‭Dear Coach Nolan,‬

‭I hope you have been doing well these past four years, and I’m glad to hear that you‬
‭ nded up as head coach for the team. I am writing this letter to you because I wanted to thank‬
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‭you for always believing in me at a time in my life when it felt like no one else did. My junior year‬
‭I was ecstatic to make the varsity team, but that thrill quickly ended when I realized that playing‬
‭time would come rarely for me. At this point in my life, I did still think I wanted to play basketball‬
‭in college and it was heartbreaking to come to the realization that would most likely not be the‬
‭case. But, I was lucky enough to have someone in my life that noticed I was going through‬
‭something, and made sure to reach out. That person was you. I was in Target when you called‬
‭me to talk about my situation, and you let me know that you saw something special in me. That‬
‭call changed my whole perspective on myself, and you gave me a renewed hope. I ended up‬
‭playing a role for the team a few weeks later, and I never feel that I really showed you how‬
‭much that call, and all your other talks with me, meant. My junior year I was really shaping up to‬
‭be a quitter, but your belief in me changed me for the better. I am now about to graduate with a‬
‭civil engineering technology degree from UNCC this summer, much in part to the never give up‬
‭attitude you helped to install in me in high school. I never got to play ball in college, but I credit a‬
‭lot of how I approach things in life to the attitude you taught me to have in life. I’m sorry I‬
‭couldn’t share this message in person, but I would one day love to catch up and maybe shoot‬
‭some hoops.‬

‭ est,‬
B
‭Kevin‬