Du Quoin's Pearson Inspires Lady Vols
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ How much does Melissa Pearson love playing the game of basketball? So much so that she asked John A. Logan College coach Marty Hawkins for the opportunity to walk onto his team last summer without a scholarship to be a part of a team, knowing full well that the scholarship players would get the bulk of the playing time.
"I figured the worst thing Coach Hawkins could do was say no," she said. "I asked if I could try out and he agreed. I'm glad I got the opportunity. I didn't want to go the rest of my life and wonder, 'What if?' I helped out with the team's summer camp and started practicing with the team last August."
The Du Quoin native played three years of high school ball and was one of the Indians' best players, scoring a season-best 31 points against Chester her junior year before moving to Colorado her senior year to take care of her grandmother at the request of her father, Leonard.
"My grandfather had just died," Pearson said. "I stayed in Colorado for half my senior year before moving back to southern Illinois. Because I was working in Carbondale, I took a class at the high school and graduated there. I had no senior year of basketball."
Pearson, now 20, said she began taking classes at Logan and got the itch to play basketball again.
Even while holding down a job as a waitress and helping to raise her younger siblings, Pearson put herself through the grind of daily workouts.
"I'm just glad to help out any way that I can," she said. "Sure, it's frustrating that I don't get to play very much, but this game isn't about me; it's always been about the team. That's why I look for inspirational stories on the Internet to relate to my teammates before the game."
Hawkins said Pearson may not be an impact player on his ballclub, but he is proud to have her as a part of his team.
"Melissa gives the other kids a perspective on the real world," he said. "And you better believe they respect her. She commutes to school and pays her own way while holding down a job, yet she still works very hard in practice. I think she reminds them how fortunate they are to have a full scholarship."
Hawkins said he sincerely hopes Pearson will stick with basketball and play for Logan again next season.
"I hope Melissa's able to do it. She does a good job in the classroom and is one of our team leaders. She's not afraid to speak up and give her opinion. She adds a lot to this basketball program."
Pearson, who is presently enrolled in criminal justice classes but may switch to counseling, said she would indeed like to play for the Lady Vols again next year. "I'm just going to continue to work hard and if it's meant to be, it will be," she said.
"I made a flyer and put it up at the restaurant where I work in Du Quoin," she said. "I hope I can get into the game."
Pearson said her father is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the Army and will soon be stationed in Hawaii. Her mother and stepfather, Angela and Mark Rojek, reside in Tamaroa as do her siblings: Tyler, Emma, Keith and Markie -Anna.
On those occasions when she's not playing basketball, attending class, or working at the restaurant, Pearson can be found volunteering her time with the youth at the Second Baptist Church in Du Quoin. Her boyfriend is the youth coordinator there.