Most high school seniors take their heartthrob to prom, but LSU forward Brandon Bass took his basketball instead.
The girl he asked to prom had a boyfriend and left him in limbo for the big night.
“Brandon told me he wasn’t going to the prom because he didn’t have a date,” said Ella Reado, Bass’ mentor since age 12.
Despite Bass’ excuse that he had a right to skip prom, Reado refused to let him miss the dance. She was surprised when Bass told her his date would be a basketball but rented a stretch Hummer for Bass and his “date” anyway. The girl came around later that night.
Bass’ odd choice of a prom date was not so astonishing to Reado at second glance though, considering his love for basketball. The sport keeps him connected with his mother and helped propel him out of the poverty of the inner city.
Death stole Bass’ mother in 1995. She fell asleep on the couch in their Ervinville home near Baton Rouge, but she never woke up. Bass, a scared 10-year-old, ran into the street and called for help.
“I was in the country so our house was a ways down,” Bass said. “Somebody came down and helped. 911 came. They said she would be alright but …”
Bass’ mother suffered a massive heart attack.
“It was something I couldn’t believe,” Bass said. “It was just a big loss for me. Today it’s still a big loss for me.”
She left three children behind. Bass moved in with his father for a year after his mother’s death but soon found a second home with Estelle Bass, his aunt.
Estelle had five children, but the count around the dinner table quickly jumped to eight when Brandon arrived with his 6-year-old brother Chris and his 1-year-old sister Dashia.
Brandon took much of his responsibility upon himself as the oldest child in the bunch. He admired his aunt’s persistency every day. Waking and dressing seven children for school, preparing meals and working a job in between was no easy feat.
“If you’re not there when the food’s there, you might not get any,” Brandon said. “You might have to go eat something from the corner store.”
Estelle found herself praying constantly, not knowing where the money, food or energy would come from each day.
“I just put it all in the Lord’s hands,” Estelle said.
Brandon found a blessing at Westdale Middle School when he met Reado, who was the girls’ basketball coach. She admired Brandon’s work ethic on the court and in the classroom, even at age 12.
Brandon’s aunt provided food and shelter, but the living conditions and neighborhood provided distractions that might have negatively affected him, Reado said. She invited Bass to her house where she and her husband mentored him on a regular basis.
“Brandon surrounded himself with positive people,” Reado said. “But I was there to make sure he was doing his school work. I was there just in case.”
Reado survived those same neighborhoods. She wanted Bass to survive and followed him to Capitol High School where she wrote her success story decades earlier.
“You can make it through Capitol,” Reado told Bass at the time. “You don’t have to be where you come from.”
Bass thrived on the court and Reado’s husband placed Bass on summer league basketball teams where his skills bloomed. He led Capitol High to two district championships and earned All-American honors from three different organizations by his senior year.
Continuing his success at LSU, Bass earned honors for Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2004. This season Bass has scored 17.5 points and added 8.8 rebounds per game, which makes LSU coach John Brady nervous about Bass possibly entering the NBA draft in June.
Bass’ decision on whether to stay at LSU for his junior season or go pro stays on hold until the summer. For now, he will stay focused on the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.
Bass continues to inspire students at Capitol High with his collegiate success, Reado said.
“He’s a perfect role model for the kids who are still here,” Reado said.
Brandon’s younger brother Chris, 16, said he tries to follow the paths his brother blazed. Chris said Brandon’s athletic and academic success comes from a disciplined lifestyle.
“I just want to take after him,” Chris said. “He studies. He’s a hard worker and pays attention. He doesn’t do all the partying because he wants to get better at whatever he does.”
Brandon knows he will reach his NBA dream soon enough but now seeks to provide the support of a big brother to his younger siblings.
“I know at the end of the day that [the NBA] will be a way to provide for my family, but it’s a dream for me to get there,” Bass said. “My mom loved the game, and I know it will make her feel good inside that I’m there.”
Most high school seniors take their heartthrob to prom, but LSU forward Brandon Bass took his basketball instead.