Cole Middleton carries winning tradition
ATLANTA (BVM) — It was a late start, to say the least for Cole Middleton and his blossoming basketball career. He didn’t even like basketball till middle school. But once he caught on, there was no turning back.
And it was this late start, which put him well behind most other division one commits, that pushed Middleton to want to be great.
“Before I came to pace academy for high school, I went to the CP3 camp and realized how far behind I was compared to the competition and where I wanted to be,” Middleton said.
He was always physically gifted but without the years and years of practice and muscle memory that most Divison I players had, Middleton started behind the curve, and had to work twice as hard to catch up.
“[Getting coached up] by people like coach Kabaya, and Isaiah Kelly (now a forward at Yale), it helped build who I am today as a player, and it’s part of why I work so hard.”
And with this underdog, chip-on-my-shoulder type mentality, it’s no surprise who he models his game after.
“[I] definitely [model my game after] Draymond Gree,” Middleton said. “I’m not a super flashy player. Draymond just does his job. He doesn’t have to be the guy that scores 40 [points] every night or averages a triple-double. Whatever the team needs, that’s what he does.”
“I specialize in rebounding and locking up on defense,” said Middleton. “I always go hard at because that’s just a mindset.”
“[It takes] heart,” Middleton said. “I love to encourage my teammates, even if I’m not at my best. It collectively over time makes all of us better, and that’s how you win.”
But for Middleton, basketball also became much more than just a sport. A considerable aspect of Middleton’s development as a basketball player and as a person is his bond with his family. When speaking on what really got him into basketball in the first place, he referenced his late uncle, coach Eric Mance.
“He was a legendary coach in Albany, Georgia,” Middleton said. “He passed away, as soon as I started playing [basketball] actually, it’s unfortunate because I would have loved to work with him. But I gotta uphold the family legacy now.”
The spirit of coach Mance lives on through Middleton’s play and his mindset. For Middleton, basketball was about two things: winning, but just as important was the values extracted and exemplified through the sport, similar to his uncle Eric.
“Eric wanted to win and he did,” said Phil McCrary, another Dekalb county coaching legend, in an interview with Dekalb Sports GA. org. “But teaching his players to be productive, successful citizens was his quest. “He taught them to value themselves and their teammates.”
“A lot of people say I’m an old soul,” Middleton said. “And that’s in large part because of my parents. They taught me to be respectful, carry myself with integrity, know that I represent my family, god, myself, and when I’m on the court, whatever team name is on my jersey.”
And these morals are what helped Middleton land at Cleveland State in the first place, as the school and coach Dennis Gates really harped on the sort of values Middleton’s parents instilled in him.
“The family environment. They’re really big on the team. We versus me,” said Middleton.” “Everybody shares the ball, and they specialize in defense, so I felt like I would fit in really well there … I felt like I could come in and work hard.”
But, when diving into who Middleton is as a person, it’s obvious where he got his sense of morality and hard work from. To state the obvious, it runs in his family. From his parents to the late great Coach Eric Mance, Middleton knows his roots well. And he is ready to put it all on display at Cleveland State.
“I expect to be back-to-back conference champions,” Middleton said. “As long as we match and exceed our energy from last year, we should expect nothing less than to go as far as we can in the tournament.”
