N REBOUNDS FROM ADVERSITY
Jimmy Gavin often looks to National Basketball Association (NBA) star Stephen Curry’s draft report, on which scouts listed the pros and cons of Curry’s abilities before he entered the NBA draft.
The scouts’ assessment of Curry included “needs to improve ball handling” and “will have limited success at the next level.”
In 2015, Curry was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player and his team, the Golden State Warriors, captured the NBA Championship, proving doubters wrong.
Proving doubters wrong is a goal Gavin relates to and a main reason why he often references Curry’s report. Doubters once claimed that the 6’3” men’s basketball guard would never get a scholarship, much less to a Division I school. But that’s what happened when Winthrop Men’s Basketball Coach Pat Kelsey recruited Gavin.
“I’m proud of the journey because not a lot of people thought I would be able to do it,” Gavin said. “At every level, people are going to question you.”
From battling Crohn’s disease, to losing his younger brother, to earning respect on the court, Gavin has overcome all obstacles.
‘AT HOME PLAYING BASKETBALL’
Gavin grew up in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. His father introduced him to basketball when he was still in his crib. He and his brothers, Jack and Grant, played every sport.
“We played in every game that was going on in the neighborhood,” he said. “Basketball was always my favorite thing to do. I always felt most at home playing basketball.”
As a freshman playing junior varsity basketball at Prospect High School, he noticed he was frequently fatigued, losing weight and getting sick. He and his parents considered the cause. Could it be allergies? Lactose intolerance? No matter what solutions they tried, nothing fixed the problem.
“That was a tough year,” he said. “I was able to finish the season, but I wasn’t playing like myself…That’s the worst part about it, not knowing. You sit up every
a school nearly 700 miles from his hometown, “just to get away.”
“Home had started to represent being sick and losing basketball,” Gavin explained. “I thought I’d just major in business or something.”
Then, Gavin received the call: Jack had died in a car accident. Gavin withdrew from college and returned home to spend time with his family — parents, Michael and Susan, and his other brother, Grant.
“Losing your brother is something you never can be prepared for,” he said. “I just hit the pause button [on life].”
13 night and ask yourself, ‘What’s wrong with me?’”
Doctors diagnosed Gavin with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease affecting the digestive tract lining. There is no cure. While Gavin and his parents eventually found a balance of medications and diet that helped alleviate symptoms, basketball seemed to be a dream long deferred and out of reach.
“I felt like the game was passing me by,” he recalled. “A lot of people get attention and scholarships during their junior and senior years…But, it just wasn’t my time.”
Gavin decided to attend Mississippi State University,
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