College basketball star gives up his starting spot to honor a freshman's late father
As the old saying goes, "There's no 'I' in team, there's only we!" But the star player on the Flagler College basketball roster took team spirit to another level.
Senior, Jaizec Lottie, a free-scoring guard, had started 39 straight games for the Saints ahead of their clash with Georgia College. But he gave up his starting spot for a friend.
Watch the video to see how a college basketball star put friendship ahead of ego.
Jax Bouknight is paying his dues as a student-athlete. The promising freshman guard is spending most of his time on the bench as he learns the ropes of the college game. Jax is from a basketball background. His father, Kevin, played college hoops at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and later coached youth basketball. Tragically, Kevin died in 2019 after a 10-year battle with cancer.
Flagler's game at Georgia College coincided with the third anniversary of Kevin's death. It was the first anniversary that Jax was to spend away from home. Naturally, he was a little apprehensive. But in his first year at college, he and Jaizec have become close friends, so much so that the team jokes that Jax is Jaizec's son.
So, realizing that his friend might be hurting, Jaizec did what any "dad" would do. He tried to take Jax's mind off things with an amazing gesture. He went to Coach Chad Warner and asked to be benched so that Jax could make the first start of his college career in honor of his father.