Air Force’s best basketball player has Fort Worth roots. How he’s become an inspiration.
This isn’t your typical homecoming story.
Lavelle Scottie is returning to his Fort Worth roots as a success story. An inspiration. Someone who overcame the odds.
The Fort Worth Arlington Heights product has gone from an upbringing self-described as “definitely hard” to a standout on the Air Force Academy basketball team. His story is so moving that Air Force pushed TCU to host Monday’s 8 p.m. game in Fort Worth.
It will be the first time Scottie’s family sees him play in person donning an Air Force uniform.
“I’m just so very blessed that I was presented this opportunity,” Scottie told the Star-Telegram. “I’m excited. I got put in a very lucky position, a very blessed position. I’m going to take advantage of it when it comes.”
Scottie is going to have approximately 30 family members in attendance at Schollmaier Arena, including his parents Lawrence and Cynthia and three siblings (two little brothers and one little sister).
Scottie has become a star at Air Force, leading the team with 15 points and 7.3 rebounds early on this season. He averaged 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds last season, highlighted when he became just the fourth junior in program history to join the 1,000-point club.
But his entire family has watched and followed his college career from afar. Getting to games isn’t easy when money is tight.
A profile on Scottie in the Colorado Springs Gazette a couple years ago quoted his father, Lawrence, as saying he had to leave his “gang-banging” lifestyle once his son was born.
Scottie’s mother, Cynthia, had been medically discharged from the Army.
The story says Scottie moved out at one point after his junior year and stayed with the family of a teammate from the basketball team.
Asked about his upbringing, Scottie said: “I would describe it as we were dealt the cards we were dealt and we made the most out of it. Growing up was definitely hard, it wasn’t the easiest ‘cause we didn’t have it easy like my peers around me, but we made the most out of what happened.
“My parents did the best they could with the little that we had.”
That upbringing, though, is why Scottie is so driven. He wanted to chase a better life, a better opportunity.
He takes pride in setting an example for his siblings, showing that there is a way out.
“I wanted better for myself and better for the generation that comes after me,” Scottie said. “I decided with the opportunity that the Lord put in place for me, I decided to go take what I felt like was deserved to make a name for myself, to put myself in a successful position.”
Landing at Air Force
Air Force isn’t the easiest place to recruit Division I players. Cadets must commit to serve five years of active duty, plus three years as inactive reserve, following graduation.
So there’s an art to finding players.
“I don’t think people have a good understanding,” Air Force assistant Kurt Kanaskie said. “We’re an Ivy League institution academically and then we have the military aspect. You have to do six weeks of basic training before freshman year. You’re taking 18 hours, whereas the NCAA only requires 12.
“It’s quite an accomplishment for anyone to graduate from here, but for an athlete it’s even harder.”
Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn’t. But Kanaskie knew Scottie projected as a potential piece for the program when he recruited him out of Arlington Heights.
Scottie wasn’t a household name and wasn’t heavily recruited during his high school career. For Air Force, though, it saw a 6-foot-7 athlete who could develop by going to the Air Force Academy Prep School for a season.
“We knew he’d be a hard worker and be a glue guy for us,” Kanaskie said. “But he’s really improved in all aspects of his game. He can shoot the 3. He can get to the basket. I can’t say we thought he’d be a preseason all-conference player, but we knew he’d work hard and become better.”
Scottie has developed into one of the top players in the Mountain West. He became the first Air Force player to earn preseason All-Mountain West honors since 2006.
Pretty impressive for a kid who grew up in a football state. In fact, Scottie preferred football as a youngster, but a cousin named Tony Johnson pushed him to play basketball.
“Tony showed me the ropes and the basics and stuff like that,” Scottie said. “I actually hated basketball when I was younger, but he’d force me to go outside and play. It was basketball every day, all day.
“But I started working on my craft and, sooner or later in high school, I realized I could get out of my situation with basketball. I made the most out of it.”
For Scottie, Air Force has been everything he could have envisioned. It provided him an opportunity to continue his playing days, as well as provide him with a stable future afterward.
Air Force Academy graduates rank among the highest-paid of any university.
“I knew if I came to this school and graduated that I would be set up for success for the rest of my life,” said Scottie, who is an economics major and a member of cadet squadron 6 at the Academy.
“When you look at the long-term picture and not the short-term picture, I was like, ‘That’s a no-brainer.’
“There’s only so many people that get to go play professionally every year. Even if I was somewhere else, would I get that opportunity? That’s not a for sure deal, so this was a for sure deal. This is a for sure I will be successful if I graduate, which I’m going to do in May.”
That day in May will be special. For Scottie. For his family. For the coaching staff.
“I don’t think there’ll be a dry eye among the coaches,” Kanaskie said. “What he’s accomplished through severe adversity and overcoming obstacles is remarkable. This is my 40th year coaching college basketball and this is what it’s all about. It’s not just about winning games.”
Coming home
Scottie wouldn’t be returning to Fort Worth if it wasn’t for TCU coach Jamie Dixon.
Dixon and the university could have scheduled a number of other programs for the nonconference schedule, whether it’s trying to improve the Frogs’ national ranking or some other reason.
But Dixon welcomed the opportunity to schedule Air Force, particularly after talking with its coaches. Dixon is close with Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich and Kanaskie.
He also has a fondness for the service academies since his late sister, Maggie, coached at Army.
“It’s an honor to play one of the Academies,” Dixon said. “It was important for their players, especially Scottie. And they are a good Mountain West team.”
The gesture by Dixon isn’t lost on those within the Air Force program.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know if a lot of coaches would’ve done it,” Kanaskie said. “I know TCU fans appreciate Jamie as a basketball coach, but he’s an even better person. He was willing to help us out. Lavelle is a player who deserves this recognition and deserves to play in front of his hometown.
“It just shows what kind of guy Jamie is.”
Of course, when the ball is tipped, each team will be pushing for the victory.
Air Force feels good about its team this season. It’s a senior-laden team that wants to make noise in the Mountain West.
Defeating a Big 12 school on the road would be a signature early-season victory for the Falcons, who are off to a 2-1 start.
“I definitely think our team is full of guys who want it,” Scottie said. “For us, we want to be in the top three of the Mountain West. I think we can achieve that and I feel we have the skill and the talent and experience to achieve that.
“I believe this team is special. Four of the five seniors all went to the prep school together, so I’ve been playing with them going on five years now. The chemistry on our team is definitely high. We’ve got high expectations for ourselves and maybe we’ll even surprise people in how we do.”
It wouldn’t be the first time. Scottie’s life story is surprising itself.
