Turning lemons into lemonade

A very wise person by the name of Cavett Robert once said: "One of the largest tributaries of the river of greatness is always the stream of adversity." Not that any of us wish for tough times but those are the stretches where we bend, even sometimes break, but it is what we learn about ourselves during the process and then apply that is our true measure. Fremont High backcourter Josh Calbert understands this even at his youthful age -- better yet, he lives it.

How would most of us react if our mother was debilitated by a brain aneurysm during our sophomore year in high school? How about if this disconcerting development then also required our grandmother to step in and raise us? Such circumstances are generally not even wished on one's worst adversaries but that's the situation Calbert faced.

Here's Calbert on the frightening scenario: "When I woke up that morning to go to school, my mother wasn't there so I asked my grandmother where she was. My grandmother told me my mom had to go to the hospital because she had a brain aneurysm. The first thing that came to my mind was 'what is a brain aneurysm?' Then my grandmother explained it to me. I went to school but the only thing I was thinking about was my mom because I didn't know if she was going to live or die. I felt so messed up and I didn't want to be at school anymore and just wanted to stay at the hospital with my mom. My grandmother has played a big part in my life and she told me everything would be okay. She also explained that she couldn't take of me by herself, that I would have to help, saying 'manhood is coming fast for you young man so don't let this situation be an excuse for messing up.'"

A 2.8 and rising grade point average, along with a 1540 SAT score and the plan to take it again in order to achieve an even higher number certainly makes it appear that Calbert has waded through his tough times and is emerging a better person for the hardships in his life.

Calbert is a duo guard at Fremont (Oakland) High -- playing both the one and the two spots -- and offers this honest analysis of his court talents: "I'm best as a defensive player." Now such an admission generally appears about as often as Halley's Comet in these days of fan and media focus on the spectacular and the amazing.

But wait because there's more.

Even though he has college basketball aspirations, Calbert sees himself in the coaching field down the line because "I think I'm better at teaching basketball than playing." As with the quote in the preceding paragraph, we wish to emphasize that this candid statement was issued freely and not under the influence of any sort of truth serum.

Calbert offers more than a nod to his high school coach Frank Knight. "He's the one who keeps me focused on my schoolwork, stressing that it come first and is the most important thing."

Here's Knight on his senior-to-be guard: "He didn't see a lot of action last season but he plays hard, has a good attitude and is a smart, good kid." Knight also offered this description: "Josh is one of those kids we call a program guy, he shows up every day for practice and you know he's never going to be a problem."

Ask any coach at any level and the response will be that such a contributor is always cherished. Calbert will be attending the USF Elite Player Camp on August 2 with the down-the-road hopes for an future association with college hoops.

As for his toughest opponent to date , Calbert nominates former Oakland High guard Damian Lillard because "he's a great all-round player -- you never could tell if he was going to pull up and shoot from 25-feet or take the ball to the rack."

Oh yes, for the inquisitive, Calbert's mother is doing much better. So is Josh.