the information online.

So, imagine my surprise when my younger brother Jay smacked me in the face with a giant envelope.

“What is this?” I asked, angry at being woken up so abruptly

“Open it” he replied excitedly “Well actually I opened it already, so just read it!”

I turned the envelope around, noticing that Jay had indeed opened the envelope already. I slowly pulled out the letter inside, noticing right away how nice the paper the letter was written on was. I could feel my heart racing as I started to read.

“Dear Mr. Oscar Miller,

It is with great pleasure that I would like to invite you to Portland, OR to participate in the Nike Hoop Summit. As you know, the Nike Hoop Summit is an international All-Star game in which the USA Basketball Men’s Junior Select Team faces off against a World Select team. This game allows players to demonstrate their skills for college coaches and NBA scouts.

We are looking forward to you joining us in representing Team USA in the 2018 Nike Hoop Summit.

Coach Jones”

I must have blacked out because the next thing I remember was Jay snapping his fingers at me and waving his hand in front of my face.

“You ok bro?” he asked nervously “You look like a ghost. Like more than usual”

“Yeah I’m fine,” I replied as I punched him in the arm “But this has to be a joke, right? How would I get an invite to a camp like this?”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“What did you do Jay?”

“Well….” he stammered.

“Jay…. What. Did. You Do?” I asked trying to fight the urge to place my younger brother in a headlock.

“You know how I film all of your games?”

“Yeah…”

“Well I just cut together some of that footage and made a highlight video…and then I might have sent it to a bunch of coaches and posted it on YouTube…and I might have also posted the link to it all over social media” he said meekly

“You might have?”

“Ok, I did do all of those things, but look at this. Your video has 87 thousand views and a ton of good comments on it”

As he said this, he pulled up the highlight video on his phone to show to me.




“Wow, so this invite is legit then? I’m going to get to play against some of the best recruits in the country this summer!”

“Yeah so get your butt out of bed and let’s head down to the gym so you don’t embarrass us at your tryout” replied Jay with a wily grin on his face. “Mom said you can take the car this morning so let’s go.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Welcome to the jungle, we got fun n’ games.”

I slowly came to as the sultry sounds of Guns N’ Roses filled my room.

“We got everything you want, honey we know the names.”

I rolled over and shut off the alarm on my phone, upset both that it had awaken me from my slumber and that everything I had just dreamed was never going to happen.

Climbing out of bed I walked across my room and pulled up YouTube to check how many views my mixtape I uploaded the night before had gotten. I let out an audible groan as the video showed just one more view than it had when I checked the night previous.

“How am I going to get a D1 offer in the next 35 days when only 31 people have seen my video?” I said to no one in particular

“If it doesn’t happen sweetie you can always take the offer to play at USF” responded my mom through the door.

“Mooooommmm!!! Do you hear everything I say?”

“Thin walls in this house” called out my dad.

“And you talk to yourself a lot” chimed in Jay.

I opened my bedroom door and walked past my mom down the hall into the kitchen where my dad and younger brother were eating breakfast.

“I don’t know how many times I need to tell you guys, but I am not going to college in South Dakota. I need to get out of this state.”

“We know you want to go see the world and have all sorts of adventures,” replied my dad “But if you go to USF you can live here at home and save a lot of money.”

“First off,” I retorted “I don’t want to see the world or have any grand adventures, I just want to play basketball someplace that will let me showcase my talent for NBA scouts and the University of Sioux Falls is not that place. And second, if I get a D1 scholarship I’ll save even more money.”

“Oooh he got you there pops” said Jay as my father shot him a glare over his morning paper.

“Well this has been lovely, but I’m going to the gym to get some shots up. I’ll be home for dinner” I said retreating back to my room to pack my gym bag.

On my way to the front door my mom stopped me, “Don’t forget to eat lunch” she said dangling the car keys in front of me.

As I reached for the keys she pulled them away

“Oscar! I mean it. You work so hard you need to stop and eat something, or you’ll end up in the hospital”

“Ok Mom, I’ll stop and grab a sandwich on my way, and I’ll eat it I promise” I replied snatching the keys and jogging out the door to the car.

I loved going to the gym first thing in the morning. It was my oasis from everything else. In the gym I was king, in control of everything. I started the car, cranked the radio and let my anxiety and fear of not getting a D1 offer melt away.