Jeremiah Armstead, from homeless (he slept in the car) to NCAA star. Dreaming of the NBA

Jeremiah Armstead, from homeless (he slept in the car) to NCAA star. Dreaming of the NBA

From homeless to Fisk University star in NCAA basketball: Jeremiah Armstead’s American dream will be celebrated with an award ceremony during the final-4 of the Stars and Stripes college tournament (Uconn, Purdue, Alabama and North Carolina State running from 6 to 8 April in Glendale, Arizona).

“I lived in my car and I didn’t want my friends to know. It was hard for me to think about going to school. I thought: bad times don’t last forever. Things can change. I had to be a father figure for my brother and sister, but I felt a burden, because I was already 1.80 meters tall and took up all the space in the car”, says the US basketball talent as reported by Il Messaggero. Which tells his story. ‘Born in Atlanta and raised in Philadelphia, teenager Jeremiah Armstead was a high school sophomore when he moved to California with his mother Mindy Brooks, brother and sister to escape domestic violence issues.

In his senior year of high school, the coaches discovered Jeremiah’s situation. «They gave me a pair of shoes and helped me wash my clothes. They made sure I didn’t feel alone.”

Thanks to a combination of non-profit donations and a scholarshipJeremiah managed to enroll at university (he is now in his 2nd year and is graduating in kinesiology) – says Il Messaggero – and to attend Fisk, where he is emerging in a Bulldogs jersey with the sound of baskets.

His coach, Kenny Anderson, a former NBA point guard, went through difficult times growing up in Queens. “It feels good for me to know that I am helping someone who has been in a situation like mine.”