Aa 9 lufkin faisonstacy

coach Outlaw

the sunday

lufkin news40 documentary

June 15, 2014

$

l u f k i n d a i ly n e w s. c o m

Eeplfiic es

Charm lifestyle

Happy father’s day!

PAGE 1E

See your kid’s masterpiece, PAGES 4E, 5E

&

Your photos

S

Draw Your Dad

PAGE 1C

up to

$2.00

in coupon savin gs

Genes

father’s day

grace

Lufkin hoops legend didn’t make the pros, but three of his seven children have

I

By STACY FAISON/The Lufkin News

t’s a story suitable for an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary: What if I told you a Lufkin basketball star went on to get the most rebounds in any college game in the last 60 years and became a father to seven children — three of whom would play in the National Football League?

It’s a story of a pair of Lufkin basketball legends, of a gene

pool that produced tremendous athletes, and of a man who was forced to grow up too fast under too much pressure, who made his share of mistakes but persevered and never lost his faith.

There was a time when Joel Davis really didn’t have much of a relationship with his children. On this Father’s Day, he does. This is his story.

ANDY ADAMS/The Lufkin News

SEE DAVIS, PAGE 3A Lufkin native Joel Davis, right, stands with his son, Jorvorskie Lane, at a Panthers’ football game in Shenandoah in the fall.

criminal justice

Friday the 13th just another night under light of the full moon

By JESSICA COOLEY The Lufkin News The light of the full moon met another notable entry in the book of superstitions this month when it fell on a Friday the 13th — an occurrence that will not happen again until August 2049.

In our second installment of “Once in a Full Moon,” we set out once again to see if the calls local law enforcement and emergency officials answer are more intense under the light of a newly risen full moon — possibly more so when addFull moons that fall on Friday the ing in the “Jason” factor. (For anyone 13th are rare. The next one won’t happen October 13, 2000 again for 35 years. Here are the dates for June 13, 2014 unfamiliar with “Jason Voorhees,” he the most recent past and future Friday August 13, 2049 is the ski mask-wearing, machete-toting the 13th full moons.

Hollywood legend known for massacring unchaste teenagers in Victor MillOn Friday night, we dialed into the er’s “Friday the 13th” movies.) scanner at 9 o’clock on the dot, and less In the coming months, we plan to con- than a minute later the first incident ocAndy Adams/The Lufkin News tinue this occasional series, and you can curred.

Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Marc Slocum checks Old Union Road for oncoming traffic before taking a be the judge. The lunar effect: fact or ficLufkin man to his patrol car to conduct a sobriety test after the man ran his truck off the road around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. tion?

SEE FULL MOON, PAGE 5A

Index

Today’s weather 8 a.m.

noon

4 p.m.

8 p.m.

74 86 90 83 Comp l ete fo r e c ast, Page 5A

Books & Travel.......................... 7E Bridal Page............................... 2E Charm Lifestyle......................... 1E Classified...............................1-7F Crossword................................. 6E

Dear Abby.................................. 6E East Texas............................. 1-4B Janice Ann Rowe.......................1B On the Record...........................2B Opinion.....................................2D

Outdoors...................................5C Sports................................... 1-6C TV Listings.......................... 1-16G (home delivery only) Weather..................................... 5A

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for meritorious public service Volume 108 No. 131 88 Pages © The Lufkin Daily News

Newsroom 631-2618 Delivery 637-NEWS or 637-6397 Classified Ads 637-7355 Retail Ads 631-2630

we recycle

ay th

iti d e e 13th

on

Fr id

usa weekend

Best buds Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon, the stars of the new comedy ‘‘Tammy,’’ get candid about parenting, moviemaking and more.

lufkindailynews.com

Davis Continued from Page 1A

West is best

Joel Davis was already establishing himself as a basketball talent at the old Lufkin Junior High West in the mid 1980s. He would have easily been a starter on varsity as a freshman if it weren’t for the fact that eighth- and ninth-grade students attended one of Lufkin’s two junior high schools — East or West — back in the day.

“We have our name on the wall at West now, at the old gym, at Junior High West,” said Joel, who is now 43. “Me, Eric Curl, Jeffrey Rodgers ... we won all our games.”

Joel said he actually wanted to play football.

“I had always wanted to be a quarterback,” he said, but his mother, Doretha Davis, had no intention of letting that happen.

“I can remember on the practice field, my mama came out there and carted me off the field,” Joel said. “So that’s what ruined my football playing — because she came out there. She didn’t want me to play. So I think that’s the reason why my boys ended up playing — because no one really complained back then.”

At the time, Joel said, he could have played either sport and excelled, “but to please her and to satisfy her, I just went on and played basketball. And after I started getting it down, I started becoming good. And I started realizing I was good at it and I just stuck with it.”

Larry’s little brother Joel would finally play for the man who would become like a second father to him — former Lufkin head basketball coach Jesse Walker — when he started on varsity as a sophomore in the 1986-87 school year.

Walker was well acquainted with Joel’s brand of talent, having coached his brother Larry to the state championship in ’79.

“When we started playing basketball in high school at Lufkin, we were trying to match up,” Joel said. “I was trying to match up to my brother’s expectation for winning state in 1979.”

In his 11th-grade year, Joel said, the team came close to going to state with Rodgers, Curl and point guard Chris Carroll.

“Matter of fact, that’s why we went so close — because of Chris. Because he could shoot,” Joel said.

That team was like family, and the players spent lots of time with each other both on and off the court — and at the dinner table.

“Tom Darmstadter — his daddy and his mom, I’ll never forget them, because after the games, we used to go over there,” Joel said. “And Robert Dillahunty. Matter of fact, Robert Dillahunty — we used to go over to his house because his mom used to cook the greens. Because they were country — very country — so we used to go over there. The team used to go over there and eat.”

In his junior year, Joel was the leading scorer for a Panthers team that just missed out on the postseason with a loss to John Tyler in a one-game playoff. Joel was also the team’s top rebounder and one of the top 20 scorers in the state.

In 1989, the team won district with a 10-2 record, with the two close losses coming to a Tyler Lee team that didn’t make the playoffs. Their postseason ended in an 85-76 loss to Humble, and the Pack finished with a 27-4 record.

“My senior year we won district, but we didn’t go that far. But my senior year, I think that’s when I had committed to the University of Texas. I committed to them, and back then your grades had to be right to go to a D1 school. So that’s what caused me to end up going to Angelina (College).”

Walker recalls Joel as having a great attitude and being punctual, funny and “an excellent player — one of the guys you loved to coach.”

“You knew he would always be around the ball,” Walker said. “I loved to coach him.”

Walker was close to Joel’s mom and dad, having coached Larry and another of their brothers, a point guard named Shandon. Joel said Walker was like a father to him.

Because Joel’s father, the Rev. Louis Davis, was a minister, the former Lufkin Industries worker and pulpwood truck driver spent most of his time in church,

the lufkin news Sunday, June 15, 2014

3A

Larry Davis recalls high school, college playing days

By STACY FAISON The Lufkin News

Micheaux, Michael Young and Akeem Olajuwon.

In 1984, Larry and the Mustangs Larry Davis was a sophomore in went to the NCAA Tournament, where 1979, the year Lufkin won its only state they faced Georgetown in the second championship in basketball. round. A Sports Illustrated article “That was exciting,” he said. “The reported, “And SMU’s Larry Davis games were kind of intense because will remember falling asleep along the we always won by one point. We were foul lane with 51 seconds to play in a tie always down, but we always came back game with Georgetown only to awaken and won. And all of our games were as Patrick Ewing swooped inside him, won by just one point. It was really rebounded a missed Hoya free throw intense. And we just played to the end and hook-tipped it in to eliminate the and played our hearts out.” frisky Ponies.”

The Cardiac Pack ended the season “That’s it. That’s the game I’m talkwith a 31-6 record and advanced to the ing about,” Larry said, his memory state tournament with a 71-69 win over suddenly jogged by the description.

Plano, a 73-72 win over Oak Cliff and a “And I did not fall asleep! I am 6-foot58-57 win over Conroe.

7, he is seven feet! So I’m supposed to The Panthers “rallied to win their block him out? No. That’s not gonna five playoff games by a total of 12 points happen. We told the coach — everybody after being underdogs in all of them,” on the bench — ‘Coach, no, no, no. the Austin American-Statesman reWe’ve got a 7-1-footer right here, why ported. They would go on to defeat Fort Contributed photo don’t you use him to block this dude Worth Dunbar 75-74 for the title. out?’ So, nope, they put me there, so he Larry and Sonia Davis Larry led all scorers in that game just went on and got the ball, and the with 22 points and 12 rebounds while “He had knowledge of the game, he ball went over my head and he got the senior Ronnie Blake added 21 points knew the game, he knew when and ball and that’s it.” and scored the final miracle shot. how to play his players, he is a motivaSMU would return to the tournaLarry said they had a convoy going tor, and he was just a wonderful coach. ment in 1985, when they again adto Austin that escorted the team in and And if I could do it again, he would be vanced to the Round of 32, falling to out of the game. my coach again,” Larry said. “I wish he Loyola 70-57.

“And ‘We Are the Champions?’ You could have coached me in college. ... I’m “We were a (darn) good team,” Larry know that song? It had just come out not taking anything from (Bliss). He said. “Before I went to SMU, it wasn’t and it was our song.” was an OK coach, but my high school known. And when I went and we got Larry was first-team all-state in each coach was the best coach I ever had.” some more people there, we put SMU of his three years at Lufkin and went In Larry’s first year at SMU in 1982, on the map.” on to play with Jon Koncak on a Dave the team went 1-15 in conference play, After college, Larry played some pro Bliss-coached SMU team. But he said but that lone win was against a Uniball in France, Germany and Canada he never had another coach like Jesse versity of Houston team that included before getting out of the game.

Walker.

Rob Williams, Clyde Drexler, Larry “In Paris, it was different. They

didn’t talk much English over there, so that kinda messed me up a little bit,” Larry said. “And I was over there by myself, and a country boy going away from home — that far away from home — I got homesick. And, like I say, my body and my mind started changing and bad things started happening. And I just gave everything up. I got married and started having kids, and I’ve lived happily ever after.”

Larry, who now works in inside sales at a plumbing supply house in Houston, married Sonia Davis, and the two were able to return to the game as spectators when one of their children, Larry Davis II, went on to play basketball at the University of Cincinnati. Larry said watching your kid play the game is far more nerve-racking than playing the game yourself.

“Because it’s like, ‘You shoulda did that, you shoulda done that!’ Yeah, stuff like that,” Larry said. “Like I say, you’ll see things that they don’t see. And it’s like, ‘Why come you didn’t do that?’ It’s fun, though. It is. It’s real fun. It’s real fun, and it makes a dad proud.”

And Larry’s still proud of what his teammates at LHS were able to accomplish back in ’79.

“I think that the state championship team of Lufkin High School back in 1979 needs to be recognized again from the high school, from Lufkin, and we could maybe have a little reunion!” he said, laughing. “We haven’t had a reunion, and we haven’t had anything since then.”

Stacy Faison’s email address is sfaison@lufkindailynews.com.

Lufkin High School 1989 Fang Yearbook

The 1989 Lufkin Panthers basketball team was, from left, Elliot Duprey, Michael Carroll, Marcus Ford, Cedric Walker, Chris Carroll, Jeff Rodgers, Joel Davis, Torris Curry, Robert Dillahunty, Derrick Shepard, Eric Acheson, Dmitri Nobles, Tim Daniels, Eric Hodges and Eric Moreland.

Joel said.

“So I think my daddy maybe came to see me play one time,” he said wistfully.

“You know, because his life was dedicated to God, because he was a preacher and he had his own church.”

Joel’s father died in an accident during his senior year.

his younger days, he was hell!”

Whether Joel actually had 44 or 46 rebounds in that game is a matter of dispute. The NJCAA record books has it at 46. Guy Davis said it was 44, “but we didn’t keep our own stats for that game, so honestly it could have been more than that. It’s kind of hard to keep track.”

“He owns a record that probably A junior college phenom will never be broken,” Guy Davis said.

Joel took his game to a whole new “Forty-four rebounds, thirty-something level during his time playing at Angepoints. ... He was OK in the first half, lina College in Lufkin. but we were still down. I threw my fit at “To be honest, I was really focusing halftime, and he was really something on my career at that time, and Coach else in the second half.”

Walker and Coach Davis were the Guy Davis, who had a hard time gettwo men, as far as basketball and as ting Joel to sign to play at AC, said he far as life, that had started giving me received a call from an assistant one day that boost of saying, ‘Hey, man, you’re telling him he needed to go talk to Joel’s good,’” Joel said. mom.

It was during the 1989-90 season that “I went over there, and she was sitting Joel set the national junior college on the porch rocking. We talked about single-game record with 46 rebounds a lot of things in life,” Guy Davis said. in a game against Temple. It’s believed “She said I needed to promise her two to be the second-most rebounds by things if Joel comes. I said, ‘I’ll promone player in any college game ever, ise anything I can do.’ She made me with Bill Chambers of William & Mary promise to help keep him in line, and recording 51 in a game against Virginia make sure he graduates and goes down in February 1953. the right road. Then he came out and he “I’m gonna tell you, Coach Davis was signed.” the type of guy — he could put some fire A pivotal moment in Joel’s basketball in your butt. And he could get up in your career came when NBA legend Rick face and tell you to go out there,” Joel Barry showed up at one of AC’s games. said. “And it was one of those days that “He said some things about me — when coach came in there, he put some that I would probably be an NBA player, fire up in your (rear end), because that’s and after that night I was just like, ‘Oh, one guy that — if you’ve ever been to an my God!’ And that’s when I just started AC game, and ever saw him in action in playing like I was just crazy — like,

than he could handle, having become a father himself during his sophomore year at Lufkin High School.

Jorvorskie Lane was born Feb. 4, 1987, four weeks premature. One month later, on March 26, 1987, his half-brother, Jermichael Finley, arrived.

“A lot of people don’t realize being a great, great student-athlete is hard,” Joel said. “And a lot of people say, ‘OK, well, Joel was this and Joel was that.’

But you have so much coming at you when it comes down to, uh — females!

I’m gonna be honest with you.”

Joel, who is the youngest of seven siblings himself, would go on to have five more children of his own — Jacolby Losing his touch Ashworth, Jadarius Davis, Latazia Lane Joel had now lost both parents (Jorvorskie’s full sister), Joevorskie roughly a year apart.

Mitchell and Joel Louis Davis Jr. Three “When I lost my mama, as far as of the seven — Jorvorskie, Jermichael going to Oklahoma, I felt something. and Jacolby — would eventually go on To be honest, I started losing it,” he to play in the NFL after college. Jadarius said. “I started losing all that appetite. I would go on to play basketball at Angestarted losing all that strive for it. And lina College, and Joevorskie also played everything started being different, from for AC. Jacolby’s cousin, Rex Hadnot of the way I played, the way I rebounded — Lufkin, is a former NFL player. everything started changing.”

“Jorvorskie’s grandma raised him Joel said that for a time he simply and Jermichael’s grandma raised him,” gave up basketball, going weeks without Joel said. “That’s the maternal grandplaying. After he graduated from AC, mas. My other kids — their mothers Joel said, Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs raised them.” let him come up during the summer to Being a star basketball player with let him get away from the adversity he pro potential, Joel had no trouble atwas facing with the loss of his parents. tracting the ladies.

“And at the time when I was dealthat’s when I started realizing that I had it.”

Joel signed between his freshman and sophomore years at AC to play for the University of Oklahoma, but a week later a tragedy occurred that ultimately took his heart out of the game he loved.

He said Coach Davis told him during a practice that he needed to go to the hospital to get a checkup; when he got there, he learned his mother had passed away.

“She had just been out to talk to me,” Guy Davis said. “She said she was leaving to go get a lady groceries. She passed away of a heart attack on the way there.”

A father in his teens

Joel said he had more on his plate

SEE FAMILY, PAGE 4A

s ay h e l l o t o

Shirley Mae Wharff Perms Cut & Color Nail care Highlights Shellac Nails Updos Salon Products Facials Skin Care easiLength Extentions Lash & Brow Tinting Microderm Waxing Abrasion

Become Part of a Great Team!

Open Interviews Every Thursday 2-5 pm For the following fall positions: Dining Room Host/Hostess • Food Prep Cooks • Drive Thru • Counter

Guesna, Luz Dora, Adriana, Mary & Erika

OF LUFKIN 2011

OF OF LUFKIN LUFKIN 2009 2010

Castle Pines Resident

“I have been a resident of Castle Pines for 8 years.

They provide a safe & secure atmosphere. The staff is wonderful & has always made me feel at home. I especially enjoy all the fun activities that Castle Pines offers for us. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

®

4605 S. Medford • Lufkin • 936-634-2237

317 W. Frank Ave. Lufkin • 936 - 637-1010 Open Tuesday - Saturday

2414 W. Frank, LuFkIn | 936-699-2544 We accept Medicaid & Medicare

4A

lufkindailynews.com

Sunday, June 15, 2014 the lufkin news

Family Continued from Page 3A

ing with all that I had already felt, you know, you start feeling honcho, you start feeling like, ‘Oh, I’m the (stuff),’ excuse my language. ‘You the hot stuff,’” Joel said. “You know, you start feeling like that. You start feeling like you got all these women, and you got all these girls, you got all this coming to you and it’s just like a trap! I’m just gonna be honest with you. And I fell into the trap.

“Not to say that I’m not glad,” Joel quickly added. “I love my kids. I love all of my kids.

“I love all of ’em,” he continued, his voice softening. “But I fell into that trap. And maybe if I wouldn’t have fell into that trap I wouldn’t have had the cards I had to play with throughout my life. But back in Lufkin, you know how it is: It’s a small town, and you got this quote-unquote star athlete, and if you don’t try to do this and do that, and if you don’t try to make something out of yourself, and you’re trying to do this, and if you ain’t careful, people try to feed off of that.”

But despite everything Joel had going on in his personal life, he continued to flourish on the basketball court.

“Matter of fact,” Joel said, “Coach Davis had told me, he said, ‘Man, how are you pulling this off ?’”

Boomer or bust Looking at Joel’s stats during his time at Oklahoma, it’s obvious that something was not right for the once-promising athlete who had led the nation in rebounds per game during his sophomore year at AC. The 1991-92 Oklahoma Sooners were 21-9 overall and 8-6 in the Big Eight, and Joel averaged 1 point, 3.7 rebounds and .4 assists per game. In the next season, the Sooners were 20-12 and 7-7 in the Big Eight, and Joel’s numbers dipped to .6 points, 1.6 rebounds and .3 assists per game.

“What happened at Oklahoma, I had started losing focus. It’s like, to be honest, losing two parents and trying to play ball and having the responsibilities that I had, it was pretty much — it took me to a whole different level mentally,” Joel said. “I didn’t actually know if I was coming or if I was going, to be honest.”

Joel said he tried to stay focused on a basketball career he had hoped would allow him to go pro, but he was struggling with the demands of being a studentathlete.

“It was hard. I started drinking a little bit more, the whole time, but when I was in my college days, it seemed like everybody I was surrounding myself with, and the baby mamas, they all were loving me,” Joel said. “But once they saw that my future in a basketball career was kind of fading away, you know the truth; They all fade away, too. So that’s how it goes.”

He said it was much the same in Lufkin, a cautionary tale that he shares with his own children.

“I tell my kids this all the time — all the time, Jorvorskie, Jermichael, Jacolby, all of them — that when you become famous or good, you don’t know if that person loves you for you, or you don’t know if that person loves you for who you are,” Joel said.

“So you’re pretty much two different people, but you’re one person. You’re a ballplayer, and plus you’re also a person, and then you don’t know if that person is accepting you for the ball, or they’re kissing you because you’re about to go play basketball that night, or they’re kissing you because of who you are.”

Not having a mother or father he could turn to for money, Joel bought himself some clippers and supported himself by giving haircuts to his teammates.

Knowing he had kids back home in Lufkin — whom he was starting to miss and knew he couldn’t very well support by giving haircuts to his teammates — Joel felt his best shot at supporting them would be to stay focused on basketball with the idea of someday going pro.

“After my parents died, like I say, the basketball was just something I knew that I just pretty much had to do. But inside, I did not enjoy it. It was just like, when you lose your mama and dad, you feel like something is taken away from you,” Joel said. “My whole demeanor of the game changed. You know, like I say, I wanted to give up. Coach Davis and Coach Walker were like, ‘Man, keep pushing,’ and keep doing this. And they got me set up with some people at Oklahoma that had kind of been told what I had been going through.

They tried to take me under their wings, but it wasn’t the same anymore. I was away from home — I had my kids back here, back

Lufkin High School 1989 Fang Yearbook

Joel Davis dunks the basketball during a game in 1989. in Lufkin — so it wasn’t the same like that.”

In Joel’s junior year at Oklahoma, the Sooners fell to Southwestern Louisiana 87-83 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

By his senior year, Joel said, he was “drinking a little bit — you know, partying — and I caught myself just totally, totally losing it.”

“I think my senior year at Oklahoma, it seemed like everything just rushed along and it just exploded — just like a tire: You got so much pressure and it’s just gotta come out.”

Joel said he packed his stuff and came back home to Lufkin, where he started working at what is now the Lufkin State Supported Living Center and substitute-teaching at Junior High West, where he was given a job by his former principal Jim Gray.

Joel left Oklahoma just 12 hours shy of graduating with a degree in criminal justice.

Coming home When he returned to Lufkin, Joel said, he was subbing for many of the teachers who had taught him. He stayed in Lufkin

for about six or seven months before moving to Houston when his brother, Larry, got him a job.

“And, matter of fact, I stayed in Houston for about two years with him, then I moved back to Lufkin, and you know what goes on in Lufkin — ain’t nothing but a bunch of partying and whatever. And I got caught up in that,” Joel said.

It was shortly after coming back to Lufkin that Joel met Rose, the woman he would eventually marry.

“I’ve been married to her for like 16 years now. And once I met her, after all that I had been through, she accepted me,” Joel said. “You know, I broke everything down, and she had heard of me and she knew my background, and after I got with her, my whole life started turning around, and started changing, and things started working out.

I stayed with her down there for like two years in Lufkin, and she told me one day, ‘We’re gonna move to Houston.’ And about two weeks later, we got a U-Haul, and we moved and I haven’t moved back since.”

Joel Davis today Joel now works with students

U-Pick Come out to the country and enjoy picking delicious fresh blueberries.

Closed Sundays (936) 897-9811

18614 FM 1818 Huntington, TX

A Angelina

C

College

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

Angelina College Community Services Upcoming Work Certification and Licensure Courses for June/July 2014—Lufkin/Nacogdoches Call 633-5206 or 564-8789 for Registration AC CAMpUS LUfkiN 3500 S. fiRST ST. unless otherwise noted below CLASS

START

TiME

DAYS

Microsoft Excel 2013 6/17 6P-9P T Sign Language I 6/17 5:30P-8:30P T Microsoft Word 2013 6/18 6P-9P W Nurse Aide Long Term Care (CNA) 6/19 1P-9P M,T,W,TH Quick Books Payroll 6/19 6P-9P TH Quick Books Pro 2013 6/19 6P-9P TH Fire Service Salvage 6/21 8A-5P SAT Security Officer (Non-Commissioned) 6/23 10A-3P M Fire Officer II 6/23 8A-5P INTERNET Fire Investigator 6/23 6P-10P M,T,TH Nurse Aide Long Term Care (CNA) 6/23 12:30P-4:30P M,T,W,TH Nurse Aide Long Term Care (CNA) 6/23 8A-12P M,T,W,TH (Held at Christian Women’s Job Corp – 902 S.E Stallings Dr. Nacogdoches) Nurse Aide Continuing Ed Security Officer (Commissioned) Security Officer Continuing Ed Fire Instructor Security Officer Level IV Basic Peace Officer Certification

6/23 6/24 6/25 6/30 6/30 7/7

8A-5P 8:30A-8:30P 8:30A-4:30P 8A-5P 8:30A-5:30P 6P-10P

INTERNET T,W,TH W INTERNET M,T M,T,W,TH,F

COST $100 $60 $100 $450 $125 $175 $60 $80 $175 $450 $450 $450 $80 $200 $80 $150 $160 $1,500

with behavioral problems at Hastings High School in the Alief school district.

“I work with DC kids, but in Lufkin, they call it LLD. It’s in the special ed department. It’s for kids that have broken homes — father not around, mother might be on drugs, their daddy may be on drugs. It’s like the kids that may be on medicine,” Joel said. “Some of the kids I deal with went through pretty much some of the same things I had to deal with in my life or are similar to what I went through.

When I got the job, and the head principal kind of knew my background, he was like, ‘Man, this job would be perfect for you.’

And I’ve been there for eight years now.”

Joel attends a church in Houston called Church Without Walls and also likes watching Joel Osteen on TV “because he’s a motivator preacher.”

“But there’s one guy down there in Lufkin — he’s a minister and his name is Bishop James Coutee,” Joel said. “He was a guy that never gave up on me even with my trials and everything I’ve gone through.”

Joel said it was after he joined Coutee’s church, got baptized again and rededicated his life to God that “it seemed like everything started changing in my life.”

“My old friends, I stopped hanging with all that. I changed my whole demeanor about life, and I look and reflect on some things, as far as college and playing basketball and all that stuff.

I feel like it was God, I’m just gonna be honest. That’s what I felt like it was.”

And Joel finally has the relationship with his children that he didn’t have for so long.

“For what I went through, it made me a better person,” Joel said. “You know, I wasn’t there for my kids the way a father or a daddy should be. I used to be hard on myself. A lot of people don’t know that, but it used to bother me that I wasn’t what I was supposed to have been, even though I went through the things that I went through. But the last 10 years of my life, now that I have got myself straight, I’m headed to where I need to be headed to. But with the things I went through, not being there for my kids, and the reason why I

love my job now is because I feel like I’m giving it back. So I take my job very serious, and I love my kids and my kids love me.”

And Joel believes that the genetics that have produced such outstanding athletes in his family are just another gift from God. “(My father) wasn’t actually a sports fanatic, to be honest,” Joel said. “He was a big guy, but he wasn’t into sports. You know, my daddy, he told me, ‘Church is my first No. 1, and I know y’all got games, but I’m going to the church. I gotta preach tonight, and that’s what I’m gonna do.’ ...

“That’s one thing that I have realized: You can get rejected

from the NFL and you can get rejected from the NBA, but there’s one team that you’re not gonna be rejected from and that’s God’s team. He’s not gonna reject you.

He’s not gonna kick you out. You don’t have to worry about being put on the bench, because he’s always got something for you to do. ... And no matter what you’ve done done, and no matter what I’ve done done with my kids, being out there the way I was, I’m forgiven. You know, people don’t wanna forgive me for it, but I’m already forgiven. Because there’s only one person that has to forgive you. And that’s Him.” Stacy Faison’s email address is sfaison@lufkindailynews.com.

Public Announcement Informational Meeting

Recreational Use Attainability Analyses are being carried out on Biloxi Creek (0604M), Paper Mill Creek (0615A), and Jack Creek (0604C), which are located in Angelina County.

Presenters

Joe Martin – Texas Commission on Environmental Quality John Baker – Texas AgriLife Research & Extension, Texas A&M University

Time

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 6:00 pm

Location

Angelina County Extension Office Conference Room 2201 S. Medford Dr., Lufkin, TX 75901

Purpose

1. Present information about the Recreational Use Attainability Analyses 2. Talk with local residents about • their knowledge of these streams • how they use these streams for recreation • locations where recreation occurs on these streams For additional information, please contact Joe Martin 512-239-3163 or John Baker 979-218-8245.