News
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sports Illustrated Features Santa Barbara High Grad’s Sacrifice for the Team
Washington State Cougar Taylor Rochestie, a Santa Barbara High School graduate, made headlines in Sports Illustrated when he took his basketball coach’s five pillars of character to heart. Taylor gave up his scholarship for his senior season so the fourth-seeded Cougars could sign forward Marcus Capers. Coach Tony Bennett instills his belief that no player is more important than the team and impresses on his students the principles of humility, passion, servanthood, utility, and thankfulness.
Rochestie was given a chance to join the Cougars at a time when he was recovering from injuries and wasn’t sure any team would want him. Sports Illustrated noted, “Rochestie still can't believe Bennett took a chance on him in 2006. He wanted to find a way to repay him; by donating his scholarship, he has. ‘It's not going to be a burden on me and my life,’ Rochestie said. ‘It's just going to be a blessing to be able to give something back to my program.’”
Sports Illustrated released the story prior to the Washington State v. North Carolina game, explaining that, “Men's basketball programs get only 13 scholarships a year. At a program such as Washington State, each scholarship is precious. While a North Carolina can attract the nation's most talented players every year, Washington State has to grab a Pac-10-caliber player every chance it gets. Capers was available this year, and he wanted to come. If the Cougars lost him, there was no guarantee they would have found someone who fit as well in the 2009 recruiting class. Rochestie knew that, and he also knew Capers might help make his senior year special.”
The full article can be viewed online: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/andy_staples/03/26/wazzu.rochestie/index.html