Texas A&M
The Battalion Sports
Thursday, November 3, 1983/The Battalion/Page 13
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Reaching goals
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Aggie basketball star Britton returns for degree; hopes to aid youth after graduation
inted
by Dave Scott
Battalion Reporter
When David Britton is asked
iout his life in Harlem, New
epresen.ork and the ghetto, he man-
:ams m ^es to first bring out the fortun-
mesen e aspects of his upbringing.
:ationsa: “Harlem was a great political
Pavilic: irum back in the 60s,” Britton
lid recently. “The foremost
olitical leaders always came
icre first.”
OpCH But there were unfortunate
ipects of living in Harlem as
ell. And Britton’s upbringing,
o doubt, was an education he
Sluder, ill not soon forget,
inform Another education Britton
•LL, ud jhe will not forget is the one
rnceinfre learned as an athlete on a big-
idsporme basketball team. That is,
Jicah owjto cope with adversity,
liriluali Britton, co-captain of Texas
,&M’s Southwest Conference
hampion basketball team in
980, says he fell short of his
'iken asketball goals because he
isted just 10 days in the NBA.
Summing up his career, Brit-
msaid: “I fulfilled my goals (of
nd art caching the NBA) but I didn’t
OS.K jstain them.”
Now, four years after leaving
i&M, the ghetto-born Britton is
ack in school to finish his edu-
28-Dci adan and accomplish the new
ilion oals he has set for himself,
and me: Britton says he wants to corn-
ion. lete his B.A. in journalism and
o on to help young athletes as a
.. onsultant/agent. Britton said
!WDU e knows how some athletes are
aisinformed and he feels he has
ae right kind of experience to
. elp them.
tldHi To say the least.
Britton has plenty of experi-
nce, both on and off the basket-
r studr..
e Colltp
all court — you might say he
eufferi
/as born with it.
rather talk about the future, cer
tain events during his upbring
ing in the ghetto are difficult to
forget.
“Looking out the window in
Harlem, it was just as exciting as
watching television, you can find
action in both,” he said.
Britton has memories of vio
lence and abundant drugs, but
there was a bright side. For inst
ance, he had the opportunity to
meet such personalities as Mal-
com X, Muhammad Ali, John F.
Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy
and Martin Luther King.
But Britton said he remem
bers “masses” of people stand
ing on street corners, shooting
up with heroin.
Britton said he remembers
seeing older friends succumb to
this type of environment, yet he
feels he was never seriously
tempted by it — and he credits
that to his parents.
“I really don’t think I could
have resisted on my own,” Brit
ton says.
From the time he was old
enough to attend school, his pa
rents made sure of that.
Britton said his parents
placed him in an open enroll
ment program which meant he
would be bussed out of Harlem
to a predominately white school
in the Bronx.
It allowed him to be educated
by better teachers but it also gave
him the chance to come back to
Harlem after school, Britton
said, to “keep up his black cul
ture.”
And part of that “culture” in
Harlem is basketball. Not your
everyday basketball either —
street basketball of the most in
tense kind.
It didn’t matter that baseball
David Britton is back at A&M trying to finish
his studies and earn a B.A. in journalism.
And although Britton would was Britton’s first love, basket
ball was a way of life in his neigh
borhood.
“The rule of Harlem,” Brit
ton called it. “When you reach a
certain height you are expected
to participate.”
Although Britton was only 5-
8 when he started playing, word
spread of his incrediblejumping
ability. “I’ve been able to slam
since I was 16.”
Britton grew to 6-2, but it was
still his jumping ability and
quickness carried him to his
short stint in the NBA.
Britton was playing in the
Continental Basketball league
when he was contacted by the
Washington Bullets. It was dur-
ing the 1981 season and
Washington needed Britton to
replace a guard that had been
injured.
The Bullets signed Britton to
ly. Fori
UT-Husker game ‘impossible’
he Batu
United Press International
DENVER — Officials of the
-NClAA and the universities of
Mebraska and Texas say there
kill be no national champion-
/^/>hip football game between the
<VA wo schools next January.
Barry Fey, a promoter of rock
:oncerts and other events in De
nver, had guaranteed the
schools $1.5 million each to play
v -he game at either the Super-
mm Jome or the Rose Bowl in mid-
[anuary. But an NCAA spokes-
0 savy man said the game between the
was collation’s two top-ranked teams
Mango Wou Id violate NCAA rules, and
the gn officials of the schools said they
)s. ped vvere n ° l interested.
UTu! David Cawood, assistant ex
port ofecutive director of communica-
jgatjoaitions for the NCAA, said NCAA
Division I schools are limited to
11 games and a postseason bowl
t and game each season,
investip “A game like this simply
re not couldn’t happen without some
- lawerspecial act of legislation by the
itil the NCAA,” Cawood said Tuesday,
them “I’d say it’s just impossible.”
DeLoss Dodds, Texas athletic
director, said he had written to 1
itional Fey saying the “game is contrary
io wori to NCAA rules, and we simply
‘ unit
aren’t pursuing it.”
“As a fan, I’d love to see such
a game,” Dodds said. “As an
administrator, it simply won’t
happen.”
And Nebraska Athletic Direc
tor Bob Devaney said the Cor-
nhuskers “simply aren’t in
terested in that one.”
“I don’t care how much
money he might guarantee or
whether or not he gets approval
from the NCAA,” Devaney said.
“I’m not going to waste my time
talking about it.
“The national champion is
decided at the end of the bowl
season by the polls,” he said.
“And besides, we’re No. 1, so
why would we want to play the
No. 2 team?”
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a 10-day contract — a fairly com
mon practice in the NBA. He
played in 5 games during that
time, and by his own estimation,
he held his own.
At the end of those 10 days,
Washington let him go and he
wasn’t contacted again.
“At the time,” Britton says, “I
wasn’t real depressed, I didn’t
realize that it was my last shot.”
He thought he would go back
to the CBA to wait and try to
make a name for himself in the
pro ranks. A few months later he
was out of competitive basket
ball forever.
Britton already had a name
for himself when he transfered
to A&M in 1978 after 2 years at
Potomac College in West Virgi
nia. And at A&M his name and
basketball skill continued to
grow.
Britton says the highlight of
lis playing days as an Aggie was
vinning the Southwest confer-
■nce championship in 1980. He
was named most valuable player
of the SWC tournament.
But being a most valuable
player was nothing new to
Britton.
Once in a championship
game of a high school tourna
ment, he scored 56 points when
his team was down to 3 players
because of fouls. Britton’s team
won the game and the tour-
namnet.
“I usually play well in tourna
ments and under pressure,”
Britton said. “Before I play a
game, I always believe that I’m
going to win. If I believe that I’m
going to lose then I don’t need to
go out there. All I can do is hurt
myself.”
His stats as an Aggie tell the
story. The 2 years Britton play
ed for Texas A&M, the Aggies
had a combined record of 50-17.
“At A&M winning is the bot
tom line,” Britton said when
asked about how he got along
with coach Metcalf, “so we got
along. You can talk all you want
before, but the bottom line is
winning. And that meant talking
more after the game.”
After the SWC tournament
Britton had nothing to do until
the NBA draft in June.
He was drafted in the 3rd
round by the Dallas Mavericks.
He lasted a little over a week be
fore being cut. Britton said that
was an emotional low point.
“First, I had expected to be
drafted before the 3rd round,”
he explains, “and because Dallas
was an expansion team, when I
got there I was surrounded by
players who had years of experi
ence. They just didn’t need a
rookie guard.”
Britton didn’t give up. He
tried the CBA until he tore car
tilage in his knee and he was
forced to quit.
But basketball was the only
thing he quit.
>ei
hi
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m
in
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I
David Britton stares down a defender during
his playing days as a guard for the Aggies.
“I tried to get a job after the
injury, but I was turned down.
My resume looked pretty good
for someone off the streets but I
decided I needed something to
back it up.” he said.
So Britton’s decision was to
come back to Texas A&M.
MSC Great Issues
General Meeting
Thursday, November 3
8:30 P.M. Room 410
Rudder
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