Former prep star Nino Samuel teaching fundamentals of life
Posted by
Ernie Webb , CJ Online,
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The sounds are clear as a
bell. In the background, basketballs carom off the floor, rim and backboard as
Nino
Samuel
describes his journey over the telephone.
It’s been a journey full of twists and turns, highs and lows, good times and
bad.
From high school legend at Salina Central to flameout at Kansas to his current
gig as a personal trainer in Covington, Ga., the former Jayhawk has been on a
roller coaster equivalent to the Coney Island Cyclone.
“I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been at the top and all the way at the bottom,”
said
Samuel, now 53. “But I believe those things happened for a reason,
and it’s helped me in what I do now.”
Remembering the
hype
Samuel
was an early 1970s version of Kansas State’s Bill Walker. Arguably the best prep
player in state history up until that time, he won two state championships at
Salina Central and was a can’t-miss phenom.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,”
Samuel said. “I was on top of the
world. I was 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, athletic and strong with a 46-inch
vertical. I just knew I was going to be in the NBA.”
He trimmed his list to two schools — Kansas and Arizona — before opting to stay
close to home.
Less than two years and a knee surgery later,
Samuel
was out of Division I basketball. He ended up playing at NAIA Marymount College
in Salina, and the school finished third at the 1976 national tournament.
“I knew in my heart of hearts when I left Kansas that I was not going to the
NBA. I was a broken person,”
Samuel said. “One of things that
really helps me with these kids is that I can tell them to go to schools that
are a fit for them. I still love Kansas, but that was not a good fit for me. I
was a greyhound, and that wasn’t the style of play. But I hold no animosity for
anybody there. I still love Kansas.”
Moving on
Samuel
toiled around in pro leagues for a few years, playing in the Philippines and for
the Las Vegas Dealers in 1978-79.
He had an invite to the Chicago Bulls training camp after the Dealers folded but
suffered another knee injury, one of six in his career.
Seven years after all the hype and in his mid-20s,
Nino
Samuel
was out of basketball.
“It was time to move on,”
Samuel said. “I had my degree in
sociology, so I went into counseling and did that until I moved to Atlanta.
“I don’t regret any of it. I take comfort in the fact that I’m doing what I
should be.”
How he got there
It’s 1992.
Nino
Samuel
describes it as the lowest point in his life. His basketball career has been
finished for years, and he lives in Las Vegas.
“I needed a kidney transplant,” he said. “ I was on dialysis for more than a
year. I couldn’t do anything. At one point, I blew up to 375 pounds.
“But, I was blessed with a kidney transplant. I knew that was a second chance.”
That second chance came in Atlanta the same year. He became a certified physical
trainer, opening his business shortly thereafter.
He also travels around the country for mini-camps and clinics.
“It’s really amazing how it’s all worked out,”
Samuel
said. “I’ve got to go to a lot of places and meet a lot of people. This is the
right situation for my family.”
Fundamentals of life
Dribbling, shooting, rebounding, lifting weights. It’s all part of the physical
training business
Samuel owns and operates in the
Atlanta area.
But the physical training is just a piece of the puzzle.
“You’ll learn all those skills here, the fundamentals,” said
Samuel,
“but the most important thing I’m doing is teaching life skills. I’m teaching
these kids the game of life.
“I’ve been through it all, so I can tell these kids about setting goals, getting
an education and being strong.”
Samuel,
who is married to high school sweetheart Tressie and has two children and six
grandchildren, works with more than 150 athletes from youths to young adults.
He’s helped several land scholarships in basketball, football, wrestling,
baseball and track and field.
More importantly, the man known affectionately as “The Big Fundamental” and “Old
School” has helped shape the lives of troubled children.
“I work with a lot of kids from single-parent homes,” he said. “I’ll even get
calls that have nothing to do with sports — just parents wanting me to talk to
their kids and point them in the right direction.”
Ernie W. Webb III is filling in for the vacationing Rick Dean, whose column
will return Thursday. Webb can be reached at (785) 295-1102 or [email protected].