Jan. 24, 2007
Forget the scoring and rebound averages. Andre Vanterpool has to be this season's comeback player of the year.
For one, he spent last season living on a couch. Several of them.
Vanterpool, a 6-6 senior forward for the Stony Brook University men's basketball team, never took school seriously. Not at Manhasset High School, not at Monroe CC in Rochester and certainly not at Stony Brook University.
It caught up with Vanterpool his junior year when he played the first five games of the 2004-05 season before being declared ineligible. But even sitting out that season failed to motivate Vanterpool and his grade-point average sunk so low, he lost the financial-aid package that entitled him to on-campus housing in 2005-06.
"There's ineligible and then there's barely breathing," said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell, who was hired after the 2005 season. "He was barely breathing."
Vanterpool credits Pikiell for getting him off life support. Vanterpool said he had used his past, which included the death of his father, David, from a heart attack during his sophomore season in high school, and the kidney transplant surgery his mother, Gail, underwent his first season at Stony Brook, as alibis.
"Coach was one of the people who helped open my eyes," Vanterpool said. "I was making excuses why I wasn't doing my work. Most people would say they were legitimate reasons but that doesn't change what you have to do in life. That wasn't changing the dates for my tests."
Said Pikiell: "I told him everyone has a story, but this is a cut-and-dried world. You're either eligible or you're not. You either have your degree or you don't. When you go apply for a job, if you want to spend an hour explaining why you don't have your degree, that's fine, but you're probably not going to get the job."
Galvanized by his coach and the words of his father - "Graduating college was something my father told me he wanted me to do no matter what happened to him" - Vanterpool became "the student I never was." He joined study groups and saw professors for extra help. Nothing came easy.
Vanterpool does not own a car, so commuting daily from his mother's home in Manhasset was difficult. He depended on the generosity of several teammates - primarily Solomon Bamiro and Mitchell Beauford - for lodging, crashing most nights in their, or someone else's, dorm.
"I'm very thankful for my teammates because they looked out for me," Vanterpool said. "They really made life much easier."
Vanterpool needed a 3.3 GPA in the spring of 2006 to become eligible for this season and get his housing back. He got a 3.34. Department professors notice his turnaround as two of them selected Vanterpool, who hopes to start a non-profit organization for minorities when he graduates, to participate in research. Vanterpool also speaks to incoming freshmen athletes, telling them what they should and should not do in college. He is Exhibit A ... in both categories.
Vanterpool has modest statistics - 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game - for a 7-12 team, but there are bigger issues.
"Everyone talks about winning games, but this is what you go into coaching for," Pikiell said. "It's an amazing transition."
"When you're competitive, you want to win every game," Vanterpool said. "But there's a difference because I remember last year before every away game, instead of getting on the bus with the team, I was shaking everyone's hand saying, 'Good luck.' Now, I'm on the bus."
Not to mention his own bed.
