The coach never considered any other option.
It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School
basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to
get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game
time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or
that this was a chance to beat a big city team.
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Johntel Franklin scored 10
points in the game following the loss of his
mother. |
Something else was on
Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer
to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical
foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised
his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times
before.
Only this time it was different.
"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?"
Rohlman said.
Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood
what had to be done.
It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs
were playing a non-conference game on the road against
Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the
two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that
spanned two states.
The teams planned to get together after the game and
share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost
never took place.
Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior
captain Johntel Franklin died at a local
hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after
a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to
hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his
college ACT exam.
Her son and several of his teammates were at the
hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made
to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin
was just 39.
"She was young and they were real close," said
Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the
hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so
suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."
Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin
told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did,
even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison
dressed only eight players.
Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out
of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came
there directly from the hospital to root his teammates
on.
The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time
out. His players went over and hugged their grieving
teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.
"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he
wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during
a telephone interview.
"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."
There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on
the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a
technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws.
Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to
give up the two points. It was more important to help
his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by
playing.
Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so
willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the
technical and just let Franklin play.
"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes,
saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it,"
Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule.
You have to take them."
That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and
McNeal's hand went up.
He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the
ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim.
His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a
couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The
second barely left his hand.
It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to
figure out what was going on.
They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and
started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon,
so did everybody in the stands.
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing
to do."
They may not remember our record 20
years from now, but they'll remember
what happened in that gym that night.
? Dave Rohlman, head
coach of the opposing DeKalb team on what his
players will take away from this experience.
Franklin would go on to score 10
points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the
second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out
for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.
Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team
was there for him.
"I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to
play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out
there."
Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the
school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came
in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers
to Johntel's classmates were there.
"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said.
"It lets you know what kind of kid he is."
Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old
Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles
and plans to play football in college. He just has a few
games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat
71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton.
It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but
they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.
"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in
the world but they go to class and take care of
business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but
there's life lessons going on, good ones."
None so good, though, as the moment a team and a
player decided there were more important things than
winning and having good stats.
Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a
trip they'll never forget.
"This is something our kids will hold for a
lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our
record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what
happened in that gym that night."