Every year parents and players come on here to interpret and understand what it means to be offered a 'preferred walk on' spot on a college roster.
I find this story to be inspirational. The work ethic this young man demonstrated to fulfill his dream...and propel his team into the Final-4 is pretty cool.
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Nice story!
It is a great story and he certainly exemplifies hard work. He showed up for his 8 AM class the next day, too:
https://twitter.com/BleacherRe...s/846370900735737858
But he's a notch above a preferred walk-on -- despite the headline, the body of the article makes clear that he was a scholarship player before he ever set foot on campus:
Luke committed to North Carolina in the fall of his senior year, but for a time, it appeared he'd have to join the team as an invited walk-on. The Tar Heels had just one scholarship remaining, and the plan—or rather, the hope—was that it would be given to 5-star recruit Brandon Ingram.
But when Ingram spurned UNC and committed to Duke, Williams awarded the scholarship to Maye.
Luke was offered by some pretty good programs. The thing was he was willing to walk on at UNC rather than be on scholarship anywhere else. It just worked out for him when highly recruited players opted to go elsewhere. People around here especially UNC fans complained that this was nothing more than a sign of the decline of a UNC program that simply doesn't take you unless you are a top tier player. When Luke would get in games fans would complain that Roy had no clue playing this guy because he would never be more than a scrimmage guy. "We won't be UNC in the future relying on kids like this getting meaningful minutes." The message boards were brutal when Luke played, though sparingly his Freshman year. I remember people saying that he was the type of kid that could go to UNCG or High Point and have a decent career but UNC had no business putting guys like him on the court unless it was blow out time. Well I guess he proved a lot of people wrong and proved Coach Williams right. No one is complaining now.
Aha! True - but he reached higher than the value placed on him despite other (very good) options. Believed in himself and beat the odds initially placed on him.
I've seen Luke Maye play in person many times. The first time I saw him (not knowing his situation) I actually wondered, 'how did Roy Williams figure this out?' He didn't look like/move like a typical UNC freshman (or for that matter high-D1) basketball player and knowing the competition for a scholarship at UNC was steep - I wondered how he got to where he was.
Lots of baseball players fit that description. Small pitchers and catchers, awkward build or movement infielders/outfielders (see Hunter Pence), etc...
Heck, I'll throw our daughter into this who had very good HS grades, but not great SAT/ACT scores on math. She will graduate later this year in Mechanical Engineering with a very high GPA. Like Luke Maye, she works her tail off - harder than anyone I know.
You still have to be truthful with yourself - and high on that list is 'will you/your son be willing to put in the work?' And sometimes that won't be enough. But if you really are that, perhaps a higher reach is worth it.
Edit: Just say Coach May's post - articulated better than mine.
And to dovetail this completely into the baseball thread, he has a younger brother pitching at Florida (freshman). He was a 2017 and reclassed to graduate in December to join UF this season. He and my son shared host family at ToS. Great kid. Athletic family (father was a QB at UNC) and, obviously, genetics on the large size. His younger brother is 6'7" and looks just like Luke (minus the beard).
