It's like the plot of a blockbuster movie... small charter school with no gym to practice defies the odd and wins the City Championship. One School in ATL just did it!
Atlanta’s Centennial Academy Charter School just picked up a new coach named Michael Willis. He was a former college coach that had never taken on a task quite like the program at this Charter school. In his interview when they told him their was no gym to coach his basketball team he was confused. “I’m not used to it. Coming from high school and coaching in college, I was like, this is the gym?” Willis said to WSB-TV of the local YMCA gym that the team was allowed to use for practice. It wasn't even full-court.
Willis took on the tall task and now has an amazing story to tell after clinching the APS Middle School Basketball Championship this week.
Principal Stephanie Hodges said this is the first season for the team and the school's first championship. While their are hundred of kids trying to get into this Charter school, it has the highest population of homeless students in the city. Academics are the schools forte but athletics are important for many of these students. Speaking of the lack of proper facilities, Hodges said nothing stands in the way of excellence for the school.
“We beat some of the top schools in APS to win it. These guys played hard, practiced hard, and got rewarded with the championship,” Coach Willis told WSB-TV.
Willis has some cred of his own. He was recently named the Atlanta Hawks Jr. NBA Coach of the Year!
(Source: Berndt Petersen, WSB-TV)
We talked about this amazing story on Moote, Kimmie & Otis this morning. This story just feel like it need a big screen movie with Samuel L. Jackson playing Coach Willis. This is a story we'll see on ESPN one day and one of the players will be a huge NBA star.