Thanks to 2nd Lt. J.K. Pavlischek, USMC (Villanova, ‘07) for calling my attention to this article on Villanova guard, Scottie Reynolds. You might recall Reynolds as the guy who went coast-to-coast and scored the winning field goal against Pitt this past weekend with a half second on the clock:
The unbelievable story of Scottie Reynolds begins some years ago with a decision made by a young and scared teenage woman.
She was from Alabama and pregnant with Reynolds. She was single and jobless and made the decision to give Reynolds up for adoption.
This is where the story could’ve taken a much more disturbing turn. It didn’t. Around that time, a young couple was looking to adopt. They were Rick and Pam Reynolds and they took Scottie into their home when he was just an infant.
“She knew she wouldn’t be able to take care of me, so she gave me up,” Reynolds told the media recently. “It’s the most unselfish thing she could have done for me. The people I’m with now are the greatest people in the world. Without them, I wouldn’t be in the position I am now. I thank God every day that they gave me the opportunity to live.”
Instead of ending up, well, who knows where he might have ended up, he was adopted, grew up in a warm home, and now, years after the decision by that frightened teenage woman, Scottie Reynolds is in the Final Four.
He went from being given up by his birth mother to one of the most vital players Villanova has ever produced. He went from being adopted by a family to being adopted by an eternally grateful basketball community.
I think we have an idea of “where he might have ended up.”
Go NOVA!
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