Below are links to 2 articles written about Herb and his story... One boy Luke Winn of CNNSI and the other by Thayer Evans of the NYTimes...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/luke_winn/09/25/herbpope/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/sports/ncaabasketball/17pope.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Below are a few interesting excerpts from the articles:
*Abandoned by his parents as a youngster, he had a tortuous journey in becoming one of the nation’s top high school power forwards. He endured upheaval while living with relatives, friends and foster parents. He changed schools nearly every year. And he survived violence, including a shooting during a dispute in March.
*Pope endured a tumultuous childhood. “He comes from a dysfunctional family,” said his father, Herbert Pope Sr., a recovering crack addict. “He basically raised himself. It’s amazing. He’s got a hell of a story to tell.”
*“He’s an inner-city kid that is not going to take any stuff from anybody,” Theus, a former N.B.A. star, said in a telephone interview. “Unfortunately, a lot of times the inner-city kids, the first thing they think with a problem is knocking the guy out, which is not all bad, to a point.”
*At the 2005 ABCD Camp, the two biggest junior stars were O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love, who were as close to sure things as are found on the recruiting trail. Beyond that duo, the most intriguing player present from the Class of '07 may have been Herb Pope, a slippery, 6-foot-8 forward from Aliquippa, Pa., who had committed to Pittsburgh as a sophomore. But as one evaluator remarked at the time, Pope "was probably getting too good" for the Panthers. Not that Pitt wasn't a strong program then; it just seemed that Pope was blowing up on a national scale, and there were whispers that he was being pushed toward grander destinations."
*Two of the bullets remained in Pope's body when he was released after 11 days. Nearly two months went by before he returned to playing basketball. On Wednesday he'll be back in Aliquippa, at a court hearing, to face Longmire. Pope says there is no animosity toward his shooter.
"I can't be mad, because of where I live and the things that I've seen," he said. "I'm more disappointed in myself, because I had chances to go to private schools and get out of the area. That was a way to stop this from happening; otherwise, I don't think it was preventable. It happened a quarter of a mile away from my house."
When he spoke those words on a recent September morning, Pope was sitting in the basketball office at New Mexico State, where he's on scholarship as a freshman. Who would have thought while Mayo and Love went to Los Angeles, Pope would go to Las Cruces?
Herb Pope is currently at New Mexico State, readying for his Freshman season where they are looking for him to be a leader both on and off the floor.
At the young age of 19 Herbs both been through and seen more than most people twice his age. From being abandoned by his parents at a young age, being shot 4 times, committing and decommitting from Pittsburgh, and last but not least being left by the coach who recruited him to New Mexico State (Reggie Theus).
He's got one of those stories that sounds like it was something written for the silver screen, making him the kind of kid whom you really pull for to succeed. Here's to hoping he can leave his troubled past behind, and make the best of a new situation.
Herb, even though we haven't met personally, I'm pullin for you lil' homie...
'Zo
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