The Flint High School team has all the problems of any basketball team when injuries occur, but, add to that poverty, a city in severe declines and questionable water to drink. Where is the Gatorade when you need it? I know I am not exaggerating to say the team needs more than sponsorship, it needs a philanthropic and generous person to take a real interest in providing a space for them to practice and compete.
The Flint Jaguars lock arms during the national anthem before a game in Davison, Michigan, a nearby rural community on Feb. 18, 2018.
June 8, 2018
By Chris Donovan
"This is Flint!” (click here) yelled coach Cory Hightower at halftime during a losing game in the nearby rural community of Davison, Michigan. “Why do you think they get so excited when they dunk on us? Because this is Flint and they are never supposed to beat us. Look at that name on your chest. That’s history.”
On April 3, 2000, three basketball players from Flint, Michigan, nicknamed “The Flintstones” led the Michigan State Spartans to their last national title. The Flintstones — Morris Peterson, Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell — competed against each other on three separate Flint high school teams.
Eighteen years later, in 2018, Flint has seen a swift decline in population as the result of an ongoing water and financial crisis. Flint high schools have been closing one by one, and there is now only one high school basketball program left in the city: the Flint Jaguars, the result of Northwestern and Southwestern high schools merging in 2017.
The team’s inaugural season has not been without its challenges. The Jaguars began their season with 14 players and by their last month were down to eight....
...One player, Eddie Tiller, who was kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons, says, “If you can make it in Flint you can make it anywhere. That’s why there are so many great athletes that come out of here. We’re hungry.”...
