Living his dream
Eskasoni teen puts his heart on the hardwood for Cape Breton Highlanders
Hoop dreams do come true. Just ask John Frank Sylliboy.
A month ago, the 19-year-old Eskasoni resident figured his playing days were over. Now, he’s making history as a member of the Cape Breton Highlanders, becoming the first National Basketball League of Canada player to make the jump to the pro ranks directly out of high school — an accomplishment that, perhaps, says more about the determination in his heart than his skills on the hardwood.
“It’s surreal for sure,” Sylliboy told the Cape Breton Post following pregame warm-ups Wednesday at Centre 200 before the Highlanders faced the Windsor Express. “I walk in that locker room, I look at this jersey, I see my last name on the back and it’s just like ‘It’s really happening, it’s really happening.’ I go out there and I’m on the floor, I’m warming up — the big lights, the big floor and the huge crowd. And especially all the support that I have around here, it’s really good.”
Sylliboy’s unlikely story started two years ago when team founder, president and general manager Tyrone Levingston first arrived in Sydney to establish
a professional basketball franchise. He was helping out with the Sydney Academy Wildcats
boys basketball team and before long the young Mi’kmaq player got in his ear, insisting that if the
island got a team, he should be on it.
“He was sending me messages every single day, like ‘Tyrone, give me a shot. Tyrone, let me come to practice. Tyrone, let me get on the team.’ And I’m going ‘John Frank, you can’t play with these boys.’ He goes, ‘Yes, I can. I can play with them,’” recalls Levingston. “I would just kind of laugh him off, and we would talk about it and I would say ‘OK. Be careful what you ask for because you never know — you may get your wish one day. You’ve got to be ready.’”
That opportunity came just before this season when the National Basketball League of Canada upped the minimum number of Canadian players on each team from four to five.
Levingston says he thought about Sylliboy, who was still constantly telling him he could help the team. So he invited him to practise with the team the next morning, not really knowing what to expect. He says the teen came in with his typical swagger and, to everyone’s surprise, started draining baskets.
Levingston talked it over with head coach Rob Spon and that night he signed Sylliboy to a contract.
The timing couldn’t have been better for Sylliboy. He didn’t graduate last year, and while he’s still taking high school classes and hopes to get his diploma this year, he’s not eligible to play basketball for the school.
“I didn’t think it was going to end up like this at all. I was actually thinking about hanging up the shoes — I didn’t know if I was physically able to play basketball after high school but the opportunity is there,” he says. “Tyrone, he was always there for me, he was telling what I can do to get better with my game, and right now he’s giving me this great opportunity to feed my career in basketball. I’m forever thankful for that because just when I was
at my lowest, a great guy like Tyrone just brings me up and gives me this great opportunity.”
So far that opportunity hasn’t translated into a whole lot of game action. Six games into the
season, Sylliboy has logged less than one minute of floor time, all coming in the dying moments of a 112-94 road loss to the Moncton Magic. And even though he never got to touch the ball, Sylliboy remembers each of those 45 seconds.
“I’m sitting on the bench, the team pretty much gave up — we were down like 20 points — and then coach tells me to go out there,” he says. “Forty-five seconds left, I was like ‘All right, I’m going out there.’ I ran up and down the court a couple times but I didn’t get any touches on the ball. Just being on that court, I can’t describe the feeling that I had. It’s definitely something I can get used to.”
According to head coach Spon, Sylliboy’s Highlanders teammates feed off the young shooting guard’s energy and enthusiasm.
“I got him into the Moncton game and it was so great — he was so happy. Everybody was rooting for him. He hustles and he tries. He has a lot of confidence shooting the ball. He’s not afraid of nobody — that’s what I like about him,” he says.
“It was great. They responded because of how hard he works and they see how he shoots the ball and makes shots. They like to see him in there and now they want to see him make a basket because they know he can.”
The way Levingston sees it, Sylliboy is apprenticing to be a professional basketball player. By practising, travelling and learning from older, more experienced players, Levingston hopes Sylliboy can mature on and off the court. And school remains his No. 1 top priority.
“He’s here to learn and to develop and to grow,” says Levingston.
“I mean, he misses some practices because of his school schedule, and we let him know that school comes first and the moment his grades drop is the moment he will no longer be on the club.”
But Levingston is also quick to note that Sylliboy isn’t there to serve as a glorified mascot.
“He’s not on this team for decoration — I will say that. If there’s an event where our coach feels that this kid’s talent can help us, I’m sure you’ll see him out there,” he says.
“He’s become a Highlander. Our coach loves him, I love him and he works extremely hard. He’s positive, he picks up the other guys and he’s a sponge — he’s there to learn as much as he can and grow as much as he can. You can’t go wrong with that situation.”
Sylliboy plans to use his unexpected shot in the pros as a way to get a college degree and inspire more Mi’kmaq youth to follow their dreams.
“Now that I’ve grown in confidence even more to keep proceeding with basketball, I kind of want to go to university and play since I haven’t gotten that step yet — I’ve skipped it,” he says. “For my community, too, I guess I’ve become a role model. A lot of kids are looking up to me. Even before I got in the NBL I was always helping in the community, assistant coaching the teams, helping the little kids work on their games, showing them what they can do. Now that I’m here, it’s even more of a responsibility, I say, to teach the kids and show them that anything is possible.”