Bigger Concerns

ROBINSON - Moments after winning the biggest basketball game of his life, Meyers Leonard's attention leaves the court.
Leonard's eyes scan the stands and locate his mom before pointing in her direction. Following a familiar script from all season, Leonard heads into the crowd to hug his mom and find out how she's feeling.
"Mom, you OK? Everything fine?"
Forget that he's an intimidating 7-footer on the floor for Robinson; the 18-year-old has a special bond with his mother, Tracie.
This is the first time in years she's been able to watch her son play the game he dominates. She suffers from chronic back pain that stems from wear and tear through the years and unforgiving genes.
His love for the only parent he's known since he was 6 brings Tracie to tears with every postgame hug. They're tears of joy.
"It's just overwhelming," Tracie said. "It was just years of being there for both of my sons and for him to come up there to give me a hug, I was crying every time."
She wasn't going to miss Meyers' final year of making dreams come true with lifelong friends. Meyers' senior season couldn't have gone much better, as it included 27 wins and a state championship. He averaged 18.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.4 blocks and 3.8 assists and was named AP first-team all-state.
He is the 2010 Herald & Review Area Player of the Year.
"Meyers is very driven to succeed," Tracie said. "He believes if you work hard and are determined with motivation, anything is possible."
For the past 12 years, Meyers, his brother, Bailey, and Tracie have needed plenty of drive and determination.
The three of them have grown together as a tight family after a tragic bicycle accident killed Jim, Meyers' dad. Meyers doesn't remember much about his dad, but photos help.
"It's been tough," Meyers said. "My mom and I are really close, and that helps."
Tracie credits the many coaches who have been father figures for both Bailey and Meyers with helping the two cope. With two boys only two years apart, she's been trying to keep up with baseball and basketball for years. And if it wasn't for surviving on one income, who knows how many sports the two would have taken on?
But it became clear when Meyers sprouted to 6-foot-10 as a sophomore and received a letter from North Carolina that he needed to drop baseball and invest all his time and effort into a basketball career.
"I knew then that there were a lot more to come," Tracie said about the letters from colleges that she still keeps on the kitchen table. "That to me sparked a new motivation for him to start focusing on basketball."
Sure enough, the letters flowed home from every college that knew he existed, especially Illinois. With the increased exposure in AAU, Meyers exploded into a hot topic. So much that Tracie has an entire kitchen wall devoted to stories written about her son.
"He knew there were people who did this for a living, and that reinforced his confidence because they assessed his potential and how much bigger and stronger he will become," Tracie said about scouts.
For all the positives that come along with being a 7-footer, Meyers has experienced the negatives. He's an easy target for opposing fans, not to mention every team's biggest player. It's taken some time and a lot of patience, but Meyers isn't a stranger to adversity.
"He's had to mature sometimes quicker than some teenagers have to," Robinson coach Bob Coffman said. "At times, it wasn't something he wanted to do.
"Basketball's been a good outlet for him. It's a chance for him to be himself and not let other things affect his game and who he is."
Since Jan. 25, basketball's been a different kind of escape for both Meyers and Tracie. Since then, it's been just the two of them after Bailey was deployed to Afghanistan with the Army for what's supposed to be nine months.
"She was really, really down when he left, but basketball was a good way to get her mind away from it," Meyers said. "We're getting through it and hoping he stays safe at war."
Before every opportunity that Meyers got to throw down dunks and swat shots this season, Tracie couldn't help but to think about Bailey with the national anthem playing. For her, it's about her two boys representing the "land of the free and home of the brave."
"Those are my two sons," Tracie said. "Bailey, the brave fighting for our country and Meyers, the free achieving dreams on the basketball court."
With two of his three lifetime goals accomplished - getting a scholarship to play Division I basketball and winning a state title - Leonard gets to work on his hopes of playing in the NBA. That quest has already begun: Every day, he hits the weight room trying to put on another 20 pounds.
Then it's off to play for the U19 USA Basketball team before transitioning to life at college in Champaign.
"All the hard work's paid off, so far," Leonard said.

Published in the Herald & Review in March 2010.