SPARROWS POINT — Colin Stevens job was to fill the water bottles for his Sparrows Point High School basketball team, but Coach Marc Kline saw a teachable moment.
On Friday night, Coach Kline told Colin to get dressed. With his wavy red hair shining against his white warm-ups, Colin reached the lay-up line. In front of a packed house at Sparrows Point, they came to see the kid play.
All Colin wants to do is to make friends, and he had a house full on Friday.
With Chesapeake as the visitors, who play like the Houston Rockets, the game was pretty much out of reach late in the third quarter. The crowd rose to its feet as number 35 came in. His mom, dad, a little brother couldn’t hold back the emotion.
Colin tried a shot from North Point Road and missed, but got fouled. On his third attempt you could hear the swish of the net. The crowd went wild.
Colin would end up with six points on the night, a career high in a career that started on Friday night.
Notice that we didn’t mention what Colin has. He has Autism.
Does it matter? Because for one night, on one floor, in one gym, we felt equal.
With t-shirts and tickets, the house raised over $1,000 for Autism Speaks.
