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Chicago is known as the Windy City. It's arctic breezes that blow in off of Lake Michigan during its gray and dreary winters can freeze one's motivation to wander about in a few seconds flat. But when the frigid temperatures finally subside and the sun starts poking its head out from behind the dark clouds around the first part of May... Chicago becomes know once again for a few more pleasant and enjoyable things. Deep dish pizza, summer blues festivals, and shopping induced strolls down the famed Magnificent Mile fashion district are all part of its enticing allure. But Chicago is also one hell of a sports town. For most, when talking Chicago sports teams the first thing that usually pops into an outsider's mind is either The Bears, The Cubs, The Blackhawks, or The Bulls depending on what you favorite sports flavor is. But to real Chicagoans... there is even a bigger, more seriously followed sport than any of the mighty teams we just mentioned.... High School Basketball! Chicago high schools turn out more college and NBA star athletes than any other high school system in the USA. At any given game on any given night in the city, there will most certainly be pro scouts seated somewhere close to the action keeping a keen watchful eye over potential star recruits. Chicago high school basketball programs have turned out the likes of NBA greats Dwayne Wade, Isaiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Tim Hardaway, Derrick Rose, and Quentin Richardson just to name a few. But there is another basketball star hailing from the Windy City that you might not be so familiar with. That is unless you are a Chicagoland native, a real basketball aficionado or NBA insider, or hail from Orlando, Florida.
I once had a high school football coach who had a mantra that he repeated over and over again so many times that it will be forever etched on the grey matter membranes in my brain. And the ferocious, yet reassuring tenacity of his voice as he delivered the nineteen word phrase still echoes vividly in my ears whenever I bite off a bit more than I can chew and need a little confidence booster. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight... it's the size of the fight in the dog!" No truer words have ever been barked out by an impassioned sports coach, and no phrase could be more fitting for Chicago basketball prodigy AJ Rompza.
AJ's story is nothing short of remarkable. Standing all of five feet, five inches tall, his outside shot is as much as a force to be reckoned with today as it was the night he hit the winning 3 point in shot in 2011 for Central Florida University with less than three seconds on the clock against Southern Miss, as legendary Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan cheered him on from the stands. It is a night that he will never forget and is one of the pinnacle moments in his college basketball career... so much so that a photo capturing the celebration aftermath on the court that night is front and cover his inspirational new book, "Against All Odds." (Continued)