When I did this three years ago, it was like death. When I did it last year, it was like near death. This year, it was just really hard.

When you stand on the victory stand, you must be able to ask yourself: 'Did I win this medal?

said playing basketball would kill me. Well, not playing basketball was killing me.

only way to maximize potential for performance is to be calm in the mind.

I was lucky. My grandmother stepped up for me and said she would take responsibility for me and a compassionate juvenile judge took a chance and gave me one. They were getting ready to send me away to do real time, but they sent me instead to a juvenile alternative day school. And I guess that was the beginning of my turnaround.

The competition out here is incredible and it gets tougher every week. But this week is more exciting for me than any other this year, knowing I have won two in a row and I play well here.