The dream for Rodrick Sikes' entire life was to play Division I basketball, but as a senior at St. Martin (Miss.) High School, he had nowhere to go.
Despite averaging 19.4 points per game and being named honorable mention all-state as a senior, the Ocean Springs, Miss., native received more scholarship offers from junior colleges (3) than he did Division I schools (0). He was even told by a future college coach that he wasn't good enough.
Sikes admittedly got discouraged. He faced an uncertain future and confronted the possibility that his dream would go unrealized. Unfazed, he took inspiration wherever he could find it, using personal stories like Jimmy Butler, who spent his freshman season at a junior college before enrolling at Marquette and becoming an elite NBA player.