Dwyane Wade Kevin Macchia

EARLY LIFE

On January 17, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois a star was

born. He is known as Dwyane “Flash” Wade.

Dwyane and his sister, Tragil, became very close to each other. He admired her mental strength and her commitment to their

church. Religion was very important to the entire

Wade clan.

Dwyane liked sports,

particularly football and

basketball, but never

really thought of playing

professionally.

His thoughts began

to change when he

moved in with his

father and his new

wife and three sons,

an arrangement

agreed to by

Dwyane's mom.

Dwyane’sloveforbasketballgrew.Despitehispassion,Dwyanewasnotmuchmorethananaverageplayer.Butwhathelackedintheskillsdepartmenthemadeupforwithtoughnessandintelligence

Dwyane followed in his

brother Demetrius’s

footsteps and attended

H.L. Richards High

School.

Determined to earn

playing time on varsity,

Dwyane worked out all

summer long before his

junior year with the

teams assistant coach

Gary Adams. He improved

his ballhandling skills,

and also his outside

game, shooting hundreds

of jumpers a day.!

Dwyane now had the size

and skills to excel in all

aspects of the game.

Recognizing an emerging

star, coach Fitzgerald

made the junior his go-to

guy.

Heading into his senior year,

Dwyane was becoming popular

among midwest schools.

Marquette, DePaul and Illinois

State were all interested, and he

responded to the extra

attention with an outstanding

season.!

The scholarship offers didn’t come. The problem was

Dwyane’s low score on the ACT. Most schools backed off because they feared Dwyane

wouldn’t make it academically.Marquette was an exception.

Assistant coach

Tim Buckley

loved every

aspect of

Dwyane, on and

off the court. He

helped convince

head coach Tom

Crean to give

him a shot.

Marquette accepted Dwyane as a partial qualifier which meant he could practice

with the basketball team as a freshman but not dress for games.

By the fall of 2001, Dwyane was eager to start his college hoops career. Coach Crean who was in his third year as coach was excited to welcome Dwyane aboard.!

Dwyane’s impact was felt

immediately. In just his first five games which happened to be all wins, he

averaged more than 20 points, nine rebounds, and nearly five assists a game!!

As the 2002 season came,

Dwyane continued his excellent play.

The Golden Eagles headed

into March Madness with

high hopes.

Sadly,

Marquette

was

eliminated in

the first

round despite

a solid effort

from Dwyane.

For the 2002-03 season, he swore to maintain a more

consistent energy level. He also spent plenty of time working on his jumper from outside the 3-

point line.!

As the Golden Eagles

prepared for March

Madness again, Dwyane

was determined to

avoid another early

elimination.

Marquette’s magical season ended in the Final Four against Kansas. The overpowering Jayhawks destroyed the Golden Eagles with their versatility defeating them by a double digit margin.!

Evenwiththeloss,theseasonwass>llahugesuccessforDwyane.HeimpressedNBAscoutswithhis

versa>lity,leadershipandcomposure.DwyaneoptedtoentertheNBADraB.EveryoneatMarqueEewished

himthebest.

Dwyane lasted until the fifth pick on draft day. LeBron James went first to the

Cleveland Cavaliers. Then three teams that regret not picking Dwyane—the Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors—passed on

him. That left the Miami Heat with a steal of a pick

with Dwyane.!

He is most dangerous with the ball in his

hands mostly driving hard to basket. His

ability to slice through the defense is absolutely amazing.

Dwyane has already

accomplished something that some NBA

players never will in their

career. He has already won a national

championship and was named MVP.!

Dwyane is respected and thought of as a

leader in the eyes of his teammates. His work ethics are flawless and that is why he is as successful and

as great of a basketball player as he is today. !

“I've only scratched the surface of where I want

to be in my career, ... And I know one thing, I haven't won anything yet so there's a lot more I can do there.

But I'm going to continue to get better and do what I can to help my team be the

best it can possibly be.”

- Dwyane Wade