Building Warriors physically, mentally and spiritually

Building Warriors physically, mentally and spiritually

The Faith Prep gap- year basketball program in West Memphis enters it’s fourth year with a 100 percent success rate of placing players on college campuses

sports@theeveningtimes.com

In Meadowbrook County Club, basketball, academic tutoring and faith have been mixing together for the past three years. The result of that formula is that over 30 players, all of the participants in the Faith Prep program, have found new homes on college campus and college courts.

The 100 percent success rate is meaningful to Faith Prep co-founder Daniel Bandy, not simply because it means that his program is developing better basketball players but because it means that those players are become better students and better men.

“Whey are we proud of that? Because, we’re able to see that what we’ve put in place works,” Bandy said. “That, whomever the kid, it doesn’t matter the talent level. If you come in and stay focused and committed and go through these things that we’re asking you to do, it’ll work, and you’ll be able to obtain your goal. Keep the faith all the way through.”

Faith Prep, a gap-year program which takes players in the year immediately following high school graduation and prepares them for college both on and off the court, has succeeding in placing all of it’s participates over the past three seasons on college campuses.

With players now on 26 different college teams, Faith Prep’s basketball development is unquestionable. However, it’s the academic and life coaching side of the ball which cofounder Willard Brown takes the most pride.

“This year, one of our players went from a 13 to a 20 in math alone on the ACT, making him eligible to qualify for college,” Brown said. “That’s just one success story. Some of these guys may have some aptitude in school but totally clueless when it comes to common sense and deductive reasoning. For instance, we had an enrichment class where we go over everything, from the ACT sliding scale to the NAIA Champions of Character program. But, in this one class, literally only one of these kids knew who Malcom X was. That’s the type of thing you just assume that kids know but some of them don’t.”

But the physical training and academic building alone wouldn’t be enough to make the program the success that’s it is today, according to Bandy. The co-founder believes that equally as important as building the mind is building the spirit and developing faith, especially for players who come to Faith Prep who may have had academic or personal issues in high school which prevented them from immediately going to college.

“We want everybody to be able to realize that faith is the foundation of everything, that no matter what hardships you’ve been through, what issues you have, you can climb through that and do what you want to do,” Bandy said. “With faith and a plan of action, you can get through it. Some people haven’t had the same opportunities and we wanted to create some of those opportunities here.”

After graduating from West Memphis Christian, Bandy played college basketball and enjoyed a professional basketball career overseas. However, he felt a calling to return to West Memphis to provide the future generation with the same chances that he enjoyed.

“I came back specifically for this community,” Bandy said. “Coming out of high school, a lot of these kids don’t really know what they’re going to do. If they don’t go to college, they’re probably going to work at a factory. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we want to give them options.” Again, Brown harps on the fact that while Faith Prep prepares young men in their gap-year between high school and college for collegiate basketball, it is perhaps more useful in preparing those players for life off the court.

“What we’re doing when we take these guys on, it’s not just basketball,” Brown said. “We’re teaching them character development, extemporaneous speaking in front of people, preparing them really to go to college. We become fathers, mentors and brothers. When they go to the doctor, we’re taking them. We take them on late night food runs. If they have family issues, we’re their refuge and their resources.”

Certainly, the model which Bandy and Brown have set in place is producing results, but the Faith Prep co-founders hope to provide those results for more than just the 10 to 13 players their currently equipped to handle per year.

That means funding. The Faith Prep co-founders, who have given back to the Crittenden County community, hope that the public sees the results of their vision and are willing to donate, not to them, but to the future generation of athletes who can utilize them.

That funding could come in many different forms, rather it be a financial donation, providing equipment or food and water, or simply showing up to local games and providing support.

In particular though, Faith Prep needs a 15-passanger van to help them travel to games in a schedule that takes the Warriors everywhere from Mississippi to Kansas to Missouri, just to name a few of the many locations Faith Prep travels to.

“Every year, we travel more than 7,000 miles,” Bandy said. “We play schedules that colleges are even afraid to play. We’ll go from Mississippi one night and all the way to Kansas the next. We don’t care because we want to give these young men that exposure and allow them to see things they haven’t seen. Believe it or not, there are kids who have not been outside of the tri-state area when they come to us.”

To help support or for more information about the Faith Prep Warriors, go to www.FaithPrepWarriors.co m or call Bandy directly at 901-509-5010.

By Collins Peeples