Family over Final Four

Dan Wetzel (Yahoo!): At the age of 15, Thabiti “Bruce” Boone watched Magic Johnson and Larry Bird star in the 1979 NCAA Final Four, and a dream was born. One day, he told himself, he’d play in that tournament, captivate the country like those guys, lead one of those magical teams of March.

“The Final Four,” Boone said, “was the thing to do.”

This was no pipe dream. Thabiti Boone may have been a product of a chaotic childhood in his blighted Brooklyn neighborhood. He was already a playground legend, though, a brilliant point guard coming into his own at Erasmus Hall High School. Within a couple years, he’d garner major scholarship offers, head off to the University of Florida and be certain his March Madness moment was at hand.

Now 47, Boone watched the NCAA tournament this month as he always does, cheering on the kids of today, reveling in the dreams they are achieving and no longer feeling a single pang of regret. He never did reach that Final Four like he expected, never did have his one shining moment.

“I have something better,” he said with a smile last week. “Way better.”

-eddie