Hesston basketball team goes to prison
by Hesston CollegePrint Article Email to a Friend
HESSTON, Kan.—Why would a college men’s basketball team even consider playing a basketball team made up of medium-security prisoners?
Nine members of the Hesston College basketball team—plus two coaches and faculty/staff members Kevin Wilder and Gary Oyer—found it challenging in several ways to scrimmage the eight-member squad at the Kansas Corrections Facility in Hutchinson, Kan., March 3.
Both teams came to play, evidenced by the final score, a 64-61 overtime win by the Larks.
Garrett Yoder, a sophomore from Kalona, Iowa, and the other Lark players felt a bit intimidated after the prison doors clanged closed, especially when more than 200 prisoners in the recreation area got quiet and stared them down. Some prisoners whistled, while others made comments to the Lark players.
But that changed when they started playing basketball. “They’re human just like us,” Yoder says. “Everyone makes mistakes in life. You can’t look at them as criminals. You try to look at the good and not be judgmental. You could see that we gave some of the players hope.
“They thanked us for coming, and we thanked them for a good practice time,” he says. “They were positive and had good attitudes; I don’t know if I could if I were in their shoes, being imprisoned for up to 15-20 years.”—Hesston College
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