August 26, 2013
A week had passed since Aaron arrived in Kentucky, in which he had enough time to get to know his roommate Julius better and the campus in general, while an academic advisor gave him guidelines and instructions on how his schedules would be once the basketball season began.
After that came the informative talks and other academic matters with which Aaron kept himself extremely busy all week, until finally the day he had expected so much had arrived.
Today would finally be the first day of official training for the Wildcats team at the Joe Craft Center, in which Aaron would meet the rest of his teammates as well as the rest of the technical staff led by Coach Calipari.
Such was his excitement that he could not stand still at any moment while he was in the cafeteria along with Julius; his leg did not stop tapping against the floor, causing a sound that exasperated Julius.
"Bro, can you stop doing that with your foot?" asked Julius, who had already had enough of that annoying sound and the table consequently starting to vibrate slightly.
"Sorry," responded Aaron, who apparently realized what he was doing and stopped moving his foot to the relief of his new friend.
"It shows that you are excited to go to the Joe Craft Center," said Julius with a smile, quickly intuiting the reason why Aaron, who was usually a calm person, behaved in that particular way.
"Aren't you?" Aaron asked him with curiosity, seeing the calmness with which Julius was behaving at that moment, which to Aaron seemed like something completely illogical.
"The first time, yes," Julius responded to him with a smug smile upon seeing his friend's reaction at the moment he understood the context of those words.
"You mean you've already been there?" asked Aaron, wanting to know more, seeing how Julius simply nodded quickly with his head. "Once, days after my arrival, the coach invited me to see the training center along with the Harrison twins, who had arrived a few days after me; you're going to like them, honestly, they are nice," Julius responded to Aaron while the latter asked him more questions, seeking to know more about the famous installations of the Kentucky team.
"You'll see it later," Julius told him, not willing to tell anything else to Aaron, who glared at him while the curiosity to know what the place was like did not stop lingering in his head for the rest of the day, even when he was attending his classes.
Hours later.
Finally, after his last class, Aaron left the classroom quickly, leaving like a rocket in the direction of his dorm, in which Julius was already waiting for him with the team's sportswear already on and his sports bag on his shoulder, clearly waiting for Aaron.
"Ready?" he asked with a smile while seeing how Aaron changed his clothes quickly and grabbed his own sports bag in record time. "We have to go," he told him while both men walked out the door calmly.
With both already set and prepared, they left the residence while starting to walk around the University of Kentucky campus, until they came to see an imposing white building with large windows near the end of the university campus.
Above the entrance door, one could read in large letters "Joe Craft Center," as if the building itself needed to let everyone who passed by there know who it was.
Once near the door, Aaron swiped his identification card that they had given him on his first day through the card reader until he heard a click, which signified that the door had already been unlocked.
Entering with Julius behind him, Aaron took a moment to admire the corridor of the legendary facilities, in which on the walls were also photos of the team alongside some of famous alumni who had passed through the team throughout the years.
Among the photos, Aaron recognized some who at present were recognized and prominent players in the NBA, as is the case of John Wall, who is the franchise player of the Washington Wizards, being one of the most disruptive point guards in the entire league.
At his side was also found the face of a young Anthony Davis, who had been chosen by the New Orleans Hornets team and had not yet won the ring nor had joined LeBron James in Los Angeles, reaching the pinnacle of his career until injuries caused his level to decline.
"Hey Julius," said someone who was ahead of both of them, who turned their heads in the direction where the voice came from.
If Aaron did not know they were twins, he would seriously think that he was seeing double, since in front of him were the Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron, who with smiles on their faces began to warmly greet Julius until the gaze of both landed on the person who was in front of them.
"Hey Aaron, they are the twins Andrew and…" started Julius with the introduction until he realized an important fact: they had two Aarons standing face to face and on the same team, at which Julius remained silent briefly.
Seeing how Julius looked for a way to continue with the presentation, Aaron started. "Aaron Reed," he said with a smile in the direction of the twin he believed was Aaron Harrison. "I am Andrew," said the person to whom Aaron had extended his hand, with a serious expression.
At that, Aaron put on an apologetic smile while extending his hand in the direction of the other twin, extending his hand again, provoking the laughter of both upon seeing how Aaron had fallen hook, line, and sinker for their joke.
"They always fall for it," Andrew said to his twin, who was also cracking up, since it was always fun to make people confuse who was who between the two twins.
"Sorry, sorry," said one of the twins, apologizing while this time it was he who extended his hand to Aaron. "I am Aaron, nice to meet you Aaron," said Aaron Harrison with a smile. "The pleasure is mine, Aaron," said Aaron, playing along with the joke.
"We must define what we will call you," said Julius, not willing to endure the jokes around this whole mess. "How about Aaron H. and Aaron R.?" said Andrew while taking a hand beneath his chin, thinking seriously of some possibility.
"I don't think it will work in a game," said Julius, imagining himself in the middle of a play in which he was with the ball and had to make a pass to Aaron Reed, but imagining having to say the full name plus the last name would be something confusing, and more so if both Aarons were on the court at the same time.
"Why don't you simply call us by our last names?" said Aaron, thinking that it was the most logical solution. "But what happens if both twins are on the court?" was the next question from Julius, causing another headache in the situation, since that would also be a problem. "Then just call me Reed and him Aaron," finally said Aaron Reed, thinking that this was the best situation for everyone.
After that topic had been settled among the four, they started to talk among themselves; Julius and the Harrison twins, being the three from Texas, already knew each other, and although there was not a strong friendship, they already had topics in common to talk about.
"I see that the four of you are getting along well," said Orlando's voice, appearing from one of the corners of the sports center, looking at how the four new players of the team started to get along well, something that would make Coach Calipari pleasantly happy upon finding out.
"Please follow me this way," said Orlando while he turned and walked back through the corridor he had come from, being followed by the four young men who did not stop looking at the surroundings of the sports center.
Entering through one of the doors, Aaron saw through the glass two basketball courts completely inside the sports center, with the iconic logo of the University of Kentucky in the center of the court in blue color.
"As you can see, our team's facilities are first class," said Orlando, starting to explain everything that the four young men saw. "I dare to say even that this is the number 1 best basketball sports center in the country," Orlando finished saying with a proud smile while looking at all the team's installations.
"And it's here," said Orlando while standing in front of a particular door, and seeing that the four were attentive, he opened the door with a smile. "Gentlemen, with you, the locker room," he finished saying while opening the way for the four young men he had in front of him so that they could enter.
At the moment the four stepped inside the room, their gazes could not help but look around the entire room with attention; the locker room had a circular shape with the Kentucky logo engraved on the ceiling, while each locker had a Wildcats team jersey.
Looking with more detail, Aaron realized that each of them already had a jersey with their number and name engraved on them.
"Look, I have 30," said Julius while grabbing the jersey that was on the hanger over one of the chairs and showing it to the other three, who also started to check their respective jerseys.
"REED 15," that was his last name and the number that was on the Wildcats jersey that corresponded to him, at which Aaron maintained a silence while evaluating the jersey in detail along with the number that had practically become his identity to date.
Without being able to wait any longer, Aaron pulled out his mobile phone while taking a photo quickly of the jersey, thinking of sending it to his mother after the training finished.
"Okay guys, get dressed and meet me on the court in 10 minutes," said Orlando while closing the locker room door and giving time to the players so they could change and put on their new team uniforms.
"Man, I still believe this is a dream," said Julius to no one in particular, while he continued admiring the jersey as if he feared that the moment he stopped looking at it, he would wake up and realize that it was all a dream.
"Well, I see it all as very real," said Andrew while he also held his own jersey next to his twin brother Aaron; both had the last name Harrison on the back, with the only difference being the numbers on the jerseys, with Andrew having number 5 and Aaron having number 2.
Once the excitement had diminished a little, the four began to dress with the new uniforms they had received, to then leave the locker room in the direction of the indoor court.
"Gentlemen," said Coach Calipari, seeing how the new four players had come out of the locker room already changed and ready to play. "I hope you liked the campus, but now comes the good stuff," Coach Calipari started his speech with a serious voice, causing the four present to tense up in response. "Today we will simply take care of giving you a medical checkup and measurements, and then a small game among the four of you," Coach Calipari told them in a serious tone while pointing toward a corner in which the medical area inside the sports center was located.
Before the four went, Coach Calipari began to introduce the other two people who were behind him. "I imagine you already met my assistant Orlando Antigua," he said while Orlando raised his hand in a sign of greeting.
"And the one present here, John Robic," he said, introducing the second person, who was a bit older than the other two but also had a friendly smile on his face while nodding to the four teenagers in front of him.
After the introductions were already made, the four headed to the medical area where a doctor performed the medical tests on them, so that then the four returned to the court already ready to be able to play a practice match, with the three coaches watching them.
Authors thought's
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