COLLEGE BASKETBALL | 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 1997-98 VU MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
Given that Jamie Sykes is enshrined in the Valparaiso University Hall of Fame for his accomplishments on the baseball diamond and basketball court, it seems appropriate that his single greatest basketball feat required baseball skill.
But maybe not as appropriate as tasking a center fielder with slinging a basketball the length of the court in the final seconds to help Valparaiso defeat Mississippi in the first round of the 1998 NCAA tournament's.
"It didn't take a mental genius to decide he was throwing it," Homer Drew said.
And maybe not as appropriate as Sykes lofting the pass that few remember and Bryce Drew sinking the shot that few can forget.
"He was the perfect complement for me, and a lot of times he doesn't get the credit I think he deserves," Bryce Drew said of his fellow guard.
"Underrated, overlooked, but an integral part of the team," former teammate Jay Phifer said of Sykes.
If Drew was the offense's focal point, Sykes was the drive-and-dish threat, the dogged defender who usually hounded the opponent's top perimeter scorer. In Valparaiso's Sweet 16 loss to Rhode Island, Sykes gave current NBA player Cuttino Mobley such fits, Mobley was still talking about it years later.
"Man, that guy was one of the best guys that ever guarded me," Mobley told Bryce Drew when the two were playing for the Houston Rockets.
A self-described "fireball" on defense, Sykes played with an all-out abandon that personified his passion for the sport.
"I love the sound of the ball hitting the floor, I love the speed, I love the contact," Sykes said. "I just love everything about basketball. To me, it's just the ultimate game."
But it was baseball that turned out to be his livelihood. It was baseball, in fact, that almost kept Sykes from playing on that Sweet 16 team.
The summer before his senior season, Sykes was drafted by and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But once the school year started, after he had finished his first season in the Diamondbacks' Class A system that summer, Sykes had a change of heart. He petitioned the Diamondbacks to let him play basketball, and they obliged.
Days after the Sweet 16 season ended, Skyes reported to the training camp. He went on to play four seasons in the Diamondbacks' system -- two in Class A, two in Class AA. Sure, Sykes had his moments -- a 1-for-2 day against Randy Johnson and surprising success against Carlos Zambrano -- but he never found consistency.
"At times I was brilliant, one of the best guys you'd see play, and at times I was one of the worst," Sykes said. "It was mental, and it was because I didn't have the passion. I wasn't always focused."
Sykes also had a daughter to support, which was proving more and more difficult on his sparse minor league salary. So in 2001, Sykes retired from baseball. A few years later, Sykes did something he decreed he'd never do. He enrolled in his alma mater's MBA program.
"Once I graduated, I swore I would never read another book or take another class the rest of my life," said the 32-year-old, who is living in his hometown of Kankakee and working for the wholesale distributor ThreeSource.
Set to graduate in December, Sykes said he has a general idea of what he'd like to end up doing.
"I definitely see myself in some kind of management position," Sykes said. "I've always had a passion for people and being a part of a team."
