Air Force won't let ex-Inglemoor star out of service to sign with Spurs
By JON NAITO
P-I REPORTER
Keesler Air Force Base is a common destination for airmen fresh from basic training. The Biloxi, Miss., facility is in the heart of hurricane alley, sitting shotgun along the Gulf of Mexico. Two years ago, the area was among the large swaths of the Gulf Coast region decimated when Hurricane Katrina crashed ashore.
For the near future, this is home for 2nd Lt. Dan Nwaelele.
The former Inglemoor High School basketball star arrived Aug. 3, at the completion of the 60-day leave he received upon graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
He has a degree in social sciences, and most days he sits at a desk, signing and reviewing contracts. He is two months into a five-year postgraduate commitment, almost seven months removed from his final basketball game as a collegian, a one-point loss to Clemson in the semifinals of the NIT. Nwaelele scored 13 points that night in late March.
"I knew the commitment I faced when I arrived at the academy," said Nwaelele on his cell phone from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where he is on assignment. "I knew it was an opportunity to get a good education, play basketball at a high level and serve my country. I don't regret the decision. I knew what I was in for."
The 6-foot-5 Nwaelele led Air Force in scoring last season, averaging 14.3 points per game, and was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference pick.
In September, while on leave from his duties in Mississippi, Nwaelele, 23, who was undrafted, was the best player at an informal minicamp held by the San Antonio Spurs, who won their fourth NBA championship in June.
Nwaelele's performance so impressed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich that he was offered a two-year contract and an invitation to training camp, according to his agent, J.R. Harris.
Nwaelele and Harris made inquiries at the academy to the basketball office, the sports information department and academy brass, including the superintendent, Lt. Gen. John Regni, about the possibility of accepting the Spurs contract and beginning his professional basketball career immediately.
"(The Spurs) thought he was the player that stood out the most at that camp," Harris said. "Popovich and Dell Demps, their director of player personnel, were very impressed and wanted to bring him back for training camp. They thought he might have a real chance to make the team."
Despite his impressive performance and a contract offer (a spokesman for the Spurs would not confirm the offer, saying, "He was one of the guys we were talking to, but it didn't work out."), only an exemption granted by the Secretary of the Air Force could get Nwaelele released from his commitment.
Harris said he had a dialogue with Nwaelele's commander at Keesler and said Nwaelele met three times with him, but that the commander would not let him out of his commitment, though it is unclear what he could have done for Nwaelele.
Under a revised Air Force policy implemented in 2006, any graduate who is drafted or signs a pro sports contract must serve two years of his required five-year commitment before he could be released to play professionally, unless granted a rare exemption, said Troy Garnhart, sports information director at the academy. The athlete would also have a six-year reserve commitment to fulfill.
In the meantime, Nwaelele said he does his best to stay in shape. He runs regularly, lifts weights and plays in pickup games. He spent the summer working out on Mercer Island and played in pickup games with the likes of Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, Mitch Johnson, Ryan Appleby, Spencer Hawes and Jamal Crawford.
He will be allowed to join the Spurs for the 2008 summer league, and could earn the opportunity to participate in training camp next season. Harris said that Popovich, a 1970 graduate of the academy, has said he would hold a spot for Nwaelele.
"Right now, I'm doing the best I can to prepare myself for that future," Nwaelele said. "It's still a goal of mine. It's nice knowing that I came so close to my goal, that I had a chance to make it. That's what keeps me motivated. Until then, I'm happy to serve my country."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/cbaske...waelele10.html
Not sure how a Seattle paper scooped the Express-News on this story but this situation has to be hard for Nwaelele. I was looking forward to watching him this preseason.
Good luck to Nwaelele. Hopefully he gets his shot one day with the Spurs.
Until then, thanks for serving the country
It'd be interesting if we sign this guy...and an amazing parallel between the Cowboys and Spurs.
The two franchises with the most championships in Texas would have had foundations laid by Navy guys(Staubach and Drob) and followed up some 20+ years later with Air Force guys(Hennings and Nwaelele).
Obviously...when Nwaelele signs it will usher in a second era of Spurs Championships...like Hennings and the Cowboys.
I don't think any other pro Sports franchises in Texas have had players that spent extensive time in the military.
Nolan Ryan had some kind of military commitment during his Mets days at the height of the Vietnam War, but I think it was just a National Guard commitment.
stand up guy.....he should be on this team.
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