With a new year comes a new start for the Armstead family.
On the basketball court, in a new state, in a new state of mind, the three brothers leading the
Bullard (Fresno, Calif.) boys team to new heights are simply in a different place than they were a year ago. Transplants from Chicago, the Armsteads --
Aaric Armstead,
Adam Armstead and
Austin Armstead -- are in a new situation in Fresno because of their father, Phil, who realized his sons' opportunities to flourish were limited in the Midwest by violence that affected even young children.
"It's just a better situation for my family," Phil says. "A lot of things were happening. There was so much violence in Chicago that it just motivated me to get my family to a better place. I mean, my son's friends were getting shot. It's almost like the thought just took me over."
The oldest of the Armstead boys, Aaric, is an
honorable mention in the Class of 2012 player rankings and led Hales Franciscan to an Illinois Class 2A title by averaging 15 points per game for the Spartans in the 2010-11 season. He would have loved another chance, of course, to help Hales do it again.
But when Adam, now a junior, walked into a Chicago store one day to see an armed robber holding a gun to a woman's head, Phil was shaken.
"His auntie drove him to the store, and she had stopped for a minute to talk on the phone and dig in her purse a bit before they got out of the car," Phil recalls. "If she hadn't been doing that, or they hadn't hit a light or something on the way there, you're talking about a 2-second difference. He would have already been in the store. That just motivated me in a different way."
So Phil moved his family out to California, where he had job offers and some family anyway.
Initially, the children were against it. It'd mean making new friends, adapting to a new school and playing for a new coach. But they understood their father's motivation.
"They didn't want to move, but they knew I wanted them in safer environment," Phil says. "All you can do is reduce the percentages. It's still happening, but nowhere near on the scale of Chicago.
"In Chicago, you can get on the bus and have to worry about your kids. A guy might want to know why you look at him a certain way. What is that? My four boys can't walk to the store together. They're real close friends, but if I send them to the store together to get milk, in Chicago, there's got to be something going on because it's four young men together. It's almost unreal."
The move to Fresno has paid off. The Armsteads have grown accustomed to Bullard High, where Aaric, Adam and Austin are part of a team that's started the season 20-3 as of Monday. They've made new friends, joined an AAU squad and adjusted to California quickly. Part of that, Phil says, is the community, and he now says he can relax some.
"Now, all I worry about is, ‘Did you eat?'" he says.
The easy part for the Armstead kids, of course, has been what they're so good at -- playing basketball. With Aaric emerging as one of the country's brightest individual talents, a 6-foot-5 scorer who can play anywhere on the court , and Adam and Austin each providing their own benefits to the team, Bullard coach Tony Amundsen has marveled at the trio's abilities.
"They're very coachable and respectful, they all have good character," Amundsen says. "They work extremely hard. Their talent is a direct result of their attitude and character and their ethic. That's why they've gotten to the level they're at."
Amundsen even was able to offer an impromptu scouting report on each:
- "Aaric's a rated player and he's getting a lot of mid-major looks," Amundsen said. "I get calls about him all the time. He's very talented. He can shoot the 3, he can drive to the basket, he's unselfish and he can really defend. His length definitely bothers other players, and he doesn't quit.
- "Adam is just a junior but he's still a glue guy. He gets all the little things done, gives a lot of hustle plays, he's a very good rebounder and he's got a good 15-footer. He doesn't turn the ball over and he does a lot for us.
- "Austin is a freshman and his potential is through the roof. He's got a string attached to the ball, his 3-point shot is the best on our team and he'll only get better."
Of course, the team and family are more than the sum of their parts. Amundsen has marveled at how the trio sticks together and motivates the rest of the Bullard High squad.
"We get transfers all the time, and you always assume it's going to be another average player. When I looked into these kids, I saw they were good, and the first thought was, ‘Are they going to have a prima donna mentality?'" Amundsen said. "As soon as we got them in the gym, I found out otherwise. These kids look you right in the eyes, they support each other, they work incredibly hard. They've been a great fit here."
The Armsteads have always worked together at improving themselves, and it started with Phil. While he takes pride in the compliments he constantly receives about his sons, he knows they've put in the work to earn it. In Chicago, Phil and the boys would be up early on Saturday mornings, heading to the YMCA at 6 a.m. after their oatmeal, toast and juice, and then they'd spend hours working out and honing their skills. Sometimes they'd double back on Sunday night, too.
That the Armstead boys would become good basketball players was almost a given, with that work ethic. But the kind of people they've become in a brand-new environment is particularly impressive.
"When you have four boys, the biggest reward is watching the whole ride play out," Phil said. "You don't know how far kids will go, but you enjoy seeing what kind of people they are. I want them to be polite and have good character, but they go beyond that. I look at Aaric, and little kids come up to him to talk, and he'll get down on one knee to talk back to them. To see that brings a great deal of pride."
After removing his family from a place it could never be appreciated -- where it had a chance to be jeopardized, really -- Phil still finds new things about his sons that make him smile.
