My story is different, but I'm sure every small player that wanted to become a professional basketball player can relate to what I had to go through. I'm 5'7" and there are so many small basketball players that get overlooked because of their size. I want to be the voice for those players. I was blessed by God with the talent and love to be a basketball player. Through God's grace and timing, basketball has shown me parts of the world that I would've never visited and the great support that I received from my family and friends will never be forgotten or taken for granted...dream big, work for it and see what happens! Growing up in the Jennings' household during basketball season was something I loved and respected. Basketball in the morning, basketball in the evening, basketball at night, basketball in the house, basketball in the gyms, basketball at the dunk courts, basketball on television, basketball movies, basketball without a basketball, I just couldn't get enough and then it turned into a memory bank. Memories of family basketball, memories of high school basketball, memories of college basketball, memories of the NBA, memories of European basketball, memories of good games, bad games, great games, and injuries. If the good outweighs the bad you'll be happy to share your story with anyone that asks. You have to understand that a lot of people never gave me a chance. My family believed in me and I believed in myself, and I worked so hard I get chills just thinking about it. The memories don't stop until you stop. I found out very quickly that short basketball players need to be special. Looking back on it, I realized that the short players that I liked were special. Mugsy Boges was 5'3", Spud Webb was 5'7" and could dunk (he won the NBA dunk contest back in the day), Calvin Murphy was a flat out scorer, and the list goes on and on. At this present time there are only 10 basketball players under 6' that have played 3 years or more in the NBA. I felt like I was special because I played basketball on all major levels: high school, college, NBA and European professional basketball. I'm going to take you through a series of events that I believe gave me the opportunity to not only have my basketball dreams come true, but to also be able to make money doing something I love. Have you ever been to a place where you feel at peace with yourself? If you haven't, I hope you find it before your time on this earth is done. My peace is basketball. It doesn't matter what is going on in my life, I can grab a basketball, find a rim and the rim doesn't even have to have nets. I'll forget everything and just play. It's a great feeling. I believe dreams come true. Mine did and yours can too. You just need to be patient, work hard, don't listen to the negative people (haters), and believe in your own abilities. I did. I had to deal with all of those things and it shaped me to be the man that I am today.
About the Author: Keith "Mister" Jennings (born November 2, 1968) is an American basketball coach who formerly played in the NBA. Jennings, a 5'7" (1.70 m) point guard, attended East Tennessee State University for four academic years (1987-91). Jennings won the 1991 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, given to the outstanding collegiate senior six feet tall and under, and was a second-team consensus All-American. He also led the NCAA Division I that year in three-point field goals, shooting 59 percent. He was not selected in the NBA draft, and started his NBA career as a free agent. He spent three seasons in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors (1992-95), playing in 164 games and averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 assists in 18.0 minutes per game. Jennings' personal best in the NBA was a 23 point performance, in his next-to-last regular season game with the Warriors, on April 22, 1995. In that game, Jennings made 8-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-4 treys, and was perfect in 4 free-throw attempts in 41 minutes. He dished off 10 assists that game to cap off his best performance in the NBA. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 expansion draft, but did not play for them. He also played professionally in Europe. In 2003-04 he parlayed his experience on the court to help the basketball club in Strasbourg, France. From 2004 to 2007, he was the head coach of the boys' varsity basketball team at the private Highland School in Warrenton, Virginia.[1] Jennings joined the staff at his Alma mater, East Tennessee State, as a graduate assistant coach for the 2007-08 season while he completed his degree.[1] After a year as an assistant coach at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee, Jennings was assistant coach at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia from 2009-2014. In 2014, he became assistant coach at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.