Summit Christian Academy basketball team manager with cerebral palsy is real MVP | Opinion
It’s Monday, the last day of spring break for Summit Christian Academy in Lee’s Summit. But there is no down time for the school’s basketball team, a squad that features a rare combination of youthful talent and experienced leadership.
On this day, head coach Tellus Truesdale runs his players through a variety of shooting and ball-handling drills in preparation for Wednesday’s Missouri Class 5 semifinal basketball game at Mizzou Arena in Columbia against Springfield Parkview High School.
At the scorer’s table to my left is team manager Patrick McCarty, an 18-year-old senior who wants to be coach in the future. McCarty said he will attend MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe and major in sports management. If coaching doesn’t pan out, McCarty told me he would like to delve into the administrative side of sports.
“If coaching is not the plan, then I’m going into statistics or anything front office wise,” he said.
As team manager, McCarty is responsible for a number of important matters. His duties include running the clock and keeping score at practice, and getting players water and towels during games, among other thankless tasks.
“My job is to make sure everything is good to go,” McCarty said.
McCarthy was born with cerebral palsy. Physically, he is unable to play the game he loves competitively. But on a team loaded with talent and potential, McCarty is perhaps the Eagles’ real MVP and an inspiration to the entire team.
“Patrick has been my guy since freshman year,” Summit Christian senior guard Max Rieger said. “A lot of people when they look at Patrick and they look at his role on the team, they see from the outside looking in. They don’t see what actually goes on but what happens at practice, pregame and in the games: We treat Patrick like he’s one of the players. We treat him like any other person.”
It takes a special kind of person to fulfill such a selfless role and McCarty does it all with a smile, Truesdale said.
“It’s hard to have a bad day when Pat is around,” he said.
These days, McCarty is enjoying a level of fame unheard of for a person in his position. But the attention is for all the right reasons and why I am sitting in on this particular practice two days before the state semifinals.
Last month, during a Senior Night game at SCA, McCarty dressed out for the first time. Not only was McCarty in uniform — he wore No. 33 — but he started the contest against University Academy and scored the first and only points of his high school career. The moment, captured on video, was touching. Even the Eagles’ opponents that night and their cheerleaders mobbed McCarty on the court after he scored.
“It was fun and very heartwarming for me,” McCarty said. “I am very thankful for the team for letting me do that.”
Since the day Truesdale uploaded Senior Night footage to social media, the light has shined on McCarty — and rightfully so. Spend time talking to this young man and you get the feeling he is a genuine person with a heart of gold. Plus, he loves what he does for the Eagles’ boys basketball program.
On Sunday, McCarty, his parents and Truesdale were interviewed in a segment on NBC Nightly News. McCarty’s basket and the mob scene that followed were shown to a national audience.
When asked if he has grown tired of the attention from media outlets, McCarty replied, “No.” But one downside to this newfound fame is the amount of mentions on McCarty’s social media accounts.
“I’ve had to turn off my notifications,” he said
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SCA wants to ‘run it back’
Last year, Summit Christian finished as runner-up in Class 3 to New Madrid County Central High School. This year, the Eagles’ motto was to “Run it Back” as their pregame T-shirts alluded to all season.
En route to its return to the state championship tournament, Summit Christian won 26 of 30 games despite moving up to Class 5 with bigger schools and better competition. In Missouri, successful private schools’ athletic programs can be moved up a class by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.
At practice this week, I watched on the far court Mike Thomas III, a smooth 6-foot-6 left-handed sophomore forward, go through individual drills with a teammate. Thomas is the team’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder. He also leads the team in blocked shots.
Thomas’ game-winning 3-point shot against Pembroke Hill in the Class 5 quarterfinals is how legends are made. The last-second dagger clinched the Eagles’ second consecutive trip to the state semifinals.
Nearby is Rieger, the senior sharpshooter and the school’s single season leader for points. In basketball parlance, Rieger is what we call a certified bucket getter. The 6-foot guard has scored more than 1,500 career points and has committed to play college basketball next year at Columbia College.
And then there’s freshman point guard Grady Ellerman, a first-year player with the skill and moxy of a four-year veteran. Ellerman is one of two freshmen playing on the varsity team. Because my son, Giulian, is on the junior varsity team at SCA, I’ve seen this kid play multiple times this season. His potential to be a high impact player for the Eagles is unquestionable.
Yet, it’s McCarty that has shined the brightest in what is shaping up as a magical season for the Summit Christian Academy basketball team.
“The fact that he got his moment to be able to shine, it was everything,” Truesdale said.
On Wednesday, McCarty and the Eagles hope that light won’t be dimmed in Columbia.
