Updated at 17.36
TRAVIS BLACK MADE a lot of sacrifices to play basketball in the States.
The Dublin-born player left Ireland for America at 17, having just completed his Leaving Cert.
His dream was to pursue a basketball career, yet first he would have to complete two years at Spartanburg Christian high school — or so the authorities told him.
He finally received a full scholarship at Clayton State after two years of hard work and an arduous application process. Finally, his dreams appeared to be coming true, as his presence on the basketball court helped inspire his team to immediate success.
“In two years of high school, I was elected to four All-Star games and in my last year, I was named Player of The Year in my conference,” he tells TheScore.ie. “In my first year of college, we won the regular season championship and then the tournament championship. We went to the National Tournament, where we finished 8th. The second year of college, we won both the regular season and conference tournament championship. We went to the National Tournament again and finished third and went 35 wins and had only one loss.
“I received the National Sportsmanship Award at the tournament. In the two years of college, we had a total of 64 wins and eight losses and since I have been in America, I have won a total of 120 games and experienced only 18 losses.”
However, disaster struck shortly thereafter. When the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) realised that Black had effectively graduated twice from school, once in Ireland and once in America, they deemed him ineligible for the basketball scholarship he had previously been granted.
Consequently, despite having initially been under instructions to attend high school in the States and having completed a substantial amount of paperwork in the first place in order to gain eligibility to compete, he was harshly being denied this opportunity all of a sudden.
“It’s not fair when you try to do the things the NCAA ask of you in the right way and then, your final two years of schooling and playing basketball at the same time is taken away from you,” he says. “All the hard work and sacrifices that I have made just went out the window basically.
“[Basketball in the US] was very hard to adjust to at the start, practising five days a week, lifting weights three days a week and running two days out of the week, but when your body gets conditioned to adapt to the hard training, it then becomes fun, because you start to see the good results. I had to send them a whole bunch of paper work that had good evidence to show everything that I did since I came to America and the reasons for it.
“I was first shocked [when I heard the bad news] because I really did think they were going to let me play and then once it hit me, I was hurt and still am.”Black’s initial appeal over the decision was turned down, yet he says he is still confident that the organisation can be persuaded to revoke their original decision, explaining: “With all the bad publicity that the NCAA have been getting from my case and others, I think they might look at it again.”
Moreover, the decision will have major implications for Black, not just in a sporting sense, but also from an academic perspective. Without his basketball scholarship, the Irish star will likely have no option but to leave college. The cost of attending Clayton State for the final two years of his degree amounts to approximately $40,000 — a fee that he simply cannot afford to pay.
And it is a mishap for which he feels the NCAA are fully responsible for, arguing: “I did everything the right way, I guess they got other things to worry about besides an Irish kid getting his education and playing ball.”
Black, who is the son of an American father and an Irish mother, grew up in Ireland, attending Ardscoil Rís and playing for Swords Basketball Club.
“I didn’t see myself going to college in Ireland, so it was a family decision for me to go the States, get my education there and play basketball at the same time,” he adds. “The standard in America is much higher than it is in Ireland — it’s more professional, it’s time consuming, it’s like working a job. The facilities are better and it’s way more organised, but in saying that, I think that Ireland has a lot of young talent that can play over in the States. They just need the right help or guidance in getting there and being mentally prepared once they do get there, because it’s very hard.
“I had to adjust to the speed, the physicality and athleticism of the game, and once I did, I was fine.”
Black’s coach still allows him to practice and travel to games with the team, which, if nothing else, could provide him with invaluable experience, as the youngster hopes to become a basketball coach in the future.
“I would love to coach basketball and take after my dad and mom, but that’s some hard shoes to fill, because they both are proven winners.”
He also has the option of applying for a half-scholarship in soccer and athletics — two other sports in which he excels.“I won player of the year in soccer and won the state championship too, and I ran track, so I’m trying to see if I can do both and earn a scholarship to let that pay for my school. If that fails, the only thing to do is take out a loan to continue my education.”
Black’s misfortune has already received some media attention, with the player having already received support from both Ireland and the States.
A #LetTravisPlay hashtag has been doing the rounds of Twitter, and he notes that the campaign has brought much attention to the situation.
With that in mind, does he have a message for the people of Ireland and all those who have backed this campaign?
“Yeah, I would just like to thank everyone for all the support, it’s greatly appreciated and hopefully I can get back to balling on the court and represent my family, friends and country.”
You can show your support for Travis Black by using the #LetTravisPlay hashtag
If you wish to register a complaint about the decision, details are available at www.ncaa.com
