Kerry Eggers - Jerome Kersey: Overcoming the Odds

Contents

Copyright 2021

E-book format

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher.

Author

Kerry Eggers

Publisher

Wayne Dementi

Dementi Milestone Publishing, Inc.

Manakin-Sabot, VA 23103

www.dementimilestonepublishing.com

Graphic Design

Jayne Hushen

ISBN: 978-1-7368989-4-9

KERRY EGGERS is a journalist/author who wrote sports for Portland newspapers for 45 years. He worked for the Oregon Journal from 1975-82, at The Oregonian from 1982-2000 and at the Portland Tribune from 2001-2020. Eggers is a six-time the National Sports Media Associations Oregon Sportswriter of the Year, winning in 1981, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2011 and 2018.

Through his career, Eggers covered a variety of major events, including two Summer Olympic Games, four Super Bowls, a World Series, two major-league All-Star Games, five College World Series, two national championship football games, three Davis Cup ties, a golf U.S. Open, a Pro Bowl, six track and field Olympic trials and many NBA Finals and NBA All-Star games.

Eggers is past president of Track & Field Writers of America and recipient of the Jesse Abrahamson Award as the nations top track and field writer. In 2014, he was honored with the DNA Award recognizing extraordinary passion and dedication to sport in Oregon at the Oregon Sports Awards.

This is Eggers eighth book. The others: Blazers Profiles (1991), Against the World (1993, with co-author Dwight Jaynes), Wherever You May Be: The Bill Schonely Story (1999), Clyde The Glide Drexler: My Life in Basketball (2004), Oregon State University Football Vault (2009), The Civil War Rivalry: Oregon vs. Oregon State (2014) and Jail Blazers: How the Portland Trail Blazers Became the Bad Boys of Basketball (2018).

Kerrys dedication:

To two of my friends and greatest sources of inspiration legendary broadcaster Bill The Schonz Schonely, 92 and still kicking tail, and Bud Ossey, who at 101 has more zest for life than many half his age.

To Kiara Kersey, through whom Jeromes spirit lives on.

To Teri Kersey Valentine, whose love and support for this book project provided much inspiration.

To the memory of Jerome Kersey, who was truly one of a kind.

Kerry Eggers

Hokes dedication:

Special thanks to the person who made this book project come together. When I first stopped work on a book back in 1998 with it only halfway done, I had no idea it would ever be completed. Thanks to my friend Rohn Brown, it is now complete.

The story it tells is about a man whose exploits are well-documented, but that is only half the story. Rohn has helped us all discover that Jerome Kerseys life was much more than just basketball. He is remembered by thousands of people, mostly as a good human being who cared about others and helped when he could.

Hoke Currie

(The following is an open letter written in February 1984 by Hoke Currie, then sports information at Longwood College. It was directed to Longwood senior Jerome Kersey as he prepared for the final home game of his college career at Lancer Hall against Mason-Dixon Athletic Conference rival Mount St. Marys. Ten minutes prior to tip-off, a ceremony took place honoring the Division II All-American.)

Saturday night, youll step onto the Lancer Hall court for the last time. Heres hoping you go out in a blaze of glory with a typical Jerome Kersey performance that leads to another Longwood victory.

But, no matter what happens Saturday night, I just want to say, Thanks for the memories, Jerome. It has been a rewarding four years watching you play basketball.

Coach Cal Luther talks about having nightmares thinking about what hell do without you next season. Well, I just want to say you have been a sports information directors dream the past four years. You were pegged for greatness even when you were a skinny, wide-eyed freshman.

Assistant coach Mo Schoepfer came up with the nickname The Cobra because of your quickness. A nickname cant do justice to your style of play, but as nicknames go, I feel its a pretty good one.

Its gratifying to me that youre finally getting the recognition you deserve. The coach at Pittsburgh-Johnstown said you are the best Division II player he has ever seen. What a lot of people dont realize is that you were a heck of a player even four years ago.

People will remember the leading scorer and rebounder in Longwood history with over 1,700 points and 1,100 rebounds, but Ill remember the other things the little things.

Things like assists, steals, blocked shots, hustle, teamwork, 101 straight games without a miss.

Ill remember a player with a ton of ability, but with an attitude that more than matched that ability. Its a cliche you hear all the time Hes not only a great player, but also a great kid.

Well, in your case, Jerome, its no cliche.

People will ask, What will we do next season without Jerome? It will be tough without you. But we all must remember youre leaving behind a lot more than points and rebounds.

With a lot of assistance from several talented players, youre leaving behind a winning tradition and a lesson for excellence gained through honest, old-fashioned work.

Ive never seen a player work harder than you, and I doubt I ever will. Whatever the future holds for you and heres hoping you get a shot at the NBA dont ever change.

Just keep working.

Jerome Kersey and I were close friends for 30 years. We played together for nine seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and also one season with the San Antonio Spurs late in our careers. We had a bond and a mutual respect that lasted right up to his death in 2015. It was never broken.

Maybe it was because we had a lot in common. We were both small-school kids me from Wisconsin-Stevens Point, an NAIA college at the time, Jerome from NCAA Division II Longwood in Farmville, Virginia. We were late draft picks, too me with the 24th pick in the first round in 1985, he with the 46th overall pick in the second round the year before.

Did we have chips on our shoulders? Probably. We both wound up playing 17 seasons in the NBA.

Not too many guys from North Carolina or Kentucky or Kansas or Duke or anywhere else do that.

Jerome and I met at the first practice my rookie year, I think at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center in Portland. I remember sitting on a bench during a break. We started talking and hit it off right away. I asked him what school he was from and he said Longwood. I said, What kind of school is that? Id never heard of it.

Later on, wed all kid him about playing at a womens college. Longwood had a few male day students but didnt go fully co-educational until 1976, four years before Jerome started there. We would say he only was there because of the ratio between men and women. He and I would say, These big-school guys, they dont know whats coming. Were going to come at them with heart and compete hard. That triggered our friendship. From that day on, we always watched out for each other and hung out together.