Buck Harvey: Lex leaves, with gifts for a return
Web Posted: 09/13/2006 11:26 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...k.307876b.html
They dropped off their kid at school this week, and they went through the parental mix of emotions. They were proud and they were sad, and there they were, a thousand miles from San Antonio, hearing the words they feared.
Goodbye Dad, goodbye Mom.
The words carried a lot of weight — coming from a tall, young man who is not their son.
R.C. Buford and his wife, Beth, will tell you this is not the end of anything. They accompanied Alexis Mang-Ikri Wangmene to Blair Academy in New Jersey, but the one they call Lex will be coming back to Texas in a year. Last week he committed to play for Rick Barnes in Austin.
"I anticipate," the Spurs' general manager said, "that Lex will be part of our family forever."
That's something, since they met just two years ago when Buford coached at a camp in South Africa sponsored by the NBA's Basketball without Borders. Buford gives his time to these programs, and he sponsors two other high school players (one from the Dominican Republic, the other from Puerto Rico).
Buford has seen what opportunities can do, and that's why this has become his form of charity. He rings up frequent-flier miles to make this happen. Buford was in South Africa again last weekend, at another Basketball without Borders event, before flying back to New York to join his wife and Lex for the trip to prep school.
But, in 2004, Buford did more than coach or sponsor. This time the NBA, in effect, came up with its own foreign-exchange program.
It began with Buford's scouting instincts. Buford took one look at a 15-year-old from Cameroon and thought: He's good enough to play Division I basketball.
Lex spoke only French and his native African dialect at the time. "We couldn't communicate verbally," Buford said. "But there was a lot of contact established in his eyes and smile. I see that in almost every encounter he has with people."
Buford lined up Lex for a tour with an African all-star team, and the group came through San Antonio. Then Buford got a better view of this special kid, and how he got along with his son and daughter, and this is the aspect that clinched the decision.
Why not have him live with the family?
For Lex, this was like hitting the (draft) lottery. It's not often that a basketball prospect gets an NBA executive for a legal guardian.
Lex likely would have remained in Cameroon had he never met Buford, and that wouldn't have been all bad. He wants to be a doctor and, considering his stable family, that would have been possible.
But Buford offered more, beginning with basic logistics. Whereas contacts on the ground in Nigeria and Senegal help prospects relocate, Cameroon is less organized. Buford's international experience — and persistence — solved a six-week visa maze.
Buford lined up Lex at Central Catholic, and he also offered a course in American hoops. Buford's son Chase, a college prospect in his own right, showed Lex the art of playful trash talking.
Buford says that's the dynamic that made this work. Chase and Lex hit it off, and Lex went to the events of C.C., Buford's daughter, as much as Chase did.
"It was sensational for all of us," Buford said.
Lex's basketball was as sensational. Now 17, he's grown another inch, to 6-foot-81/2, and added another 20 pounds. Then there's his wingspan, at 7-5, which is just one inch shorter than Yao Ming's.
Isn't that just like Buford? He finds talent in France and Argentina — and his spare bedroom.
Arizona, Kentucky, Indiana, Wake Forest, Florida, Virginia and others offered scholarships. Lex chose Texas, and being only 70 miles from his American home had to be a factor.
Buford thought Lex needed a year at Blair, a prep school with a rigorous basketball schedule. Lex took one look at the campus on a trip and loved it.
So there they were Monday, parting after growing so close, albeit with one possibility that families rarely have.
How many players can be drafted by their legal guardian?
I've often wondered about the details of all this. Good article.
LJ's mom told us about the Dominican kid last Thanksgiving and we didn't know what the she was talking about.and he sponsors two other high school players (one from the Dominican Republic, the other from Puerto Rico).
Fat chance getting hte kid if he turns out to be ANYTHING decent.
Other teams will scoop him right up in the draft.
so whose the other 2 players buford sponsored?
and wtf is chase? whats his measurements....since his bufords son.
6'4 forward going into his senior year in highschool I think.
I looked it up.
Averaged 14 ppg, 6 rpg, 6 apg, 4 spg in his junior year. Supposedly he's being recruited by Texas and a few other colleges too. He also plays football .. receiver .. in high school.
Good article. I've been wondering about this kid. It's amazing and a little sad to think of all the untapped talent and brilliance that's wasting away all over the world (and I don't just mean talent and brilliance in regards to basketball). Oh well RC and the NBA are helping where they can and most likely those they help will pay it forward.
Not if he pulls a Kobe Bryant.
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