HANDING OUT AN ASSIST Former A&M basketball player Tony McGinnis gives back to community in admirable fashion By Rusty Burson

From his "office" in Huntsville, Ala., former Texas A&M guard Tony McGinnis can walk out the backdoor and see precisely where he grew up. It’s not exactly the pleasant stroll down memory lane you might imagine.

Some changes have been made for the better. But Sparkman Homes, one of the largest public housing developments in Huntsville, is still ravaged with many of the same atrocities McGinnis encountered as a child.

Tony McGinnis was a solid player for the Aggies during the Tony Barone era, but he is leaving his real mark back in Huntsville, Alabama.

Census figures show 84 percent of the households here are headed by women, who have an average annual income of $5,752. As McGinnis knows all too well, such poverty attracts crime like ants to a picnic.

"It’s a rough neighborhood," says McGinnis, the director of the Sparkman Boys and Girls Club. "It was when I was growing up. It still is. It’s considered one of the roughest neighborhoods in Huntsville. People don’t come down here because they’re afraid. We’re talking gunfire, drugs, gangs, loud music and just about anything else you can think of."

McGinnis, who ranks 11th in Texas A&M history with 1,240 career points, doesn’t have to be here. He’s one of the incredibly lucky Sparkman Homes natives – a rare renegade in these parts who chose his dreams over drugs.

He escaped the neighborhood once. He made it to college, made it in professional basketball overseas and made the most of his opportunities. He could be enjoying celebrity status in Australia right now, playing the game he loves.

Instead, he’s back in the projects he once called home. But please don’t feel sorry for him, McGinnis says. He’s doing what he was called to do. He might have won fans in Australia, but he’s saving lives in Huntsville.

"It’s very important to me, because this is the place where I grew up," McGinnis said. "These kids now are going through many of the same things I did. I have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these kids and help them get out. There are some financial things I can’t do working here, but the rewards are more than money could really ever give me. When I can see a kid who has obstacles in his life make the right decisions, it’s everything to me.

"I thank the Lord I survived that as a child. I was giving my testimony at church the other day, and it’s amazing that I was one of the only ones to make it out. So many kids had more talent and were smarter than me. But many of them are in jail or worse. I was blessed to get out, now I want to help some of these kids get out, too."

McGinnis, a journalism major at A&M, is already working miracles. Take, for example, the story of Laderais Fletcher, a 12-year-old who lives in Sparkman Homes with his grandmother and is often charged with looking after his two preschool siblings. For Fletcher, the Boys and Girls Club is a safe harbor and McGinnis is a hero.

"I don’t want to be like my Uncle T-Bone," Fletcher told the Huntsville Times. "He’s been in jail for years for shooting somebody… I want to be like Tony. I want to make something of my life."

Those words mean more to McGinnis than an adoring crowd ever could. But McGinnis says his basketball background has helped him reach out to kids who might otherwise label him a crackpot and move on to selling crack.

"There’s one thing the kids can never tell me," McGinnis said. "It’s, ‘You don’t understand.’ No, I’ve been here, been in their shoes. I do understand.

"I reach these kids in different ways. Everybody is different. But I know how to relate to them on their level. I share my story with them. I think it helps with some of the kids that I have been an athlete, and I have played major college basketball and played professionally. That seems to get their attention, at least some of them."

If he can save even one of them, his decision to leave basketball behind will be worth it, he says. But then he quickly points out his calling has already produced many wonderful blessings in his life, including a family of his own.

After playing one season in Slovenia (a small country in Europe bordered by Austria, Italy, Hungary, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea), McGinnis played for a touring team called Marathon Oil, which plays exhibition games against colleges. He then landed in Australia, where he had a great time and a great season.

He had every intention of returning to Australia the following season. But his life was forever changed when he ended up back at the Sparkman Homes Boys and Girls Club that had been such a positive influence on him as a youth.

"After I left Australia I went back to Texas for a little while and then I came back home, because I thought I was going to get ready to go back to Australia," McGinnis said. "I was planning on just being home for the summer. But God had other plans for me.

"I went to the Boys and Girls Club, and this beautiful lady was sitting there. She hired me to work that summer. She told me she needed someone who was going to be totally committed to the summer program, and I told her I would definitely be that person. The very next day my agent called me and asked if I was ready to go. He had another offer for me, and I was going to make $10,000 playing in a summer league. It was way more money than I could make working a whole year at the Boys and Girls Club.

"But I had given my word to this woman," McGinnis continued. "I prayed about that decision, and I knew in my heart that I was supposed to be at the Boys and Girls Club. To make a long story short, God rewarded me for that decision. Me and that beautiful lady ended up getting married."

McGinnis has been married to Kressia for two and half years. The couple recently had their first child together, but they also have two older children (ages 10 and 8) McGinnis has adopted.

McGinnis is a spokesman for the power of prayer. And his stories regarding how his prayers have been answered have a way of reaching the kids he works with. One such story still causes chills to run up McGinnis’ spine, and it still brings Dave South, A&M’s associate athletic director/sponsorships and broadcasts, to the brink of tears.

As a freshman in 1991, McGinnis was down in the dumps when he went down to his knees. The answer he received still amazes him.

"I thought I was doing great, but one day Coach (Tony) Barone just went crazy on me," McGinnis said. "I he was trying to see who was tough enough to cut it. But it went on for days and weeks, and I got so beaten down. I was thinking I couldn’t take it anymore. I was in my room at Cain Hall praying. I was crying and thinking I was just going to go home and get me a regular job. But I prayed for God to send somebody into my life to give me a little comfort. In fact, I was so specific that I prayed for God to send somebody into my room that night if it was meant for me to stay at Texas A&M."

Almost immediately, McGinnis’ academic advisor knocked on his door. McGinnis was impressed, but not yet convinced.

"I just thought that was a coincidence, because he was going to come by anyway," he said. "I was still doubting. So I started praying again, asking God to send me a real sign. Well, then Dave South comes to my room, knocks on the door and says, ‘Tony, I was just thinking about you. Keep your head up, son. You’re going to make it.’ He had never been to my room before. Not once. I said. ‘God, I believe it now. I’m staying.’"

Fortunately for the Aggies, he did more than merely stay. McGinnis had solid freshman and sophomore seasons and then helped lead the Aggies to a 19-11 record and a NIT berth as a junior in 1993-94. He averaged 10.0 points as a junior and 15.2 as a senior. He also led the Aggies in blocked shots as a junior and steals as a senior.

"You always look back and wish things could have been a little better," McGinnis said of his time at A&M. "But things were pretty good my last two seasons. We went to the NIT and had a chance to win the conference that year. Plus, I played with some guys who I will never forget and played in front of some crowds I’ll never forget.

"I still have plenty of maroon pride in me. I stand up for the Aggies here in Alabama. I’ll see guys from time to time with A&M stickers on their car or wearing T-shirts and I always love to tell them how much I loved my time at Texas A&M. Being at A&M helped shape my life, and I’m a better man because of it."

Without a doubt, A&M also is a better place because of Tony McGinnis – what he did while in College Station and how he continues to represent the university.