Written by Gabrielle Pruitt
His eyes are closed in meditation. The chants of an enthusiastic crowd carry through the hall to the locker room, but the squeak of sneakers against the hardwood basketball court tile from the others warming up is louder in his head right now.He mentally prepares himself for the game as he finishes tucking in his black and gold jersey — Bison No. 15. Taking a breath, senior guard Stephen Blake runs onto the court, feeding off the energy of his teammates and Harding fans.”I know I have already put in the work necessary to be prepared,” Blake said of his feelings right before a game. “I just try to play hard and have fun.”Blake said he started playing basketball around the age of five, but he tried to dribble before he even could walk. He played for his high school team in Greenbrier, Ark.; he then went on to play for North Arkansas College in Harrison before transferring to Harding. Growing up, he had attended several Harding basketball games, and, in his words, he “fell in love with it.”Consequently, when he received an offer from Harding to play, he said he knew he could not pass it up.While Blake has proven he is an asset to his team, it is his quality of character outside the Rhodes Field House that is worth mentioning. Blake incorporates his hard-working attitude instilled in him by his dad into every aspect of his life.”The really cool part is that things that make you truly successful in this game also help you in your life,” Blake said.Junior Carter Robison has known Blake since his first year at Harding and said he considers Blake a “positive influence” spiritually, athletically and virtually all around. He admires the way Blake carries himself on and off the court and said that is what makes Blake special to watch as he plays.”When I see him out on the court I could not be more proud to say, ‘That is one of my best friends,'” Robison said, “not because he is a great player (don’t get me wrong he is that); it is much more than that.”These sentiments are felt by Blake’s team as well, according to head coach Jeff Morgan.”He has an incredible work ethic on and off the floor,” Morgan said. “Stephen truly represents the game, our team, the university and God in a way that all can be proud.”Blake’s coach described him as having “a tremendous desire to compete and to succeed” as a player but also as a person with “a tremendous heart” overall.”Stephen is a great teammate. His teammates have a tremendous amount of respect for him because of the way he works and the way he treats everybody,” Morgan said. “They know they can always count on Stephen for more than just basketball.”Blake graduates this May with a degree in exercise science; afterward he plans on attending physical therapy school. While he does not see any future in basketball, he will be taking the memories and character-building experiences with him.When asked to describe Blake in three words, Robison responded, “Christian, competitive, genuine.” Morgan described Blake as a “great young man of God who just happens to play basketball at avery high level.”
