DISAPPOINTMENT led to disregard. Insolence led to expulsion. Realization led to repentance.
That’s the six-step program that led LIU senior Ray Rivera back to the Blackbirds.
Back in the 1999-2000 season, the confused youngster – recruited by Ray Haskins, who left after Rivera’s sophomore year and is now coaching at FIT – found himself sitting on the bench. He expected more as a player: more playing time, more points, more visibility. He wasn’t getting it and he took it out on Ray Martin, the coach of the Blackbirds.
“Me and coach weren’t seeing eye to eye on playing time,” said Rivera. “We had some disagreements. I was not hustling, not listening, being immature, not really caring.”
Emotionally, Rivera, a Stevenson product, would have nothing to do with the LIU basketball team last year. He hated how he was used; he hated his situation and he wasn’t afraid to voice his disdain.
Suddenly, trying to coach the 24-year-old Rivera was impossible for Martin, and Rivera was thrown off the team after only two games.
“Unfortunately, Ray had a different viewpoint of what was important for the team,” said Martin. “You never want to cut a young man’s hopes and dreams, but his actions started to hurt the team.”
Rivera was soon gone, without basketball for what looked like forever. Then he came to a realization.
A year without the screeching of sneakers on the hardwood left Rivera with an emptiness he could not shake. Rivera found himself the nomad of the LIU campus and he didn’t like it. Because of his constantly flapping tongue, he found himself without the thing he loved most, basketball.
A few members on the team asked him to come back and play and Rivera liked the idea. He was nervous though; it would mean walking back into Martin’s office and admitting he was wrong, admitting defeat.
“Off the court [coach and I] never spoke after it happened,” said Rivera. “I can’t blame him. After trying to help people and they don’t listen, why even bother? I just told myself to suck it up.”
He did, and Martin granted his request to be put back in the baby blue uniform of the Blackbirds.
“He was hoping for a second chance and I believe in second chances,” said Martin. “I set up a number of guidelines. It was probationary.”
And did Rivera follow the guidelines. He came back, worked much harder than before and now the 6-4 guard is the team’s leading scorer at 13.1 points per game and leads the NEC in free throw percentage with 88 percent.
Rivera rejoined the team for the second game of the season against Yale and has been pumping up his stats ever since. He got his first career start against Mount St. Mary’s, where he scored seven points.
Maybe it was just first game jitters, but Rivera looked like a different player the next three games. He scored 32 points against Maryland-Baltimore County and 28 in the next game against Brooklyn rival St. Francis. Those totals gave him NEC Player of the Week for the week that ended last Sunday. He followed that up with a 20-point performance against Robert Morris last Monday. Not bad for a kid who had been chucked off the team.
“It wasn’t the coaches [that were the problem], it was me. I can honestly say I didn’t work hard the last three seasons,” said Rivera. “Now I’m pushing myself.”
Who knows where that extra push will lead? Now maybe comes the next two steps in his cycle. Maybe acceptance leads to excellence.
