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MIKE ROSENBAUM

Special to The Jewish News

I

t was the worst day of Brian
Shulman's young life. He'd failed
to make Dunckel Middle
School's seventh-grade basket-
ball team.
Four years later, the scar remains,
still audible in his voice.
"It was terrible," Shulman said. "I
thought it was the end of the world

•

\N\s,•\. .

-A.

Brian Shulman has put

his basketball struggles

behind him to help make

North Farmington an area power.

for me.

))

As it turned out, being cut wasn't
an end for Shulman, it was a begin-
ning.
Shulman started playing basketball
around age 2 when his father, Larry, -
put up a small hoop. Since then, it's
remained the only sport Brian has
truly loved.
Being cut, he now knows, was a blessing in disguise.
"I was real cocky back then. I thought I was the best
player in the world and it just put me down to Earth
when I didn't make it," he said. "Instead of quitting and
giving up, I played rwiceas hard."
His basketball life rose to still greater heights at
No-rth Farmington High School. As a ninth-grader, he
by-passed the freshman team and played for the junior
varsity. As a sophomore, he made the varsity squad and
saw significant playing time early last season.
Then, his rising fortunes hit another bump: Shulman
was benched and saw few minutes for the remainder of
the season.
"I struggled shooting the ball," Shulman said. "The
effort was always there, but I didn't fit in well. That was
the first time in my life I've ever really been benched
and I didn't really know how to handle it."
Shulman was helped through the tough time by his
parents, Larry and Fran, and his "best friend and
cousin," Steven Lusky.
"I thought the people who really cared about me helped me a lot because they
were there to support me, no matter whether I was playing well or playing bad,
or not at all," he said. "My dad's probably my greatest fan.
Again, Shulman bounced back via hard work, including plenty of summer bas-
ketball. This year, he's been a key player for the Raiders, who are 13-3 overall
.
and 9-1 in the Western Lakes conference.
Shulman, who plays both point and shooting guard, is averaging 4.5 points,
three rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals per contest. His best game was a 10-point,
4-rebound, 4-assist effort on Jan. 19 in a 47-45 victory over Farmington Harrison.
Shulman credits his improvement to greater confidence and to coaches Tom
Negoshian and Pete Mantyla.
"I was just too worried about it," Shulman admitted. "Instead, I just started
having fun, because that's what its all about. Its about time I step up."
Negoshian said Shulman has "worked very hard at improving himself in things
that we've talked about that are weaknesses. And he continues to work at the
things he's strong at. He really goes to the basket very well."
Negoshian is grooming Shulman to be the Raiders' full-time point guard next sea-
son: After that, "it's always been my dream to get a (college basketball) scholarship,"
Shulman said. "I enjoy playing the game. I love the game. I think it'd be great."
Whether or not he achieves that goal, he's learned some important lessons
from the ups and downs of his basketball life.
"You've got to know that not everything's always going to go your way," he
said, "and you have to find a way to deal with it." 1-1

"

Brian Shulman cuts past a Harrison defender.

2/26
1999