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It's really long. Great stuff in there.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...conn-career/jV2fVGOABqryzdBtSmzrGI/story.html
A few good quotes.
“I remember seeing three or four really good plays, and I said, ‘Is that Napier?’ ” Calhoun recalled. “[An assistant] says, ‘Yeah, Coach, he’s like fourth or fifth on our list.’ ”
Napier became Calhoun’s top priority.
“Bottom line,” Calhoun said, “I said, ‘You know, let me watch him. You guys go to the other game.’ ”
He saw things in Napier that reminded him of a player he already had, Kemba Walker — the potential to be a great player and a great personality.
He also saw things that were similar to himself. Napier grew up in Roxbury. Calhoun was born in Braintree and coached at Northeastern.
“I saw a tough Boston city kid,” Calhoun said. “I’m a tough Boston city kid myself. So I saw a lot of parallels.”
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Early on, Calhoun was tough on Napier, but he had a purpose.
“He needed someone that was going to kind of kick his ass a little bit, but love him,” Calhoun said. “He always needed love.
“He’s like a good hound dog. He’ll sniff you out, find out if you really care. If you’re going to call him names and yell at him and push him, you also have to love him. I loved him.
“I think the greatest thing is, he knew it. Even when he wasn’t the Shabazz Napier we know today, he always knew that people — we at UConn — cared about him.”
They didn’t always see eye to eye, but Calhoun always felt he could get through to Napier.
“Through it all, through all these emotions, through the mood swings that we all go through especially at his age, he’s smart and he always understood,” Calhoun said. “I used to tell him, ‘You know what I’m saying to you is 100 percent true. You’re a smart guy. You know it’s true.’ ”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...conn-career/jV2fVGOABqryzdBtSmzrGI/story.html
A few good quotes.
“I remember seeing three or four really good plays, and I said, ‘Is that Napier?’ ” Calhoun recalled. “[An assistant] says, ‘Yeah, Coach, he’s like fourth or fifth on our list.’ ”
Napier became Calhoun’s top priority.
“Bottom line,” Calhoun said, “I said, ‘You know, let me watch him. You guys go to the other game.’ ”
He saw things in Napier that reminded him of a player he already had, Kemba Walker — the potential to be a great player and a great personality.
He also saw things that were similar to himself. Napier grew up in Roxbury. Calhoun was born in Braintree and coached at Northeastern.
“I saw a tough Boston city kid,” Calhoun said. “I’m a tough Boston city kid myself. So I saw a lot of parallels.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Early on, Calhoun was tough on Napier, but he had a purpose.
“He needed someone that was going to kind of kick his ass a little bit, but love him,” Calhoun said. “He always needed love.
“He’s like a good hound dog. He’ll sniff you out, find out if you really care. If you’re going to call him names and yell at him and push him, you also have to love him. I loved him.
“I think the greatest thing is, he knew it. Even when he wasn’t the Shabazz Napier we know today, he always knew that people — we at UConn — cared about him.”
They didn’t always see eye to eye, but Calhoun always felt he could get through to Napier.
“Through it all, through all these emotions, through the mood swings that we all go through especially at his age, he’s smart and he always understood,” Calhoun said. “I used to tell him, ‘You know what I’m saying to you is 100 percent true. You’re a smart guy. You know it’s true.’ ”
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