ABA Twin City Ballers help with a dream

August 15, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release


Benton Harbor, MI. Bryan Doss is a 6'7 42 year old basketball player that recently tried out for the ABA Twin City Ballers professional basketball team. Bryan is a unique player because when he tried out, not only did he bring his A-game, but he also brought a story with him.

During the early 80's, Bryan was one of the most talented basketball players in the State of Michigan. He received a scholarship to play for the University of Detroit Mercy. He was a freshman in the Horizon League from 1983-1984. Doss' life was on top of the world in early 1984, but during the summer, his life took a dramatic turn. In the summer of 1984, Bryan was caught with an undisclosed amount of cocaine. He was a young man with a bright future and no prior run-ins with the law (not even a traffic ticket). He received the harshest punishment for a non-offender and the judicial system clearly made an example out of him. He was sentenced to 15-45 years in prison, but only served 17 years of his prison term. After serving his time, he was released a year and a half ago.

Since Doss' release, he has had trouble finding a job and getting his life back on track. But during these hard times he remained motivated to fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional basketball player. "I first met Bryan on July 8, 2006 at a press conference held for the announcement of my head coach position," said Sidney Brooks, owner of the Twin City Ballers. "He was passionate about tryout out for the team, but could not meet the financial standards. To be able to tryout for the team, there was a fee of $100 in advance and $125 at the door. Mr. Doss came to me and stated his passion for playing and in turn handed me a deposit of $50.00. He then made a promise to return with the remaining $50.00 balance by the tryout date."

Everyday from that point on, Bryan trained himself hard to get back into shape. He ran for miles per day. As he ran these miles, residents of the community (who strongly supported his effort) would stop him and hand him $2, $3 or whatever they had in their pocket. The residents chipped in to help him raise the remaining balance he needed for the tryouts because they believed in him. When he arrived for the tryouts on July 29, 2006, he proudly paid his remaining balance with all one dollar bills. He has been receiving a lot of support from the community and media. On August 13th, Bryan Doss' story was published in the sports section of the Daily Herald Palladium, a local newspaper in Michigan. The results of the tryout will be reported later. For more information, email benharaba@sbcglobal.net, visit www.twincityballers.com or www.abalive.com. -

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.



American Basketball Association Stories from August 15, 2006


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