Indiana University Athletics
IU Signee Morgan Makes Birthday Special
4/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 10, 2015
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By: Marianne Ward
Director of Communications and Marketing
Waynesville (Mo.) R-VI School District
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- “Watch out for the giant,” shouts Cameron Miggins-McDonald to his friend Seth Davis during a two-on-two pick up basketball game at the Waynesville Sixth Grade Center.
But Davis isn’t concerned about his opponent’s towering 6’8”-inch presence; Davis just loves playing basketball. The sixth grader spins a ball on one finger, enjoys dribbling the ball and shoots from the top of the key.
“Basketball is his thing,” says Krista Madden, who works with special needs students at the Waynesville Sixth Grade Center. “Seth started playing on after-school teams as a way to improve his motor skills, but it has become his passion.”
Recognizing his passion, Madden and Britton DuBose, the special education processor at the Sixth Grade Center and Waynesville High School, arranged for a pair of WHS basketball players to help celebrate the 13-year-old’s birthday.
Madden and her students were in the gym, playing basketball when Joe Johnson, a junior, and Juwan Morgan (pictured above, far right), a senior, walked into the center’s gym. It was obvious they were not fellow students.
“Are you his dad?” one student asked.
“No, I am from the high school and I am here to celebrate someone’s birthday,” says Morgan.
Davis says, “It’s my birthday.”
And, that’s how Davis and Miggins-McDonald ended up in a surprise two-on-two pickup game with the high school stand-out players on Friday. While being defended by Morgan - the “giant” who has signed to play with the Indiana Hoosiers - Davis heeded his friend’s advice, eventually scoring two and wining the game.
Following the game, Morgan spoke with the class, sharing this advice: “Listen to your coach; listen to your teachers and do your very best every day in school.”
