Beilue: Being the first ‘gives me chills’

Collins, with help from Cheeks scholarship, earns his degree

After Jordan Collins, in cap and gown, received his diploma on May 8 and walked back to his seat at Buffalo Stadium, the moment was overwhelming. He has been part of some big moments at West Texas A&M University, like four Lone Star Conference basketball championships, but this was the biggest.

“In all honesty, I just sat down and cried,” he said. “I just thought about how far I’ve come and what it took to get here, and the sacrifices I made.”

His parents, Sharhonda and Joe Collins, and grandmother, Linda Sanford, led a contingent of family and friends who made the 610-mile trip from the Houston area for the WT commencement ceremonies. They didn’t get to see many basketball games played by the 5-foot-11 guard, but they weren’t missing this.

“I felt like I did it my way,” Collins said. “I just watched it unfurl and lived it the best I could day to day. The excitement and thrill of this made me feel like I can do anything.”

Collins left WT with a couple of noteworthy achievements attached to his name. From 2016-2020, he was part of 124 basketball wins. No Buff basketball player in school history has played in that many winning games.

The other, and the reason for the emotional moment a few weeks ago, was Collins was the first recipient of the Maurice Cheeks Degree Completion Scholarship.  The scholarship, established by friends of the 1970s WT basketball legend and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is awarded to a player who has completed his eligibility but has yet to graduate.

Collins’ college basketball career came to a bitter end in March 2020 just a few days before the Buffs, with a sparkling 32-1 record, were set to host the South Central regional tournament. That’s when COVID-19 shut down the sports world, not only ending WT’s real chance at the national championship, but ending Collins’ college career.

“The SEC and the ACC had already canceled their tournaments. We were hoping we could still play because this was our postseason, the playoffs, these were real big games, but at the same time, you had to be concerned,” Collins said.

WT was toward the end of what Collins called “a great practice” in a tune-up for the regional tournament when athletic director Michael McBroom came into the First United Bank Center and pulled Coach Tom Brown aside. The body language told the players this was not good.

“Coach Brown told us to sit down in the middle of the court and just basically said this is the end of our season and there is nothing we can do about it,” Collins said. “As a senior, it didn’t hit me all the way yet.

“The next morning it hit me. It made me realize I didn’t end my career with a win or a loss. I ended my career at practice.”

Photo: Jordan Collins, in happier times on the Buffalo court. (Photo by Trevor Fleeman)

Just keep plugging

Collins never started a game in four years. His role was to come off the bench and inject some quick life into the offense. He had a nice touch to do that. In the last home game of the season, Collins had 20 points in 23 minutes, including 6 of 13 from the three-point line, in a 105-68 win over Cameron.

“Years ago, the Detroit Pistons had a player, Vinnie Johnson, and he was known as “Microwave,’ the guy that could come in and was looking to score,” Brown said. “Jordan looked to score as well. We gave him the green light. He struggled some at the start of his senior year (2019-2020).

“The coaching staff wondered why I had Jordan still shooting when we had others who could shoot too. I said, ‘We need Jordan to be a threat. Jordan can shoot it. He’s just going through a little slump.’ I always believed in him. He was a huge part of that team. He made some really big shots for us.”

But with COVID shutting down the game, he would not have that chance any more. The line is a long one in collegiate athletics of players who run out of eligibility, and often scholarship money, and leave school. If this were the case with Collins, what a bitter way to go out.

Collins, however, wasn’t going to exit that way. His mother wouldn’t hear of it. His dad got his degree about 20 years earlier from the University of Houston in computer information systems.

“I’m breaking barriers for this (college graduation) to be a normal thing in my family,” Collins said. “As a second-generation student, I want to make it a normal thing for the third generation and so forth. I want to make our family rich – not rich in money, but rich in academics.”

Even with more high school students earning college credits, it’s still a challenge for college athletes to graduate in four years, especially for those in sports that play more than 20 games and are often on the road during the week.

Collins said it wasn’t uncommon to miss four days of class during weeks when there were road games Thursday through Saturday, factoring in travel time. That adds up, especially if that happens more than once. Even when not on the road, days that begin with weightlifting at 6:30 a.m. can make for a long tough schedule.

“I’m the kind of person who learns best in class,” he said. “The professors are teaching the best way they can. It’s up to you to understand and pass.”

The Cheeks scholarship removes a big obstacle of affordability for players no longer on a basketball scholarship. Collins was the initial recipient, announced in July 2020.

“Jordan never started one game, and a lot of guys in that situation might quit, but Jordan was resilient and a competitor,” Brown said. “He came out of high school (Cypress Ridge) as a great scorer, and his first year, he didn’t do much. But he kept chipping away and chipping away and got it done.

“That’s kind of the way he was academically. Jordan is not a great student. Sometimes it’s a struggle. Sometimes it’s easier for some than others. With the Cheeks scholarship, if you want to do it, we give you the means to get it done. Jordan kept battling and battling and got it done.”

Collins was originally a computer information student like his father, but switched to general studies. He needed 15 hours to graduate with the Cheeks scholarship, which paid for tuition, fees and books. Collins is currently back home in the Houston area, working at a Chick-fil-A and coaching an AAU basketball team before gearing up for his next move, quite possibly a full-time coach.

“I felt the responsibility of being the first one,” Collins said. “You want to use it in the right way so they can trust the next person to do the same. To be the first one, I could not imagine that. Just talking about it still gives me chills. Just follow the light and hope you get there.”

Photo: Jordan Collins, center, poses with parents Sharhonda and Joe Collins following May 8 commencement ceremonies.

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.