MILWAUKEE (AP) -When Josh Heytvelt meets NBA personnel at each stop along his pre-draft workout tour, he always has an answer for the first open question, “Is there anything you want to tell us about yourself?”
There sure is, and it’s a story he’s repeated a lot lately.
Heytvelt was arrested with a Gonzaga teammate for a drug offense on Feb. 9, 2007. It got him suspended from the squad, all while he was trying to figure out fatherhood with a new infant daughter.
“I bring it up,” the 22-year-old forward said after working out Friday with the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of the June 25 draft. “Every team already knows about it, so why not talk about it? Don’t be afraid about it.”
Cheney, Wash., police arrested Heytvelt for possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms. He was charged and sent to a diversion program.
hings.”
Heytvelt was indefinitely suspended. He missed the rest of his breakout 2006-07 season, and suddenly his dreams of a pro career seemed far away.
“At first I was really mad because of the whole thing – getting kicked off the team, going through the legal process, screwing up, maybe ruining my life. So I was mad at first and then I started really thinking, What if? What if I don’t get back to Gonzaga? What if I don’t have another chance? What if?” Heytvelt said. “I started getting a little scared about how the rest of my life was going to pan out.”
The 6-foot-11 Heytvelt, who has a booming voice that naturally carries, gets quiet when imagining just what might have happened to him and struggles to find the right words.
“I have no clue where I’d be. It could be back home in Clarkston (Wash.) at a gas station, it could be trying to get a job somewhere, anywhere,” Heytvelt said. “I have no idea.”
Heytvelt was ordered to do 240 hours of community service. He did more than 300, working primarily with terminally ill children at a Ronald McDonald House.
“That really made me think that those kids aren’t choosing to have cancer. They’re given that,” Heytvelt said. “I realized I had made some really bad choices and that really made me think about every choice I made from then on out.”
sor who’d played college basketball himself to help him through the dark days. When he was reinstated, he said he felt it took him a year to regain the trust of his team.
On the court, he took a step back, too.
A stress fracture in his right foot hobbled him his junior year and his senior year averages still weren’t as strong as his sophomore season. But Bucks scouting director Billy McKinney said Heytvelt’s desire to discuss and accept his past makes him a good draft candidate.
“It shows a great deal of maturity,” McKinney said. “Sometimes it’s so hard and embarrassing when you make a mistake like that and you’re a high-profile person. Whether you’re in sports or business, a lot of people want to cover it up.”
Instead, Heytvelt wants to show what he’s playing for. His daughter’s name is tattooed on one shoulder and a bible verse is on the other.
“I made some really dumb choices for the first few months that she was in this world,” he said. “I’m really thankful that it didn’t ruin my life because she possibly wouldn’t have a dad.”
Heytvelt is projected to be an early to mid second-round pick, which doesn’t mean a guaranteed contract. He’ll work out for about 17 teams before the draft.
“I’d just be happy to go anywhere,” Heytvelt said. “I’d be ecstatic if somebody picked me in the first round, but I just want to make it somewhere and work as hard as I can when I’m there.”
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