For years, one of the most imposing high school basketball players in the Washington area was scared to go outside. A victim of a gunshot wound and subsequent robbery when he was 10 years old, Demetric Austin spent his days monitoring his Southeast Washington neighborhood through a Venetian blind. He double checked locks. He dragged his mattress outside his mother’s bedroom door and wailed for her to let him in so he would not have to sleep alone in his room. ¶ “Please don’t let me have no more bad nightmares,” he would pray many nights. ¶ When he arrived at Springbrook High School 21 / 2 years ago, he found the fresh start and supportive community he was looking for. ¶ When teachers and students at the Silver Spring school look at Austin, they don’t see the recluse who was the subject of a 2005 newspaper story (headline: “D.C. Boy’s Wounds Don’t Heal.”) They see the brawny yet graceful leading scorer and rebounder of the ninth-ranked Blue Devils, a 6-foot-7, 250-pounder nicknamed “Tree,” who just might be the best public school boys’ basketball player in Montgomery County.
They also see a newly dedicated student who, a year after getting dismissed from the team for academic reasons, is making the most of a network of faculty, coaches and community members.
Loading...
Comments