Special season: playing for Dad
William Jewell guard gives parent boost by giving best shot on court, in classroom.

Clint Underwood's ( left to right) mom Jean, dad Jay and grandmother Earline watch their relative in a William Jewell game in the College of the Ozarks Cam Jam Classic. Christina Dicken / News-Leader

Clint Underwood is the starting point guard for the No. 2 Cardinals.

Clint has written 'Dad' on both of his basketball shoes.

Clint Underwood, talking with his dad Jay after a recent William Jewell basketball game, describes the time he found out his father has ALS as the 'toughest day I've ever had in my whole life.' The illness, commonly called Lou Gehrig's Disease, has a life expectancy after diagnosis of two to five years. Christina Dicken / News-Leader

"I always wanted him to go back (this season) and play. Always have." -- Jay Underwood, on his son going to a school 200 miles away.

But really, Clint Underwood says, his decision was a no-brainer after coming home from college last summer to learn his father is dying.

He could go back this fall to a school 200 miles away and play his final basketball season for a national contender, or stay home to spend every precious minute with Dad.

Underwood chose to play.

To finish his outstanding basketball career at William Jewell College in Liberty, and complete the work toward the business administration degree he'll receive in May.

And to do so with more determination than before because he knows it's the one and only treatment certain to boost his father's fighting spirit.

"It's really hard, but I realize this is what he wants me to do," Clint said of his father, Jay Underwood, who was diagnosed just over a year ago with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

"The main thing he tells me he wants is that I don't change the way I live. He wants me to concentrate on school, concentrate on basketball and have a great senior year.

"I'm worried all the time. I'm always calling home to see how he's doing. I talk to my mom a lot about him ... He's such an inspiration for me. I just really want to have a good year for him."

While Clint, a former Rogersville High School star, is leading the Cardinals on what they hope is an NAIA Division II national championship run, Jay — who turns 58 today — is trying to stave off a vicious attack on his body.

He has lost some 30 pounds since what started out as cramps in his throat and neck was identified as the cruel disease with no cure, where the average life expectancy after diagnosis is typically two to five years.

His speech is slurred to the point where Jay needs to use his newly acquired laptop communicator for others to understand. A feeding tube now provides his nourishment. Fatigue sets in easily.

Yet, none of that really seems to matter to Jay when the gym lights come on, the basketballs are bouncing and No. 20 for the Cardinals — the spunky kid with frosted blonde hair and "Dad" inscribed on each shoe — is doing his thing as the senior starting point guard and floor leader for Jewell.

"I always wanted him to go back (this season) and play," Jay said, with wife Jean nearby to help him communicate his thoughts.

"Always have."

• • •

The scene this weekend was the Keeter Gym in Point Lookout, where the Cardinals — ranked second nationally in the NAIA D-II preseason poll — split a pair of games in the annual College of the Ozarks Cam Jam Classic to improve to 8-2.

When Clint scored a team-high 22 points but the Cardinals blew a 15-point second half lead and lost to NAIA Division I power Oklahoma Baptist 97-92 in overtime Friday night, there were 31 members of the Underwood family and friends in attendance to cheer Clint on.

Of course the group included Jay, decked out in his red William Jewell sweatshirt and still able to beam with pride when his son does something special on the court.

It's been that way since his only son was born some 22 years ago, and not too long afterward began carrying on the tradition that is the Underwood basketball name in Rogersville.

Jay played there. Brother Tom played there.

Most of their kids in this large, close-knit family did, too.

"You have to understand ... the Underwoods are a basketball family," Jean said.

Jay, who also has two older married daughters (Wendy lives in Rogersville, Jill in Fort Collins, Colo.), coached Clint on several youth teams and even some of his AAU squads in high school. And Clint credits his surge toward All-Ozarks honors as a Rogersville senior to their many trips to the Jones YMCA in south Springfield, "where he'd rebound for me every single day, help me with my shot."

In spite of his declining health, Jay still tries to get to most of Clint's games with Jewell, just like he and Jean have throughout his career.

It's the final chapter in a successful run by his son, one Jay wouldn't miss for the world.

"It gives Jay something to really look forward to," Jean said. "He loves basketball."

So does the Underwood clan, the proof in their turnout this weekend to support both Clint and Jay.

"We both had reservations about leaving for college this year, but we did what we had to do," said Jay's niece Whitney Guin, a freshman golfer at William Woods in Fulton. "But that doesn't mean Uncle Jay isn't in our minds all the time."

"(The illness) is something Clint probably thinks about every day," said Jay's 32-year-old nephew, Troy Underwood of Springfield.

"But I'll tell you, the best part of it is his Dad gets to see him play, and there's nothing better (for Jay). If it had to happen, this was probably the best time it could."

• • •

Clint remembers all too well the day last May when his mother finally told him of Jay's illness.

Jean held off the news as long as possible after Jay was diagnosed on Oct. 10, 2003 — the couple's 22nd wedding anniversary.

"I was so frightened," Jean said. "It's a frightening thing to have to tell your children. How do you bring that up? How do you say, 'Your Dad has ALS ?' "

But the time finally came while they were moving Clint home for the summer in separate cars, Jay called to tell Clint some furniture in the back of their vehicle was loose. Clint hung up and asked Jean, "What is wrong with Dad's voice?"

She told him about the ALS.

Clint got quiet for a while. Then, he asked a lot of questions.

After that, Jean said, "we cried all the way home."

"The toughest day I've ever had in my whole life," Clint said.

It meant what was supposed to be a relaxing final summer before he entered "the real world" after graduation turned into an education. Clint spent more time helping with the family's cattle herd and discovering more of the ins and outs of his father's land developing business.

But mostly, Clint spent a lot more time at home.

"In the past when I'd come home, I'd go out with my friends," Clint said. "When I come home now, I just want to come home and see my parents. It makes the holidays so important for me to be with him."

Clint plans to move back to Rogersville after graduation and either put his degree to use with a job or attend Southwest Missouri State for graduate work.

"He says, 'Mom, mark your calendar ... I'm graduating May 7 and coming home,' " Jean said.

"I think he's handled it all really well. He's a very mature kid, but he seems more driven now. And he's like, 'We'll get through it.' "

His father's illness, and knowing he needs to finish his schooling in order to come home, was a major factor in Clint's return this fall.

So was the fact that this Cardinals' team has a chance to be special, but needed its leader to get it done.

• • •

Jewell has four starters back from a 33-5 team that made it to the Elite Eight last season in the NAIA national tourney at Point Lookout.

The Cardinals opened this season with an impressive 79-72 exhibition victory over NCAA Division I Missouri-Kansas City, testament to their talent level and experience.

And it's a very well-bonded team, says coach Larry Holley, in his 26th season at Jewell and 37th in coaching — yet dealing with a situation like this for the first time in his career.

"It's going to be a real challenge for Clint, and for all of us," Holley said, "but I think he has a very strong family, and a very strong group of teammates.

"It's a very together group, as fine a group of young men as I've ever been around, and I've been around a lot of them. This group is special."

The Cardinals have rallied around Clint and Jay, wearing red "Never Give Up" wristbands in honor of Jay's fight with ALS.

"They've been so much help," Clint said. "Especially Cam Cooper, my roommate. He's always wanting to talk, asking me how I'm doing ... he's really helping me get through this."

Cooper, a junior guard from Liberty, said "I know it's been tough on Clint, but he still does a great job of leading our team. We all love his family so much, and he knows we're all there for him if he needs us."

The Cardinals most definitely needed Underwood.

A starter since his sophomore year, Clint is averaging around 11 points, but leads Heart of America Athletic Conference members in assists (8.1 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (65 to 20, or 3.25).

"I think he makes his teammates better, but then he takes over when he has to," said C of O coach Steve Shepherd of the 6-foot Underwood.

"He's evolved into a true point guard, and that's impressive. He's forsaken his own glory for the good of the team, and that's paid off in the years they've had (at Jewell)."

His coach and teammates admire the fact that Clint has been able to stay so focused this season. But Clint explains it's simply a case of playing with a renewed passion.

All he has to do is glance at his father in the stands for inspiration.

"I wouldn't be where I'm at today if it weren't for my Dad," Clint said. "He is my leader, my role model.

"Sometimes we all take everything we have for granted. Now, every time I get to see my dad, I make the most of it."

source: http://sports.news-leader.com/_archive/1205-Specialsea-242787.html