Some Alma information you may not know

[artraveler]

Since I am quite close to the Alma seniors, I would like to provide some insight into these six young men that I hope you'll find worth reading.  This group lost by three in last year's state title final and are fighting to earn the right to play in the state playoffs for the fourth straight year.  What most people don't know, but should know, is the truly remarkable academic performance and off court character of this senior class.   
To give you some idea of how good academically this senior class is, let me use the example I know best, my son, one of the reserves who plays about 6-10 minutes per game. He has a 4.1 GPA on a 4.0 scale and scored a 33 on the ACT.  He will be a Vanderbilt Commodore this fall. All that said, those numbers rank him THIRD BEST academically among the seniors on this team. Third best.
All six Alma seniors are college bound, two to AR Tech, one to ASU, one to Hendrix, and two to Vanderbilt.  At least four have been awarded academic scholarships. Three will graduate in the top 10 in their class of over 250 students, with GPAs over 4.1 on a 4.0 scale.  Instead of taking it easy their senior year, I know the majority of the seniors are taking AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, and either AP Physics or AP European History right now.  If you're like me and took the ACT back in the day, you'll appreciate that five of these seniors have a combined average ACT score of 29.8.
This group of six include: class presidents, class vice presidents, student organization presidents, and multiple individual state academic contest championships.  As a man of faith, I'll humbly submit to you that five of these six seniors have attended a HS Boys Bible study group in my home for the past three straight years, with an attendance rate for all five of over 80%.  Of all the guys who show up, I can always count on these five senior basketball players to be there, and to lead.  That's five class young men who gather to pray for each other, their families, and their classmates every Sunday night for the last three years. Talk about leadership.

We all get lost in the performance on the court, which truly is only a sliver of the whole person.  We don't really know the teams we play against, though we may have watched the same kids for four years in some situations.  After 3 or 4 years, I think we all agree we grow tired of each other, and I think we'd all just assume win.    Since that's not possible, we play it out on the courts and root like heck for our kids. Whomever you root for, I hope you'll join me in tipping your hat to a remarkable group of six young men.

[AT]

Great post traveler.

This group of seniors are some of the most selfless seniors I've seen in awhile at Alma.

Braxton and Mason are starters and have been a huge part of Alma's success the past two years. Braxton seems to be the vocal senior leader of this team. Mason is a little more quiet, but my favorite thing about Mason is I don't believe he got a lot of playing time in junior high, but has improved enough to where he has been getting starter minutes for 2 years in senior high.

Grant's academic success should not and cannot go unnoticed. Grant is a genius and applies himself, which is pretty rare. (I guess he was raised right.) On the basketball court, Grant is fun to watch. He's Mr. Fundamental in my mind. One of my favorite moments this year was after a game when he didn't get any playing time (vs. Harrison at home), he went to Vilonia the very next game and gave Alma some big minutes including 6 straight points I believe. Grant knew Jake was playing too well in the Harrison game to come out, but Grant didn't get down on himself and was ready to deliver the next game. That showed his character right there.

Sean Siler, Shane Siler, and Alex Clark don't get to play much. But I know for a fact that they put as much work and emotional investment as the players who do get playing time.

I've heard Sean Siler gave a big inspirational speech before the Morrilton game at home that fired the team up. I also know that these guys have been going in with the starters and working on their free throw shooting since we've struggled with that recently.

It can't be easy to be a senior and have sophomores play ahead of you, but these kids don't show that. Actually more than that, they support the sophomores and don't hold any grudges against them (yes that should be expected, but it doesn't always happen)

Alma has a history (like many schools) of starting any senior, even the ones who don't get much playing time, on senior night. I don't want to start any false rumors, but I have it from a pretty good source that the Alma seniors have actually asked Coach Flenor to not start them on Tuesday, because Alma hasn't clinched a playoff spot yet and they care more about the team than their one night of recognition. That speaks volumes about their character. (Coach Flenor may still go ahead and start them, I don't know, I support the decision either way)

I don't want to sound like Braxton and Mason aren't selfless, they are, but I just think their leadership is more obvious than the other seniors and they should be recognized too.

Some of these kids aren't going to be all conference or all state in basketball, but they are winning at life as your post proves.

[AT]

Now I wish Vilonia boys would've won on Friday even more.

C'mon Hacker. These kids deserve some recognition. No one is forcing anyone to read this thread.

[artraveler]

Hacker,
My sister, her husband, my niece, and nephew live in Vilonia. My niece was Miss Vilonia a few years ago.  They lost a lot in the tornado.  We were happy to come over and help.  Don't be such a cynic.  Thank you for applauding the kids.

[ZoneBuster]

Hacker also doesn't feel that athletes should be given scholarship money based on performance to be used at an academic institution...

[neds]

Great accomplishments by these young men, well done.

[Basketball]

Since I am quite close to the Alma seniors, I would like to provide some insight into these six young men that I hope you'll find worth reading.  This group lost by three in last year's state title final and are fighting to earn the right to play in the state playoffs for the fourth straight year.  What most people don't know, but should know, is the truly remarkable academic performance and off court character of this senior class.   
To give you some idea of how good academically this senior class is, let me use the example I know best, my son, one of the reserves who plays about 6-10 minutes per game. He has a 4.1 GPA on a 4.0 scale and scored a 33 on the ACT.  He will be a Vanderbilt Commodore this fall. All that said, those numbers rank him THIRD BEST academically among the seniors on this team. Third best.
All six Alma seniors are college bound, two to AR Tech, one to ASU, one to Hendrix, and two to
Vanderbilt.  At least four have been awarded academic scholarships. Three will graduate in the top 10 in their class of over 250 students, with GPAs over 4.1 on a 4.0 scale.  Instead of taking it easy their senior year, I know the majority of the seniors are taking AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, and either AP Physics or AP European History right now.  If you're like me and took the ACT back in the day, you'll appreciate that five of these seniors have a combined average ACT score of 29.8.
This group of six include: class presidents, class vice presidents, student organization presidents, and multiple individual state academic contest championships.  As a man of faith, I'll humbly submit to you that five of these six seniors have attended a HS Boys Bible study group in my home for the past three straight years, with an attendance rate for all five of over 80%.  Of all the guys who show up, I can always count on these five senior basketball players to be there, and to lead.  That's five class young men who gather to pray for each other, their families, and their classmates every
Sunday night for the last three years. Talk about leadership.

We all get lost in the performance on the court, which truly is only a sliver of the whole person.  We don't really know the teams we play against, though we may have watched the same kids for four years in some situations.  After 3 or 4 years, I think we all agree we grow tired of each other, and I think we'd all just assume win.    Since that's not possible, we play it out on the courts and root like heck for our kids. Whomever you root for, I hope you'll join me in tipping your hat to a remarkable group of six young men.

Well said!  I too salute these young men.  It will be a joy to follow their success as they continue on this journey we call life.  May God bless them always! 

[DogsWin7]

Great accomplishment....and sometimes it's nice to remember that players are kids first.  So many of life's ups and downs are inside of those kids and it is comforting to read/know that they are being molded and shaped in to great young leaders by so many that are in their lives.  Whether it be by the parents, Coach, youth pastors, and community.   May The Lord Bless and continue to guide All the kids in their life.   

[Elvis Hoggoblin]

Artravler
That is nice to know and does not surprise me.
I really think that the reason for the big rivalry between the Goblins and the Airedales in basketball is because the kids are so similar in so many ways.
I have a son who  is a Sophmore on the Goblin Basketball team.  It is a true blessing that he has been exposed to such great Senior Leadership, not necessarily on the basketball court (although that is nice also), but in the classroom and (most importantly) in God's Kingdom.  3 of our 6 Goblin Basketball Seniors, leave practice every Monday night and go straight to the Klife Barn where they are instrumental in Bible study & Worship not only with other basketball players and athletes, but with a diverse representation of Harrison High School students.
Knowing that this same kind of thing is going on in Alma also really warms my heart.   

[WPWells]

Seeing this thread reminds me of my team last year at Charleston. I'm so thankful that people are getting the same experience and opportunity that I had. It's special