Adonal Foyle: Humanitarian, Scholar, and basketball player

On the same day, that Lebron's GQ interview comes out where it documents the days before and after his decision to go to Miami, there was an NBA player who today called it quits after 13 seasons. He has never been a star player but rather a serviceable or at times a bench warmer as was the case in his final years in Orlando playing behind Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat. Yet, for Adonal Foyle it has been a serene dream that he has savored every day of his life.

He was born on March 9, 1975, in Canouan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines where he spent his childhood and early teenage years until he was 15. Foyle was adopted by Colgate professors Joan and Jay Mandle and eventually went to school at Colgate after leading Hamilton Central in Hamilton, NY to two State Championships.

During his four years, he was the leading shot blocker in NCAA history now third after Wojceich Marda and current Miami Heat draft pick, Jarvis Varnado. In addition, he was the school's leading rebounder all time and 2nd All-Time leading scorer within three years. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in History.

Foyle was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the 1997 draft with the eighth pick. Yet, his biggest contribution has not been on the court but rather off the court. Adonal has been active in humanitarian issues and the founder of an organization Democracy Matters, a non-partisan campus-backed project. This organization has been working to help curb the effects of money on politics. His passionate vigor to make young people civic and politically minded has garnered him widespread praise.

In 2005, he founded Kerosene Lamp Foundation, which tries to bring education and health wellness to his native homeland. They currently assisted 2500 children in the Caribbean and USA alone. Last year, he was inducted for his great works to the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, which features NBA Hall of Famers such as Julius Erving, Tiny Archibald and David Robinson.

In addition, He is a well-read man who recommended in a recent blog "The Fountainhead" because he views it as a challenge to a person's mind. Foyle views Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as one of his favorites. Looking at his choice of books makes him look like a Rhodes Scholar in shorts compared to his peers and myself as well.

He may not have been the greatest player in the NBA nor the most talented. In fact, he was yet another bad draft pick by the long suffering Golden State Warriors. Yet, here was a man who used his profession as a platform to help his fellow man not by giving money to some charity for good P.R. but by trying to change society for the better. Foyle is the poster child of what we should look up to as a human being.

Fittingly, he sums up his career with a poem that is both touching and sums up Adonal Foyle down to a T. You can find this poem and other poems on this link: http://www.adonalfoyle.com/poetry_corner.shtml

Love Song to a Game

How should I tell thee goodbye?

What can you say about a love affair
to rival that of Romeo & Juliet?
This is not just some melancholy ode
to a hackneyed love of mortals.

I found our love deep in the entrails
of the Caribbean Sea.
Love that swept me to a land
where our embrace became mythical.

You showed me a world
that few have dreamt of.

Colgate's golden steeple, a sojurn
where ancient teachings flooded my mind.

There in the Chenango Valley
where 13 sang my soul to flight,
basketball laid siege to my soul.

I do not cry for the passing of our love
for it stands radiant while my brittle bones
crumble through swift time.

I have known you by so many faces;
I will spend my end of days recalling.

You have infected so many with
the allure of riches and black gold.
But I am not angry with you my love.
For to a boy who was lost in the bosom of nothing
you gave hope and home.

Like the flickering of a light
we come and go without much fuss.
So I leave you to fend off seekers,
hoping they too will cherish
your unyielding countenance.

As for me,
I will forever live in the glare of your loving embrace.
From time to time I hope you will look in on this pitiful fool.

I will miss brothers of a quilt struggling with burning lights.
If I offer advice, pierce beyond the glaring lights
and see the faces behind the wall.
Don't be fooled by the magicians' nibble fingers.
For this is a life with mirrors and screens.
Its only truth lies in the understanding it will all end.

The sound I will take home
is the symphony of thousands of screaming friends.

Warriors, Magic and yes, Memphis too,
I sing you praise, hope, blessings,

Flowing from a boy's songs of thanks
to you and you and you,to all I knew.

Please stay my "immortal love."

You can find this poem and his other poems on this link: http://www.adonalfoyle.com/poetry_corner.shtml