‘Be Like Mike’: Palmer High School athlete takes the court by storm
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - J'Twane Mike only knows one speed: top speed. He eats fast. He plays fast. He even talks fast.
"Pretty much almost everything in life. It's not intentional, but it just kind of happens," says Mike.
The dude can get up there, on offense and defense. He's in the air so often he earns air miles. It started during the summer of tenth grade.
"I went out for a block, got it off the glass, and went got a dunk on the next possession. I was just like, I did it and I couldn't believe it, says Mike. I had my hands on my head and mouth was open and I ran around laughing on the court. They call it a timeout. High energy on the court. I've been developing and growing ever since."
And it's never stopped. The secret?
"It's it the shoes?"
It actually kind of is the shoes. It's a superstition of his.
"I don't wear different shoes much when I'm in, when I'm playing or whatever, so when I'm playing, I go with the whole season. So, you know, like if I play good in that shoe, I got to keep wearing it," says Mike.
If things are going well, he'll play in shoes no matter how messed up they are.
"The sole was coming off right in the front. It was starting to come off, starting to feel backwards," says Mike.
Those shoes will get even more miles when he heads to Kansas to play hoops at Fort Scott Community College. Quite an accomplishment for a guy who didn't start playing basketball until he was in 5th grade.
"It doesn't feel real, you know, growing up, I never thought it happened. I never thought I'd be good enough. And then, you know, they offered me over summer, but I took the chance and I accepted the offer. And it's just unbelievable how stuff happens in life," says Mike.
