The true definition of a “team player”

Every once in a while, you run across a story that renews your faith in mankind…a story that makes you proud to be a fan of college athletics…a story that inspires…a story that causes you to look at your own life and evaluate your priorities.

I found such a story in Washington State basketball player Taylor Rochestie.

Erica Beck of the WSU Sports Information Department sent me an e-mail this morning to tell me about a very unselfish act of Rochestie. As I learned more about what he did, I knew I had to write about it.

Taylor Rochestie will be a junior this year and is projected to start for the Cougars basketball team. As he was preparing for this season in Pullman, Rochestie wanted to find a way to give something back to Washington State. To show his gratitude to the school and the athletic program, Rochestie voluntarily agreed to give up his scholarship for the 2008-2009 season to help out another incoming student.

“I am thankful that I was fortunate enough to be in a situation where I could help the team out. At the end of the year you ask yourself what you could have done, gone a little harder in practice, hit a key shot, but this was something at the beginning of the year that’s outside of playing that I could do. This is the least and the most I could do at the same time,” said Rochestie.

This is the least and the most I could do…those words really struck me. Rochestie had no obligation to give up his scholarship. He has worked very hard to overcome a knee injury and earn his place in the Cougars’ starting lineup. That scholarship was rightly his. Yet he was more concerned about giving something back to Washington State University. He was grateful for the opportunity they afforded him to play basketball and he wanted to pay them back.

There are far too many stories in the sports world about people who are too selfish, too inconsiderate, and too ungrateful. We need more college athletes like Taylor Rochestie. We need more people in this world like Taylor Rochestie. To give up something you value to help another is what charity is all about.

So, for one day at least, my faith in mankind has been rekindled. My faith in the promise of our youth has been renewed.

And my love for college basketball has grown even stronger.

- Photo courtesy of http://wsucougars.cstv.com