NBA2K MyPlayer Coach2K grew up in Indiana playing basketball in his parents driveway on a court that was part cement and part gravel. His family was never big on basketball and they told him that you had to have a name to make the team. But Coach2K loved basketball and was often seen shoveling snow off the court to play in the winter and shooting after the sun went down during the summer.
Not believing you had to have a popular name to make the team, he tried out and made the Lawrence North High School basketball team. He was a freshman at Lawrence North High School the year Lawrence North won the class 4A championship behind the skills of that year’s Mr. Basketball, Greg Oden, who went on to play in the NBA. Coach2K had a solid high school career but Lawrence North never made it back to the state finals.
[catalyst_hook_box name=”googleinpost”]After high school, Coach2K decided to attend Akron University, home of the Zips. He had more success in Akron than he did in high school and was named the MAC Conference Freshman of the Year in 2010.
Coach2K led the Zips to the MAC Conference title game all four seasons winning two conference championships in the process. In his senior year, he was named the MAC Conference tournament MVP.
Coach2K ended his Akron college career the schools leader in points (2622), assists (528) and steals (278). His teammates eventually nicknamed him Z because they said he put the “Z” in Zips.
His play helped Akron make two trips to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and those games got him recognized by scouts who invited him to the NBA Rookie Showcase in New York.