7^th Grade and 7^th Honors
Summer Reading 2008

Walk-On
by Alan Williams

Tip: Preview the questions for each chapter before you read the chapter so that you can look for the answers as you read.  Then, answer the questions for each chapter as you complete reading that chapter.

Chapter 1

1.     Where did Alan Williams play high school basketball?

2.     How much playing time had Alan had in his 120 collegiate games?

3.     What does being a walk-on mean?

4.     When talking about his basketball experience at a Division I college, Williams said, “Being a walk-on was one of the most rewarding, yet ______________ experiences of my life…”

5.     He learned more about what personal quality than ever before?

6.     What did Alan’s teammates call him?

7.     What was Alan’s number?

8.     Where was his hometown?

Chapter 2

1.     In Alan’s freshman year of basketball at Wake Forest, with what famous NBA player did Williams get to play a pick up game?    He played pro ball for what team?

2.     What was Alan’s “real dream” in life?

3.     What is the mascot of the Wake Forest team?

4.     What is the name of the basketball arena at Wake Forest?

Chapter 3 

1. What was the name of the famous basketball camp that Williams attended?
2. Who was the director of the camp?
3. How many of his players went to the NBA?
4. Why did players go to this camp? (2 reasons)
5. What extremely famous basketball player went to this camp?
6. After Williams didn’t get offers from coaches after his second camp, what did Garf suggest that Williams do?
7. Did it work?
8. How did Williams get to stay on the team after Prosser became the new coach of Wake Forest?

Chapter 4

1. With whom did Williams work out before his freshman year in college? What was this person’s hometown?
2. Who was the only person that called Williams by his name?
3. What does the General, the equipment manager, not like?
4. What did Williams not get that hurt his feelings?
5. What was in Williams’ locker after his shower?  Who put it there?
6. How was Williams’ locker labeled compared to the other players?
7. What is “humility”?  Who in the chapter is described as being “humble” or “having humility”? Why?

Chapter 5

1. What advice did Sean Tuohy offer to Alan’s dad for him to pass on to Alan regarding working out with Wake Forest players in pick up games? What was the benefit of following this advice?
2. What was the difference between high school basketball and college basketball?

Chapter 6

1. Who was Ervin Murray?
2. Describe the push-ups Williams was trying to do.
3. What was the workout skill that Williams did well?
4. What happened regarding the “Run with the Deacs” that caused Alan to feel stupid and humiliated?
5. How did the “General” treat walk-ons?  Explain your answer.
6. Explain what Alan meant when he wrote, “Things were not great.”
7. Name four things the Lord did for Williams his freshman year.

Chapter 7

1. What was described as “a significant factor in determining the future of an athlete”?
2. Who was Mrs. Caldwell?
3. According to Coach Prosser, Wake Forest chartered planes to games so that what?
4. What would happen if a player skipped class?

Chapter 8

1. When it came time for team picture, what did Coach Odom do when the walk-ons didn’t have a jersey for the picture?
2. What did this action (#1) reveal about Coach Odom?
3. What did Williams have to do when his warm-ups were way too large?

Chapter 9

1. What record did Williams set when he was a sophomore in high school?
2. What did U.S.A. Today say about Williams?
3. What upset Williams about his practice jersey his first year at Wake Forest?
4. What was the “rule of thumb” on a fast break at Wake Forest during a two-on-one fast-break sequence?
5. Explain what Williams meant when he wrote, “My identity as a basketball player had taken a 180 –degree turn.”
6. Summarize briefly the 3 reasons Williams stated that made him realize that he didn’t want basketball or anything else (other than God) to be his ultimate fulfillment.
7. When Williams looked back at his first terrible practice as a freshman, why was he thankful?

Chapter 10

1. What did Williams’ dad say was vital for an athlete?
2. What did Williams’ dad have new for every game in high school?
3. Confidence is the result of what?
4. What did his dad write at the bottom of the index card he gave to Williams before his first college game?

Chapter 11

1. What was Williams’ plan to avoid harassment by the opposing team’s fans during shoot-arounds before away games? Did it work at the game against Maryland?
2. Williams wrote, “Of all the comments that were ever directed at me by the opposing fans, I remember his the most.” What were the comments, and why did Williams remember them the most?
3.  At the home game what did he forget to ask the coach before he went in?

Chapter 12

1. Describe the team morale as Wake Forest prepared to play Butler in Kansas City.
2. How many fans were in the Georgia Dome when the team traveled to the ACC tournament?
3. Why were the seniors crying after their game against Butler?
4. Who was Alan’s best friend on the team?
5. What bad news did Williams get?

Chapter 13

1. Where was Alan’s brother Campbell attending college?
2. What was one of the first steps Alan took in trying to get his jersey back?
3. What news ddid Broderick Hicks share with Alan?
4. What did Williams get to do again after Coach Odom resigned?

Chapter 14

1. Who was the new coach? Where had he coached previously?
2. The new coach said that the team’s code would be as simple as “ABC.” What did he mean?
3. What kind of coach did Williams say the new coach was?
4. What role was Alan given on the team by assistant Coach Gaudio?

Chapter 15

1. What did Williams mean when he said he often found himself feeling like Josh?
2. Who was the new strength coach?
3. Who was Darius Songaila?
4. What did Williams have a very difficult time doing?
5. Williams wanted a tape of his playing time for the first ten games to give his father for Christmas.  How long did the tape last?

Chapter 16

1. How long was the off-season?
2. Alan’s dad kept a yellow pad on his dashboard for writing down what?
3. Where did his family go for vacation?
4. What did Williams do for the summer to get ready for the new season?
5. What bad news did the coach have when he returned for preseason?
6. What did Williams tell Coach Prosser?

Chapter 17

1. What had Williams feared as a child?

2.   Who was Coach Kelsey?

3.  Which player was the most supportive in the pick-up game his sophomore year?

4.  What mixed feelings was Alan having as he stood in line for the Midnight      Madness event?

Chapter 18

1. How did Williams find out about walk-on tryouts?
2. Where was his favorite place to eat when he was seeking “me time”?
3. What does the reader discover about Coach Battle in this chapter?
4. After classes were over the day before tryouts, what did Alan do?
5. About how many other guys were trying out?
6. Who came to the tryouts to support him?
7. What news did the coach have for him?

Chapter 19

1. How many road trips did Alan take in his four years at Wake Forest?
2. How was the team spoiled on travel games?
3. How many mission trips had Alan gone on?
4. What were the 2 purposes of the mission trips?
5. Explain how “The King of the Court” was played.

Chapter 20

1. What did Alan find disappointing about refereeing church-league basketball for eight-to-ten year old boys?
2. What did Williams consider to be “an overriding problem in youth sports today”?
3. What did his mother do for him daily?
4. What did Williams tell Andre when he asked why Jesus let bad things happen to good people?
5. What did he find out about his father after the mission trip?
6. What did Phillip Yancey say about suffering?
7. Weakness is the place where you experience what?
8. Alan’s senior year at UNC game, the coach told the players to play for what?
9. The trials that test your faith develop what?

Chapter 21

1. Name three things that make Prosser a successful coach.
2. What did Prosser mean when he said that the name on the front of the jersey was more important than the name on the back?
3. Prosser was their toughest _______________ and biggest ___________.
4. What did Williams mean when he wrote, “Coach never forgot where he came from”?
5. Name three things that Prosser made the players do to remind them of what was most important in life.
6. What did WIN mean?
7. The seven steps on the ladder stood for what?  How did it relate to life?
8. Did Williams think Coach Prosser was a good teacher?
9. Why did Williams think it was good for Chris Paul to see him hit a 250-yard drive on the golf course?

Chapter 22

1. Name the 3 players and the injuries they suffered.
2. What did Coach Prosser mean when he said, “If you’re hurt and you don’t get treatment, then you’re selfish”?
3. According to Coach Skip Prosser, when were players made?
4. What happened to the team when the freshman overslept?
5. What did Alan and some of his teammates do to help the players who were lagging behind make it across the finish line?
6. Why did Josh Howard cry when Alan was a sophomore?
7. Why did Josh cry when Alan was a junior?

Chapter 23

      1.  Who was Bill Haas?
      2.  What did Williams tell Steve Lepore when he said he wasn’t good enough for God?
      3.  What challenge did Steve make to Alan when he called Alan from Europe?

Chapter 24

1. What was the scout team’s job for the 3 days prior to the Georgia Tech game?
2. The long hall to the court remind Williams of what?
3. Describe Chris Paul.
4. Why did Chris Paul, when a senior high school point guard, deliberately miss his last free throw?

Chapter 25

1. What advise did Williams receive from a man at a Christmas party about getting more “C.T.”?
2. Williams wrote about having “wardrobe clashes” with his teammates.  Describe how each of these guys were dressed when they arrived in the locker room at Joel Coliseum before a game:  Alan Williams (Al Will), Taron, Justin, Trent.
3. How did Justin Gray and Big E help Alan get ready for the “Rap Video Night” fraternity party?
4. How did Justin Gray demonstrate his leadership when the team was having a 3 game losing streak?

Chapter 26

1. Which professional basketball team selected Josh Howard in the NBA draft?
2. Why couldn’t Josh Howard go to the Ranger baseball game with Williams and Steve Lepore?
3. What was the one “glitch” in the Wake Forest meeting room?
4. How did Williams compare Josh giving up his seat on the famous leather chair in the dressing room to Jesus?

Chapter 27

1. What other member of Williams’ family had played in Madison Square Garden?
2. Who was Dick Vitale? What was his nickname?
3. Why couldn’t Williams’ dad come to his game, the Coaches versus Cancer Charity Classic at the Madison Square Garden?
4. What did Williams ask Dick Vitale to do for him at the game?
5. What did Dick Vitale do during the game?
6. What did Vitale do three weeks after the game?

Chapter 28

1. Give an example of why Williams said, “Being a walk-on is definitely humbling.”
2. What did Williams mean when he said his senior year was different from his three previous years on the team?
3. Describe the scout team’s job.
4. What move did Williams make that got him mentioned on the local news?
5. What instructions did Coach give Alan when he went in the game in Dallas?
6. Did he follow the coach’s instructions?

Chapter 29

1. List the contents of Alan’s locker.

Chapter 30

1. Out of 4,000 hours of basketball, how many points did Alan score?
2. What was his response when Alan was asked by a reporter, “Looking back, was it worth it? What kept you coming back?”
3. What did Williams say he would miss the most?

  Epilogue

1. What did Robert O’Kelley teach Williams?
2. Who was Steve Lepore?
3. What happened to Josh Howard?
4. What was the condition of Alan’s father’s health at the writing of this book?
5. What comment was made by a 6^th grader at a local gym in Winston-Salem that was humbling to Alan?