Brad Witherspoon’s story seems to come straight out of a Hollywood movie: a small-town kid never letting go of his dream to play for the college team he cheered for in his youth – even after two failed attempts at joining the team – with the dream finally coming to fruition.

Witherspoon, a Kansas University junior from Humboldt, became the newest member of the KU men’s basketball team after being asked to join the squad following his performance at the walk-on tryouts Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I could have went juco, I could have went D-II to play, but I was like, ‘No, I’m going to come to KU. No questions asked,'” Witherspoon said before his weight-lifting session Wednesday. “Everyone thought I was just an idiot. They just didn’t understand. : I thought I could make it, and I was going to prove to everybody that I could do it. It took me three years, and I finally did it. So it’s just overwhelming.”

Witherspoon already had caught the eye of the coaching staff during his workout a year ago and put together another strong case to join the team.

“We were impressed with Brad last year during tryouts,” Self said. “Our coaching staff thought he had a very good tryout Sunday evening. I wanted to personally be able to watch him play and must admit that I was very impressed with his attitude, effort and knowledge of the game during Monday’s workout. He will continue to practice with our team, if he continues with the same attitude and intensity.”

Despite being worn down, Witherspoon was able to accomplish his original goal going into the hour-and-a-half workout of sprints and drills.

“I won every sprint, which was the main thing I was trying to do because I know they’re not looking for scorers, they’re not looking for people who can dunk the ball and stuff like that,” the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard said. “They need people that can play defense and will push guys as hard as they can go. So that’s what I did. I tried to win every sprint – did everything perfect.”

Witherspoon’s love for KU began when his brother attended the university in the mid-90s.

“I came to my first KU game when (Greg) Ostertag and all those guys were playing,” he said. “I ended up falling asleep on the bench. But it was just so loud, and as you got older you watch the Jayhawks growing up, and to me it’s the only school in the state.”

Witherspoon’s mother received her masters degree from Kansas. She since has been flooded with congratulations for her son’s accomplishment.

“My mom has gotten e-mails from people she doesn’t know, she’s gotten phone calls asking for my number,” Witherspoon said. “She said she’s more overwhelmed than I am because she doesn’t know what to do, should she give my number out and stuff like that.”

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