Jail stint didn’t deter dream, now he’s passing it on
sured him a spot on the Pirates’ 2010-11 roster. The conversation was moot; Stix’s next stop was the Essex County Correctional Facility.
“The ‘Green Monster,’ ” Mitchell said, invoking the notorious jail’s nickname. “It’s a frightening place.”
Mitchell, despite a clean record, was held on a staggering bail of $650,000, making his release a financial impossibility.
But the Mitchell clan still had his back: At Stix’s first court hearing, his parents and three of his seven siblings filled the front row wearing Seton Hall’s colors.
Inmate Mitchell spent his first two weeks under suicide watch. Defense lawyer Montell Figgins recalled meeting with a “shellshocked” Mitchell to discuss their options.
“He was 23 years old,” said Figgins. “A college student. You take him, now he’s in the Essex County jail, in lockdown 23 hours a day. He was a mess.”
Mitchell, his heart and spirit broken, pleaded guilty to criminal restraint and burglary seven months after his arrest.
He was freed from jail in a deal where he received five years’ probation and agreed to testify against Whitney (later sentenced to three years).
“I regret it every day,” said Mitchell about his choice to take a deal. “Just not fighting and seeing it all the way through, allowing my voice and my story to be heard.”
Figgins recalled that Mitchell was fortunate to get a plea deal, with the trial judge opposing any agreement.
But he understands Mitchell’s anguish: “It was an issue if you take this plea, and you get out, or you can fight it, and sit in jail for the next year.”
Mitchell then chased his dream of pro ball around the globe: Italy, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, a league championship in Morocco.
“I was in Morocco for two years, probably the best years of my life,” he recalled. “My son was born, Preston. The team loved me, the fans loved me.”
But for Stix Mitchell, all roads led back to the place that he loved most: Brooklyn.
lll “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Mitchell’s voice rings out in the Stone Gym at Riverside Church. “I love it! Nice job.”
The compliments go to his teenage basketball prodigies, Brooklyn kids Zaire Williams and Ty Laur. The two run the floor at the workout led by Mitchell, their old AAU coach with the Brooklyn Ballers.
Neither is old enough to remember Mitchell banging bodies against UConn and Syracuse, yet he commands their respect.
“He pushes me to work hard,” said Williams. “He pushes me to get better.”
The workout starts at 8 a.m. sharp. Mitchell has no time to waste time these days.
Since his 2015 return to Brooklyn, Mitchell has welcomed a second son, 1-year-old Xavier. He’s reestablished his roots, and spends time working with other local kids.
They talk about basketball, and they talk about life. Mitchell talks about returning to Seton Hall to earn his communications degree; he’s a mere nine credits short.
He’s taking acting classes with an eye toward television work, and hopes to take his basketball instruction program to an international level.
Mitchell doesn’t run from the past, even as he embraces the future.
“You have to take accountability for your life,” he said.
“And if a man does those things, when he’s faced with challenges he can come out on top.”