Fifty-three kids came to spend the day improving their game with Michael Harper. Photo by: Jerry Budrick Amador County kids aged 10 to 14 gather around Michael Harper to hear tales of the NBA. Photo by: Jerry Budrick At 6' 10", Michael Harper was a force to be reckoned with during his eight years of professional basketball. Photo by: Jerry Budrick

Last Thursday, an extraordinary gathering of basketball enthusiasts assembled in the gym at Amador High School in Sutter Creek for an all-day clinic. More than 50 local kids, boys and girls aged 10 to 14, in widely varying sizes, looked up and listened to some words of advice from a 6' 10" former player in the National Basketball Association. Everyone in the gym gained from the experience.

The NBA player is Michael Harper. The road he traveled to find the gym in Sutter Creek is a glowing testament to the power of enduring friendship.

"The kids of Amador responded beautifully," Harper said after the clinic. "They were like sponges. They picked up on the drills so well - drills they'd never seen before."

Some names got imbedded in Harper's mind. "There was a kid named Dylan who was absolutely phenomenal," he said. "There were two kids named Ryan, who became Ryan one and Ryan two. Two of the ladies were really impressive - Ashley and Brittany. The kids understand that in order to win you have to have a no-quit attitude."

Amador High School varsity coach Paul Neville appreciated Harper's visit. "About 20 kids from our fifth- and sixth-grade feeder progam attended," he said. "The kids get really excited about hearing from a big-name player."

Harper played eight years of professional basketball - two with the Portland Trailblazers, followed by two in Italy, two in France and two in Spain. "I was in Italy when Kobe Bryant was born," he quipped. His wife, Lisa, was with him through the final five. "It was an incredible honeymoon," she said, then quickly added, "I'm still on a honeymoon."

When his career wound down, the Harpers chose to return to Portland to live and raise their three children. Harper owns and operates a State Farm Insurance agency and coaches basketball at Riverdale High School, a tiny school with an enrollment of 200. "My Oregon team is Division 2A and we have a no-cut policy," he said.

He also shares basketball knowledge with boys through clinics in Portland. Last week's clinic in Sutter Creek was Harper's only one outside the Rose City.

"I have a camp coming up in July in Portland," Harper said. "It's open to the whole city, but most of the kids come from my district. We don't advertise it much. It pays to be very good with a low number of kids, rather than get too many."

The friendship that brought him to Amador County is with Troy Claveran, who went from Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp to North Park College in Chicago, to join Harper on North Park's 1980 NCAA Division III national champion basketball team. Claveran was a freshman point guard, while Harper was the senior center.

"As a senior," Harper explained, "I related more to the freshmen. They didn't have any dog in the fight. Other seniors coveted my (starting) position. I needed someone who wanted to improve his game and also do well in school. Besides that, Troy was a phenomenal shooter."

Life for Harper began in the mean streets of the south side of Chicago, where he attended Quigley Seminary South, a training ground for Catholic priests. He has vivid memories of attending Chicago White Sox baseball games, then having to run from gangs, both black and white, on his way back home. "The white gangs were slow and easy to outrun," he recalled, "but the black gangs presented a much greater challenge."

Harper readily admits that his own chances for reaching the professional ranks in basketball were considered slim. He was tall, but not particularly talented. He credits his own willingness to work hard, to constantly strive to improve his game and to live by his no-quit rule with making him good enough to go pro.

"My passion is development of young men. You've got to stay in school," he insists. "You've got to keep taking shots and you've got to find a core group of guys who want to win at all costs - who aren't selfishly thinking only of themselves."