Shane Powell has dreams of playing in the NBA some day.
The Grandview High School junior got as close to that as he could on Jan. 7, playing with the school’s Unified Basketball team at halftime of the Denver Nuggets game against the visiting New Orleans Hornets.
The Wolves dominated the abbreviated game against Chatfield in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 fans, but a standing ovation went up all around for the teams, which mix Special Olympic athletes with varsity athletes.
Powell scored three baskets in the game, including a layup just before the end, which he felt he should have finished with more authority like his favorite player, former Nugget J.R. Smith.
“I should have dunked it,” lamented the 6-foot-4 Powell, who is cognitively delayed.
Affiliated with the Special Olympics, Unified basketball programs have been around for a decade or more in places such as Littleton, but have made their way to the Cherry Creek School District, which has had teams formed at four high schools in just two years. Grandview and Overland started their programs last year, with Eaglecrest and Cherry Creek joining them in 2012.
Grandview’s program has doubled in size since it debuted last season according to Cory Chandler, a special education teacher who is coaching a roster of 25 players, which includes varsity members of the football, baseball, lacrosse and soccer teams.
Taylor Schultz, Eli Williams and Jordan Schlehuber of the Grandview football team that made it to the Class 5A state semifinals are involved, continuing a tradition started by standout linebacker Eddie Yarbrough and others last season.
Having Yarbrough, a bruising 6-5, 230-pound linebacker who is now at the University of Wyoming, but who was more known for his friendliness and smile, was a big boon to the first year of the Unified program and it has only grown.
“Having Eddie was definitely a big draw in getting other kids to come out,” Chandler said. “My wife has known Eddie since he was about 10, and he’s always had that smile you can see from a mile away. My wife said she’d never seen a bigger one on his face than when he was working with the team last year. That says it all.
“Now, these kids are more popular than the athletes at Grandview. It’s unreal to see what it has done for their self esteem.”
Yarbrough was in the stands for Grandview’s game at Overland on Jan. 5, eager to cheer on his former Unified teammates, including favorites like Powell — who he worked with a lot last year — and senior guard Manju Stein.
“Just giving them what I had, like when the crowd cheers when you make a big play, it was a blessing for me to help them have that same experience,” Yarbrough said.
Grandview baseball players Payton Soicher, Austin Deal, T.J. Lemke and Jackson Peitzmeier are involved, as are soccer players Carly Seib and Cody Hatcher, lacrosse players Megan Lynch and Blake and Dylan Crossland and pom Aly Padgett.
Chandler said the biggest obstacle is getting the varsity athletes to overcome any preconceived ideas they may have about kids with disabilities. That usually only lasts a few minutes, however.
“There are challenges; you may have an autistic kid who might not be verbal at all partnered up with a general ed student — trying to get them to talk and give instructions can be tough,” Chandler said. “You also have to get the partner athletes past any reservations or notions they may have about special ed kids. That usually only takes 5-10 minutes, and then it’s like they’ve been playing basketball together forever.”
Soicher, a senior center field, agrees that it can be an eye-opening experience at first, but one the athletes quickly warm to.
“I think for some people it comes quick, it depends what kind of person you are,” said Soicher, who has worked most with Chuckie Moss. “Once you see how excited they are and how much enthusiasm they have, it gets us excited to get going. Even practices are high intensity for us. We like going to practice with these guys and I will never take another game I play for granted.”
During games — which consist of four, 8-minute quarters of running time played before boys varsity basketball games in school gyms — the varsity athletes typically only get rebounds and pass the ball to the special ed athletes, who get the thrill of scoring every basket in front of loud, enthusiastic crowds.
Chandler comes away emotionally spent from the impact of each game.
“It’s so cool because it doesn’t matter who scores, Grandview or Overland, the whole gym erupts,” he said. “I feel kind of bad because we play before the varsity and we upstage them a little bit. We really do. I’m so spent when it is done.”
The Nuggets decided to give Grandview and Chatfield a special thrill when the Nuggets extended an invitation for them to play at halftime in front of a large crowd. The teams played before a Denver game last season and Doug Fulton, senior manager of fan development and the Nuggets organization were blown away by what they saw.
“We wanted them to have a bigger stage and really be able to show off what they do,” Fulton said of the Nuggets, who plan to strengthen their partnerships with Special Olympics and Unified programs around the metro area.
“You hear stories of recruiting violations and things like that, but with Unified, you get to see the flip side of high school sports. It’s refreshing to see the larger picture in the lives of high school athletes.”
The Nuggets gave each Unified team a suite to watch the Denver-New Orleans game. A few minutes before halftime, the players and Grandview’s Unified spirit squad lined up in the tunnel beneath the stands, eagerly anticipating the coming opportunity, though some were definitely nervous.
“Just look at the basket, not the stands,” Powell advised teammate Adam Schwartz.
Though nobody cared about the outcome, it was all Grandview, as Powell scored three baskets and Stein converted a steal and layup.
After the game, the entire team was pumped, topping off their experience by Tebowing in the club level at Pepsi Center.
“That was something different compared to playing sports for real high school,” Schultz said. “For them, I live it. To get them that experience made me very happy. Some of these kids are thrilled just to dribble a basketball, so to help make their day made my day. We can’t wait to play again.”
Unified Basketball is taking root all around Aurora.
Overland also has a full Unified team which is in part coached by members of the varsity basketball team. Athletic director Shane Snyder got the new program organized at Eaglecrest, but for practice and games has turned it over to one of the school’s Special Ed teachers, Chuck Doudna. The Raptors made their debut on Jan. 13 when they hosted Grandview. The Unified season runs through mid February and the teams will play in a Special Olympics tournament at the end.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com of 303-750-7555
CHERRY CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT UNIFIED BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Sat., Jan. 7: Grandview at Overland, 12:15 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 13: Grandview at Eaglecrest, 6:15 p.m.; Cherry Creek at Overland, 6:15 p.m.
Wed., Jan.18: Overland at Eaglecrest, 6:15 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 20: Cherry Creek at Grandview, 6:15 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 27: Eaglecrest at Cherry Creek, 6:15 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 1: Overland at Grandview, 6:15 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 3: Unified night at Arapahoe vs. Grandview girls game
Wed., Feb. 8: Overland at Cherry Creek, 6:15 p.m.; Eaglecrest at Grandview, 6:15 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 10: Eaglecrest at Overland, 6:15 p.m.; Unified night at Cherokee Trail vs. Grandview boys game
Wed., Feb. 15: Grandview at Cherry Creek, 6:15 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 25: Tentative all day tournament at Grandview
