Division Street literally lives up to its name on the Near North Side, at least in Patrick Steward’s mind.
Concerned by the street’s notorious ability to divide the kids who live south of Division from those to the north, Steward sought to bring the groups together with “Bridge the Gap,” an annual summer basketball tournament he helped found with the Chicago Men in Action community group.
“We try to bring these kids closer together, form some relationships,” Steward said. “Hopefully stop that stuff.”
Dannie Smith was surrounded by “that stuff,” — violence, drug abuse, gang activity — growing up in the shattered remains of Cabrini-Green, and his introduction to Steward did not go well.
“He got into a fight in my tournament and I kicked him out,” Steward said. “He came to me two months later and asked if he could play. He told me he was done with that stuff. I told him no.
“He came to me next time and had his grades with him. He had all As. I gave him a chance.”
Six years later, Steward remains a father figure through the extraordinary ups and downs of Smith’s young life.
The last year has been particularly bitter.
Smith’s best friends, Edward and Edwin Bryant, twin brothers from north of Division whom he met through “Bridge the Gap,” were killed in a drive-by shooting in late October.
The Orr junior’s relief from grief has come from basketball.
Eligible to play high school basketball for the first time after transferring from Lincoln Park in the middle of his sophomore year, Smith lost 60 pounds, transformed himself into a college prospect and led Orr to its first state championship last month.
The 6-foot-5 Smith led Orr in scoring in both state tournament games in Peoria. He recorded 19 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals in the Spartans’ 59-39 victory over downstate Mount Carmel in the Class 2A final on March 11.
Smith is the Preps Plus/WGN-9 Athlete of the Month for March.
“I went with the team to state,” said Steward, who coached Smith at George Manierre Elementary School and the Chicago Demons AAU squad. “When he walked off the court the first thing he said to me was, ‘This is for the twins.’
“They were like brothers, man. It affected him deeply. It is still affecting him now.”
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“It was hard to keep my head straight from that,” Smith said. “That was a hard loss. I was focused, but I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. But I knew what they like and what they wanted, and I just found a way to keep my head straight. (Orr) Coach Lou (Adams), my grammar school coach, my parents, my family kept me away from the negative and kept my head positive.”
Like life itself, Smith’s transformation from at-risk youth to standout student-athlete was not linear.
The good grades that got him back in Steward’s good graces continued throughout elementary school, and he was the salutatorian of his eighth-grade class.
Along with the Bryant twins and a few other friends, Smith enrolled at Lincoln Park High School, and his grades suffered to the point that he did not play basketball as a freshman.
“Lincoln Park had a lot of distractions,” Smith said. “It is a big school, open campus. You can get distracted easily at a school like that if you don’t focus.”
“The reason he went to Lincoln Park was to meet some new people, different people, different cultures,” Steward said. “I think if you coach inner-city kids, they need extra stuff. You’ve got to be more than a coach. At Lincoln Park, they weren’t equipped to do that.”
Smith’s family moved to the West Side following his freshman year, and getting to Lincoln Park every day became a hassle.
Steward knew Adams well and thought Orr would be a good fit, though it was up to Smith to get fit because his weight had ballooned to 270 pounds following two winters of inactivity.
“Nobody really knew about me,” Smith said. “I knew I could hoop. I had an idea I could compete with anyone in the city once I started to get in shape.”
Smith said Adams told him he would have a big role on the team. Smith asked his mother to start baking more and frying greasy food less. Fast food became a thing of the past.
By season’s end, he was down to 210, and not coincidentally, playing the best basketball of his life.
After barely averaging double figures in the regular season, he led Orr in scoring throughout playoffs without taking a whole lot of shots to do so.
Smith had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the regional final against a talented Uplift team, 16 points in a sectional semifinal against IC Catholic, 17 in a sectional final against DePaul Prep, 25 and 15 rebounds in a supersectional against Collins and 15 points against Monticello in a 2A semifinal before dominating the title game.
“The stuff that Dannie do, he’s been doing since I met him,” Steward said. “I don’t think he understood what he could do with it. He had a pretty terrible work ethic. It is better now.”
“I feel great,” Smith said. “I’m happy I got into this shape. I am trying to stay on track now. Last year I had to sit out the whole year. I just wanted to hoop. Nothing’s going to stop me from getting these grades. I was always a good student. I just didn’t take basketball that seriously.”
Mike Helfgot is a freelance writer for the baiduhai.
2016-17 Athletes of the Month
September: Ricky Smalling, Brother Rice football
October: Brendan O’Reilly, Hinsdale Central golf
November: Samson Evans, Prairie Ridge football
December: Lucas Williamson, Young basketball
January: Grace Tworek, Fremd basketball
February: Austin O’Connor, St. Rita wrestling
March: Dannie Smith, Orr basketball