Swagger Read Free Page B

the second half, but we never cut the lead to fewer than twelve. The final score was 64–46, ending our season with a thud.
    On the drive home, my dad told me that my future was bright. I nodded, but an hour later I lay awake reliving all the dumb plays I’d made. If Coach Richter had seen that game, he’d have never called.

9
    A WEEK AFTER THE ST. FRANCIS loss, I shot around for a while after school with Mark, and then I walked home. As usual, I checked the mailbox before stepping inside. This time, instead of coming up empty, I pulled out a thick envelope with Monitor College’s address in the upper left-hand corner.
    Both my parents were at work, so I had the house to myself. I carried the envelope to the kitchen table and carefully opened it. Inside was a letter and a color brochure. I put off reading Richter’s letter and first flipped through the brochure. The photographs were similar to the ones I’d seen on their website: ivy creeping up the side of old brick buildings, golden trees lining gravel pathways, pure white snow blanketing a winter landscape. I closed the brochure, took a deep breath, and then read the letter from Coach Richter.
    The first paragraph was about basketball. He wrote that his offense required a smart point guard to run a fast-break offense, and that he liked what he saw of me on the DVD, both on offense and defense. He thought I could be his guy.
    That was the good part. The not-so-good part took up the rest of the letter.
    Â 
I’m going to be straight with you, Jonas. Your academic record worries me. My basketball players are student-athletes, with the emphasis on
student
. There is another high school point guard with whom I’m in contact. Right now, you hold the edge on the basketball court, and I have told him so. I have also told him that he has the edge in the classroom. Before I can offer you a scholarship, I will need to see clear evidence that you will be able to meet the high academic standards of Monitor College.
To be specific: you will need to complete your current junior-year classes with a minimum 3.0 grade point average. Listed below are the classes Monitor College requires you to complete—again with a minimum 3.0 grade point average—during your senior year.
    Â 
•Chemistry
•Algebra II/Trigonometry
•Language Arts
•Social Studies
•Spanish
    Â 
You will also need to score at least five hundred on each section of the SAT. I do not need to tell you that this is a much more difficult course of study than you have undertaken in the past. To succeed, you will need to put forth the kind of effort in the classroom that you have put forth on the basketball court. It is up to you.
    Â 
Sincerely,
Gregory Richter
Men’s Head Basketball Coach
Monitor College

10
    I T HAD BEEN ONE THING to talk about becoming a better student, but seeing in black-and-white Richter’s list of requirements was overwhelming. In the previous weeks, I’d actually raised my hand in class a few times. The kids around me were surprised; the teachers nodded with pleasure.
    But raising your hand in class a few times isn’t the same as studying hard for tough classes for an entire year. Could I do that? And if I did somehow get into Monitor College, was I smart enough to succeed? What would be the point of going all the way to New England only to flunk out?
    My mind went in circles for a while, until I thought of Lisa Yee. Lisa lived right down the block, and she was one of the smartest kids at Redwood High. When we were little, we’d played together at Stambaugh Park, and we were still good friends. Lisa knew all about colleges, and she also knew what I could and couldn’t do. Most importantly, she’d be straight with me.
    My dad wasn’t home for dinner, which was typical. When we finished eating, I asked my mom if I could borrow her car, and she said yes. I took out my cell and phoned Lisa. “How about we go to