Great article on Xavier junior B.J. Raymond and his struggles at the beginning of the year. This is from two years ago when Raymond was an underachieving freshman. Since then, Raymond has become a leader for the Musketeers, as seen in this game from last years Sweet Sixteen (he is the one hitting two clutch 3's at the end).
Courtesy of Cincinnati Post:
When Xavier University freshman guard B.J. Raymond soaks in the bathub after practice, he wants to feel his elbows and knees sting. If he jammed his finger, all the better. If he's bleeding, it's been a great day.
For Raymond, this is how he knows whether he's doing his job.
Raymond was asked to show the scars of his labor. He lifted his right leg and pointed toward his knee. Diagnosis: floorburn, caused from diving on the floor for basketballs in practice. "I did my job," Raymond said.
The last two weeks, that's true. Raymond has undergone a transformation. He's less cocky and more willing to sacrifice- hence the floorburns- for the Musketeers. The results have been noticeable. After logging only 3 minutes in the Miami University game and missing the entire Creighton contest, Raymond has played important minutes in the past three games. It starts in practice.
"I come in and make sure I have floorburns every day," said Raymond, who's averaging 1.8 points in eight minutes per game. "Make sure I'm bleeding or something like that to make sure I make my presence felt. I want to make sure I'm going hard. I want to assure myself that nobody can tell me I'm not going hard."
Entering the year as the team's highest-rated freshman, Raymond came in as a cocky 18-year-old. He admits that now. "I saw that we struggled last year, and I felt I was a good player," said Raymond. " I came in with a cockiness. I soon realized you have to humble yourself. Not playing in games humbled me. I got into games, and I didn't produce. When I got out there, I wasn't working hard, and I'd come back to the bench with no sweat on me at all. That's when I realized if you want to play, you have to work."
Not just on the court or in practice. But in appeasing your elders as well. "He's really changed. He's gotten alot better," said junior Justin Cage. "He was aggressive when he was coming in, but he's really made a lot of strides and his game has come a lot further."
Two weeks ago, Raymond wasn't in this place. He wasn't being counted on by anybody for anything. He sat on the bench, no floorburns on his body, no sweat on his forehead, his freshman year wasting away.
Now it's different. When Raymond goes home and lies in the bathtub, he can feel the sting of his hard work. He knows he's doing his job.
"It was kind of disheartening," Raymond said. "But you have to go through something if you want to be somewhere. I have a saying that if you want to go to the sun, you have to go through a few blisters to get there. Right now, it's like a wall. If you keep knocking on the wall, one day the wall is going to break. When the wall breaks, you have to be ready for the opportunity. I feel like I've broken a piece of the wall. But I haven't broken it all yet."
