Name: Cuba Sanders
Age: 20
Height: 7'0"
Weight: 265lbs
College: Temple
Position: Center
When a player moves from his home country to another purely to chase a sporting dream, the odds of it falling flat on it's face increase dramatically. Cuba Sanders left his home town in Canada to pursue his dream of playing high school and then college basketball in the USA. His upbringing was nothing out of the unusual, he was raised in a single parent family by his mother who struggled working three jobs at a time just to feed her children. His four brothers weren't particularly sporting types, and although times were tough in the Sanders household they were never the types to step out of line or make too many mistakes in life. Despite his below average test results, Cuba decided at the age of seventeen that it was the right time for him to move abroad. With the full support of his mother, Cuba Sanders used the money he'd been saving for the last three years working as a shop assistant to rent himself a small apartment in Allegany, New York. It was a quiet, but determined dream of his to play for the Knicks one day and although his basketball skills weren't really anything more than just being tall, that didn't prevent him from joining the varsity team of his high school. Standing at 7'0", Cuba stood out from everyone else in his conference. His lack of confidence and shaky offensive skills didn't stop him blocking an eye popping fourteen blocks per game, mainly due to the fact that his coach had given him the green light to swat anything that goes near the hoop. His hopes of progressing into the college ranks were somewhat dashed, when after a game a student he had seen around the place approached him. He said his name was Manny, and he'd been watching Cuba play for some time. Being new at the school and not really knowing any better, Cuba started hanging out with Manny... to him it seemed like he'd just made a new friend, however, things never really turn out that way.
In the space of four weeks, Manny had changed Cuba Sanders. Gone was the polite young giant who everyone around his old town knew as "C", what remained was now a shadow of his former self. At one stage, Cuba managed to show up late for class... or not at all, on eight consecutive occasions. Word was spreading that Cuba had been drug running for Manny, the sight of a seven foot tall teenager trying to look inconspicuous was bound to start some sort of rumours. Scouts got a sniff of this information and went off him faster than Shawn Kemp at a salad buffet. Sanders didn't really care, he was making alot of money and his basketball kept him popular at school... Manny was paying him well for what he was doing, although what happened next doesn't really have a price tag big enough for it. One night after a long smoking session, a disgruntled neighbour called the police to complain about the noise coming from the modest apartment Cuba was living in. Getting a tip off that the people inside might be gang bangers, the police showed up in force with their sirens blaring which sent Manny into panic mode. He handed Cuba a brown paper bag and told him to keep it with him, and give it back when he see's him next. Manny took off out the back way to a fire escape and ran off into the night, leaving Cuba Sanders on his own to deal with the police. As soon as the door was open, Cuba was on the floor and handcuffed faster than Shawn Ke... wait, I already used that joke. Nevermind. The police took him into custody and the very first thing they found was the brown bag Manny had given him. To no one's surprised, they produced a handgun from the bag and Cuba was in alot more trouble than he first expected. After trying to explain his position, Sanders was charged with posessing an illegal firearm. Eventually though, the charges were dropped after Sanders named Manny as the guy who gave him the gun. Still to this day, he expects some sort of violent pay-back.
Once high school was finished, it was obvious Cuba wasn't going to be an academic genius. Instead, on the advice of his mother, he enrolled in the local community college. Trying to get his life, and career, back on track Cuba joined the basketball team and was surprised at how poor the quality of opposition was. It was like a man playing against elementary school children. He was swatting shots whenever he wanted, and even his offensive production was high. Once again Cuba Sanders was "the man" on the court. He was doing his best to avoid any sort of trouble in the form of another Manny type character, and as a result both his on court and off court performance improved dramatically. So much so, that college scouts were actually showing up to games to check Sanders out in action now that he was on the straight and narrow, and that he was dominating on the court. Temple offered him the chance to further his educational and basketball progress, and without even having to think about it Cuba accepted their offer and would join the team half way through the season. It was all a bit overwhelming for Cuba, his dreams were starting to be realized and after such a bad high school life it was what he needed. That was until a visit from someone from his past changed all of that. Manny had tracked him down and knew all about Cuba turning him in. Manny gave him a choice, he could either do one more job for him to pay off his "debt" or he could take what was coming to him. Cuba made the "smart" decision, and was relieved to find out all Manny wanted him to do was deliver a package to a friend of his living 20 miles East of where he was staying. In typical Cuba Sanders fashion, he trusted Manny and set off to make the delivery... not realizing Manny had tipped off the police about what was going down, and once again Cuba was left to take the fall. He served 4 months in jail, before police tracked down Manny finally and Cuba was released. Having no school, no home and no prospects at all Cuba's last chance was an article he saw in a newspaper advertising the Atlanta Hawks having open trials for players in the new season. Knowing his chances were slim, Cuba showed up to the workouts and straight up told the officials what he'd been through. Not wanting to turn him away just because of his police record, they gave Cuba a chance and he impressed them enough to put him on the "First Reserve" list. Cuba was disappointed, but quietly hopeful his good work would pay off... and it did, after a couple of weeks Cuba received the call that would finally change his life for good. Playing in the NBA wasn't part of his original dream, but after what had gone on in the last few years it was a whole lot better than the alternatives.
- Code: Select all
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
03-04 Allegany (JuCo) 24.7 63.7 10.5 64.3 15.3 3.7 3.1 7.3 0.7 11.4
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TOTALS 24.7 63.7 10.5 64.3 15.3 3.7 3.1 7.3 0.7 11.4
- Code: Select all
MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG
04-05 Temple 8.5 51.4 0.0 56.1 3.1 0.4 1.3 0.5 0.1 2.7
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TOTALS 8.5 51.4 0.0 56.1 3.1 0.4 1.3 0.5 0.1 2.7
I know this one isn't very good, but it's early in the morning and the sooner I get the player profiles outta the way the sooner I can start the game recaps and whatever

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