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Message: [QUOTE="Bulldog04, post: 4249041, member: 7185"] I’ve lived a very blessed life in sports and relationships with athletes and coaches alike. But Pearl was a very close family friend my entire life and one of the most influential people in my own personal sports life And just would like to share how great he was. He was very close to my father and he was Uncle Pearl to me and my brother and we miss him a lot. Our relationship really blossomed when he challenged me to join the Mcchesney Park basketball team when I was very young and play with much older kids so I would be prepared to play basketball at Nottingham.. Every night after practice he would stay late with me and he would show me all his moves. For months he showed me how to do the in n out crossover move he was famous for because as little slow white kid, I needed all the help I could get other than just shooting 3s. When I say Pearl went out of his way to help me, it was an understatement. He knew I was going to play golf in college but he prepared me as if I was going to be the best basketball player in the country lol. His leadership and care was something I still remember to this day. There would be summer days where I would be shooting in my driveway and Pearl would drive by and stop and shoot in my driveway with me and I always remember the look on my dads face and I never really got it until I got older as to why. There was a true living legend in our driveway helping me get ready for b-ball season. It seriously makes me smile to this day to think of how I had no idea and how lucky I truly was because Pearl the person was so infectious to be around. The lessons in the driveway were far more than just basketball too. He loved to talk about social things in school, was I happy I went to a city school instead of cba, what I was learning by being the minority (only white player on the team for 4 years) and asked all the tough questions so easily that it made me so comfortable to talk to him. I learned so much from those moments and he never had to do that. He was so good at providing the right wisdom at the right time as if he was reading my mind... At a certain point my junior golf life was allowing me to receive division 1 scholarships and guess who was there to help me figure out the overwhelming situations of it all? Uncle Pearl... no matter where I saw him or for how long he always said “how’s your golf ? You know you still can’t beat me..” Here he was one of the most decorated college players of all time helping me process the whole process to help make the best decision for me and my family. Pearl loved the basketball spotlight but he was so quiet, so humble and so gracious. He wanted to help more than be the center of attention. It was very tough to see the brightest light of a guy have to have his life cut short the way it was... Nothing can ever take away his spirit, his mentorship, his life lessons and who Pearl the person is. I loved Pearl the ball player but Pearl the person was even more special. We miss you Uncle Pearl [/QUOTE]

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