Personal Statement

When you have parents who met playing basketball, who connected on the same intensity and love for the game that few people will ever understand, it does not go away. Being a product of my mother and father, my brother Marcus and I were born to follow the Paige line of basketball enthusiasts. It is so much more than a game, it is a lifestyle choice. From being in the gym before we could walk, on the sidelines of my mother's high school practice, or in the backyard in the dead heat of summer shooting hoops with dad. This was ordinary to us, basketball was in our bloodlines.

Left to Right: Morgan, Sherryl, Marcus, and Ellis Paige

Sherryl and Ellis both met playing basketball at Mt. Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Marcus is senior on the North Carolina men's basketball team graduating this May and pursuing an NBA career

Having both parents as coaches in one aspect or another made an imprint on my personal development. At the time, I would have never imagined becoming a coach like them, they were firm with us, how could I ever be able to do that? Then you grow up. You play for your mother for 4 years of high school and lead the school into uncharted territory in Iowa State tournament endeavours. You are good enough to receive a full ride scholarship to go play basketball in the Big Ten while receiving your college education. You become a 4 year starter and leave your mark on a collegiate program. To play professionally in a sport you did not even know if you were going to pan out in when you were younger. It hits you. You start to realize why Mom and Dad were so firm, so intense, so demanding, so honest. For the love of the game. They wanted my brother and I to love the game as much as they did. They wanted to share that feeling and pass it along for us to have that same impact on other people's lives. I bought into that, creating an unmatched work ethic for myself and constant self reflection to improve and advance in the sport I love so much.

Now its my turn to pass that torch. I have been given a plethora of knowledge as a player, and I am constantly learning already as a Graduate Assistant. My will to constantly improve myself to be better in my craft keeps me on my toes and excited for what the next day will bring. I do not have to wait for my children to start teaching. I can start now with the next generation of basketball players, who want to learn and be successful, and grow into the best player that they can be. I chose to become a coach because the love I have for the game of basketball. It will never leave my heart, just as I know it will not leave my brother's, or my mother's, and especially not my father's. It starts in the bloodline, but where you take it from there is your own story. Coaching has been engrained in me at a young age, it is now that I am starting to embrace it and become the person I have always intended to be.