The sound of a bouncing basketball on blacktop used to wake Derek and Sandra McDuffie late at night.
Sometimes their son, Markis, would slip out of bed, tip-toe to the back door, flip on the floodlights and use his slim frame to squeeze through the door to reach his oasis. He would concentrate on swishing each shot because every time he hit the rim he risked waking up his parents and cutting short his practice time.
Inevitably, a sleepy-eyed parent would come to the door to tell at him to get back in bed. It might have annoyed him at the time, but looking back, Derek McDuffie knows it was a testament to his son’s work ethic.