Jon Scheyer: From Northbrook to Duke, Scheyer's Story Proves Seeing Is Believing

This article was originally posted on Chicago Sports Noise.

First off, as a precursor to this article, I ask that you read Jon Greenberg's recent article detailing the basketball comeback of Jon Scheyer. I know two articles in one sitting is some hefty reading, but I promise I would never recommend any supplementary readings unless I found them to be worth your while.

Perhaps I'm biased because we are "friends" on Facebook. Or maybe I'm a tad impartial because I've shook his hand on a few occasions, but I see myself to be a considerably large Jon Scheyer fan.

Nonetheless, he did end my high school basketball career prematurely in 2006, so it hasn't been all popcorn and Prince singles between us. Still, I have always found myself pulling for his success.

If at this point you're thinking I'm one of those garbage eaters you knew in high school who obnoxiously championed Duke's success for no reasons other than that they were (a) always good, and (b) always on television, that's not me. And furthermore, if you think I don't despise Glenbrook North like the rest of 21st century America, you're wrong again. I do, and with conviction. And lastly, if you think I am holding this viewpoint simply because I am Jewish, that makes three wrongs. I'm not.

But the native son of Northbrook has always presented himself as the consummate class act. Ever since he was conducting interviews before he was legally allowed to swallow an Accutane tablet as a seventh grader, he mastered the art of thanking one's teammates and complimenting the other team—a skill that most professionals still haven't learned.

In short, he has always presented himself as a likable guy despite wearing two of the most polarizing uniforms I can possibly imagine in succession.

Don't get me wrong, he had his fair share of detractors at every level. During GBN's state title run in 2005, their opponents consistently opted to employ man-to-man principles in accounting for a kid who was scoring more regularly than the cast of Glory Daze.

In college, it was his athleticism, then his physical strength, then his ball handling—you name it. He again made them eat their words like those word munchers games you played on those vibrantly colored Macs in grade school.

As it turns out, the only thing that could slow down Scheyer's path to the highest platform in the basketball profession was an errant swipe of an opponent's finger. All of it could have been gone—transpired into some once-upon-a-time fable that could serve as the sequel to "The Pistol: Birth of a Legend."

After swallowing the sorrow seeds of unemployment for a few months while tirelessly working out to give himself another shot at the NBA (essentially we were doing the same thing), Scheyer has been signed. Not by the Nets, or the Clippers, or even the lowly Toronto Raptors (I honestly might rather be in the D-League)...but by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Developmental League.

So if you're charting his journey with thumbtacks on a world map in your household den, he surfaced on the shores of the ritzy shops and $8.00 bagel sandwiches of Northbrook, Ill., then voyaged eastward and conquered the Bible Belt in just four short years. Now, he finds himself among the vast plains and 10-gallon heads of Hidalgo, Texas, just a border jump away from the Mexican countryside.

The only remnants of his eye injury that remain today are a pair of protective goggles he must wear that were once popularized by James Worthy, Kareem and Kurt Rambis (yeah, they had three guys on one squad with goggles—MAN'S GAME).

If I know Scheyer like I think I do, and I absolutely don't, he won't care about the buffoonery he takes from fans on the road about his choice of protective eyewear. As of Feb. 17, 2011, the phrase "Scheyerface" returned 15,746 results from Google Images.

Do you really think he cares? And if you think he's going to rot in the D-League, pile on the pasta and change vocations to a high school P.E. teacher like Kevin Pittsnogle or the Pulse Man, you have another thing coming.

Not to say that the D-League isn't loaded with the college talent of our yesterdays (a few of my favorites: Derek Raivio, Gonzaga; Chris Kramer, Purdue; J.R. Giddens, New Mexico; Salim Stoudamire, Arizona; Jerel McNeal, Marquette), but I would think Scheyer will rise to the big league in no time once he gets to 100 percent.

He was a first team All-American and a unanimous first team All-ACC performer; what has Sasha Vujacic ever done?