Shawn Lane '15 Recruiting Profile

Growing up my first love for a sport was football. I had great hands and could catch any ball in moving distance. There was nothing more fun than going deep which was really only about fifteen yards away and catching the ball. Doing diving catches and one-handed snags. Even getting a little physical at recess when it's just a simple two-hand touch game of football was really fun. I loved football until about fifth grade and that's when another sport opened my eyes.

In fifth grade my friends dad wanted to start a basketball team and play in the Atchison League to get away from the weak competition in our schools league. I joined this team at first just because most of my friends were doing it, but by the end of it it was for a different reason. We were hands down the worst team there all the teams were bigger and older than us. We got ourselves killed by teams every Saturday morning, but we improved which was the most important thing. I became a pretty decent ball player when the season ended and that season left me with being obsessed over this game called basketball.

When the season ended i wasted no time to go up to the park after school. I worked on my shot every day. I'd say I shot over five thousand shots in just a month. Every month that number went up. By the time summer came I pretty much lived up at that park. You could count on me being up there as early as nine in the morning and wouldn't see me at home until ten at night. I was so obsessed that my friends didnt want to hang around me because all I wanted to do was play basketball.

This obsession went all the way through middle school where I jokingly called myself the "white Michael Jordan." At this time I was a pretty good ball player. For middle I was a tall guard and developed a good mid-range shot and turned myself into a consistent scorer. Athletically I was one of the most athletic kids in my area with great jumping ability and being very quick for my size.

High school came around and it was a lot different because of how fast paced and how physical you have to be to play in the game. I was a 5' 11" a hundred and a hundred and thirty pounds. I was no longer a taller guard everyone was my height or taller and everyone was thicker than I was. I didn't adjust to the game as fast as I wanted to it took a little time and before you know it I was the second leading scorer as a freshmen on JV.

For the next three years in my high school career I started varsity and I never saw the JV court ever again. JV and Varsity had another huge change in how the game was played I was now a small guard and had stopped growing and never get myself to weigh more. Weighing now at a hundred and forty pounds I hit the weight room hard trying to get stronger and faster. After going to state and losing first round I told myself I'm going to do everything to get back there to state. After a week goes by I'm going in every day after school to lift weights. I was the only basketball player to take the time to go in and lift after school.

Senior year comes around one last try to make it to state. I gave all my effort in practice and in games to do everything I can to make it back to state. We fell short though losing in the semi-finals in sub-state. Everything that I ever did growing up till when that final buzzer seemed like a waste of time all of a sudden. All that time shooting hundreds of shots a day seemed like it didn't pay off. That could be my last game ever as a basketball player. The only thing that is running through my mind is no college is going to want me because I'm a short guard and small in body size. Who would want that?

You wont find another player out there like me. You wont find a player who will put in the extra things to make them better. It's not just putting a ball through a hoop it takes dedication both on and off the court. It starts with how you do everything how you eat, how you sleep, how you prepare for things, how you take things. Academically I am fine I work hard on my classes and to keep my grades up you wont find guys like that. I am athletic for my size, but its not going to matter how athletic you are in the end its going to be who works the hardest who gets everything in the end. I am hard working and I don't complain. I don't say much in general I just Show it on the court. I don't know if I'm a good candidate for your team. That's for you to decide if I am.