To know where Maurice Elliott has come from, simply take a walk in his shoes ? from the corner of Caroline and Preston to the basketball court at Lake Clifton High.
“There?s a lot of people doing drugs. … It?s just crazy down there,” Elliott said of his neighborhood.
Elliott?s coach, Herman “Tree” Harried, described Caroline and Preston as “a very, very rough location. A lot of things happen in there.”
It hasn?t been pretty, but the path has been life-changing for the Lake Clifton senior forward.
“I definitely see myself going that route if Coach Tree hadn?t let me play basketball,” Elliott said.
And Elliott, 18, isn?t the only one who sees it that way.
“I think that is the reason he has turned around,” said Delora Walker, a Lake Clifton teacher and the girls basketball coach. “I think without basketball, he wouldn?t be in this position to graduate high school.”
Walker recalls a moment two years ago when Elliott raced out of the principal?s office after a disagreement with a teacher. She described him as “irate.”
“I?ve seen him at his worst,” said Walker, who has Elliott in class this year. “Now, I see him deal with adversity a little better.”
Elliott joined the Lakers? team as a junior after Walker suggested that he?d be a good addition to the program. Harried, who recalled hearing of Elliott as “a hellion.”
“I don?t think he went to class much,” Harried said. “He had problems with teachers. He just wasn?t doing anything.”
Elliott had trouble adapting to the basketball team in his junior season.
“I just wanted to play with my homeboys, and then my 11th grade year I tried to play, and [Harried] let me play,” said Elliott.
Once Elliott?s grades dropped below Harried?s standards, he didn?t play. Harried didn?t kick him off the team, but ordered that the junior rectify the situation. Elliott didn?t come back until this year.
“This year, I told him I?m not going to let him down,” Elliott said.
So far, he hasn?t. The No. 5 Lakers (15-3) will host Douglass Saturday at3 p.m. for a berth in the City title game. Elliott is averaging 13 points and 12 rebounds per game, and apparently he?s hitting the books, too.
“His grades aren?t A?s, but he hasn?t failed,” Harried said. “Three years ago, he probably would have failed everything.”
Elliott credited Harried for pushing him, particularly in the classroom.
“He has me sign in in the morning and makes sure I?m not late,” Elliott said. “We?ve got to have a good report from your teacher.”
Elliott lives with his mother, Renee, and 24-year-old brother, Martin. Harried, a father figure for him, has a simple theory for straightening out his students.
“They?ve never had anyone demand them to be a man, or talk to them like a man,” Harried said.
So Harried did, giving Elliott a light-hearted ultimatum for his senior year ? Elliott will graduate, or Harried will kill him. Elliott knows that his coach means well. And he?s not going to take the chance that Harried?s ultimatum was serious.
“I?m graduating,” Elliott said. “He ain?t killing me.”
