THE WALK-ON is a story about a young man and how he experiences the game of college basketball through his eyes, telling people what it is like going through the rigorous routine of being a division 1 athlete for one of the best basketball programs arguably in the country and finding out what the journey is all about. He experiences many highs and lows throughout the way but shows that inspiration, determination, a good work ethic and a team first attitude is what it takes to make the experience a great one. Playing for 3 coaches in 4 years David shows what it is like adapting to different methodologies and coming together with a group of guys from all around the country to make up a team. David Bagga was a Student-Athlete at the University of Arizona from 2005-2009 and had the privilege of playing for legendary Hall of Fame basketball Coach Lute Olson. He was also teammates with current NBA players Chase Budinger, Jerryd Bayless, Jordan Hill, Marcus Williams, and Hassan Adams. He graduated from the University of Arizona in June of 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and currently resides in Orange County, California. "David is a very team oriented player, all he wants to do is help us win basketball games" - Hall of fame coach Lute Olson

The Walk-On

By David Baggaby

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 David Bagga
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-3772-7

Chapter One

When I heard the squeaking of the other shoes on the court, I took a step back to see where I was at; as I heard the nine other players talking on the court beside me, I knew the atmosphere was so different, so unique, so incredible. I took a look around me and realized that I was living out an experience of a lifetime, wearing a jersey that said ARIZONA on the front, and engraved on the back of the jersey was BAGGA with a big #11 underneath my name. I didn't have time to reminisce about all this stuff, because I had just checked into our first home game, against Virginia, and seconds later, I would come off of a screen to score my first collegiate basket. There were so many emotions I was feeling after I scored. My dream had become an awesome reality, and suddenly I found myself caught up in the moment. The arena was so loud I couldn't hear myself think; all I could do was smile and soak up the experience and think about how many more there were to come.

Experience is defined as the apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind. Opportunity is defined as a chance for progress or advancement. In life when we have opportunities, we must grab them by the neck to get an experience that is much wanted. In my life, I have had many opportunities come before me that I have either turned down, ran away from, or just did not care about. But this opportunity was unlike any other opportunity that had ever crossed my path. This is my story, my journey, my opportunity, my experience that changed my life. We have all heard the old saying "Be the best you can be," and that applies to virtually everything in life, from language to lay-ups, science to slam dunks, history to hoops; you guys get the idea. To be the best at something, whatever it is in life, we have to learn to make sacrifices.

Like every other story, there is a beginning. This story began in the fall of 2004, which was my senior year in high school. I'll keep it semi-short and sweet, because that's what high school is: short and sweet. Like the majority of high school seniors across America, I was on the verge of becoming a man and moving on to the next phase in my life: college. However, one thing stood in my way. I had not been accepted into any colleges yet. As my senior year progressed, I still did not know where I was going to go, and many questions still remained to be answered. If you were to ask someone about my high school, people would say that it is well-known around the country, the state (California), and especially the county (Orange County).

I prepped at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, which was a national powerhouse in football and in basketball. I always thought that I would have the opportunity to showcase my God-given talent and ability in front of numerous college coaches and scouts. In some ways I did, but for the most part, I was wrong. See, I was a third-string player, which meant that I rarely saw the court unless the game was pretty much over. To make a long story short, I didn't play. So I had to come up with a plan to achieve my goal of playing basketball at the next level. So I came up with the idea that every school that I applied to, I would inquire about becoming a walk-on. That's what I told my parents. Shocking, I know. I'll always remember the looks on both of their faces when I told them. While both of them were relatively happy, I knew that at the same time, they were both thinking that this was a long shot to begin with. But I believe that life is about taking risks, and some of the most successful people in the world have gotten to where they wanted to because they took a risk. That's what life is about, in a sense: risk taking. I knew that if this was meant to be, it would happen, and if not, then I would still try to go to college and get my degree one way or the other. After talking to my parents about going to college, I usually did what I always do when they tried to talk to me, which was nod them off , walk away, and move on with the day.

So I started the process of filling out applications, making calls to different universities and their coaches, and hoping that someone would give me an opportunity. I remember the first call I made, which was to a mid-major university; the phone call lasted no more than two to three minutes. I told the gentleman on the other line my plan for walking on: "Hello sir, my name is David Bagga from Mater Dei High School, and I am inquiring about being a walk-on for your program."

And I remember the response that I got from the gentleman on the other line: "So," he said, "you think it's that easy? We have tryouts, son. You got a tape, a profile, anything?" he said.

After a brief pause I said, "No, I am afraid I do not." Then reality hit after the man hung up the phone. This process is anything but simple. I kept calling universities and coaches from around the country and received similar responses, but no response was as brutal as the first response that I received.

So as I moved on to schools close to home, I decided that I wanted to stay on the West Coast for different reasons, like weather, atmosphere, and the fact that most of the universities were relatively close to my home, which is nice because I would not be on the other side of the country, away from my family and friends. As I narrowed down my choices, I looked at all the different conferences in which collegiate teams compete, and the conference that I thought I would fit into was the Pacific Ten Conference (also known as the "PAC 10"), because they have great schools from top to bottom and great tradition as well. I did not apply to certain schools for personal reasons, and I did not want to set myself up for something that would not happen.

So I was down to my final six schools: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State, and University of Arizona. When I filled out my applications, I thought to myself that this was my last chance to make something happen. Ironically, I received the letters denying me acceptance into Washington State, Oregon, and Oregon State on the same day. So I knew that those three were out of the running. So it was down to Washington, Arizona State, and University of Arizona. Three more weeks went by, and I did not get accepted into Washington, and I never heard back from Arizona State.

One day while I was at school in February, I called my mom when she was at home and asked her if she had checked the mail yet. She told me that she had not yet checked it but she would later on. Before she did that, she made a call to U of A to talk about my application and my transcripts and ask whether I had been accepted into the university. After the talk about school and grades had settled down, she asked to be transferred to the basketball office. They transferred her and someone wound up picking up the phone. So here is my mom, talking to national powerhouse University of Arizona on the other line, and here I am still in school, thinking about everything else and what's going to happen with me and my future.

She called me while I was at practice and said that she had "great news" for me when I came home. The car ride home was anything but quiet. "I talked to U of A today," she said.

"About what?" I asked.

"About you walking on," she said, with a huge smile on her face. She said she had talked to the recruiting coordinator, named Jack Murphy, and explained to him the details about where I played and my height,...