Connecticut teen with CP provides analysis, push for HS basketball team

From The Hartford Courant in Conn.:

The Windsor High School boys basketball team had a 29-point halftime lead during a recent game against Weaver.

So what needs to be said in the locker room at halftime?

As usual, Ben Wallek knew what to say. And the players knew to listen.

"Everybody did a good job," Wallek said. "Great job rebounding the basketball. ... Remember, we've got to keep two guys back because they're looking to beat us in transition."

Wallek is neither the coach nor a player. But he has a major role with the team. He's a 125-pound senior with cerebral palsy whose love and knowledge of the game have won over everyone, including coach Ken Smith.

"I always let Ben speak first at halftime," Smith said. "He's very good at analyzing what has happened and what to do. The players love him."

Wallek, 17, has had cerebral palsy, which affects body movement and muscle coordination, his entire life.

"I don't see anything; I just see Ben," Smith said.

Wallek weighed 2 pounds when he was born three months premature. In the seventh grade he underwent a seven-hour operation to straighten out his hips and lengthen his hamstrings. He spent six months in a wheelchair.

Brandon Jones, a senior guard for Windsor, said he has never seen his friend down.

"We've been in school together since the second grade," Jones said. "When something's bothering me, maybe I'll call him up. He's so positive, especially about basketball. It's amazing because if anyone could feel sorry for himself, it's him. You'd never know it. You see that smile, you can't be down."

After his operation, Wallek went for physical therapy twice a week at Easter Seals Hartford in Windsor. He was determined cerebral palsy wouldn't hold him back from his goal of becoming a college basketball coach.

Wallek recovered from surgery, moved out of the wheelchair and eventually onto the court.

"Ever since I was in the first grade, I've wanted to coach," he said. "My favorite coach is Jim Calhoun of UConn. He works hard to get everything he can out of his team, and for every one of his players to improve."

Brendan Allen, a senior guard for Windsor, has known Wallek his entire life.

"He has a passion for basketball," Allen said. "He played some wheelchair basketball back then. Sure, he wants to play with us. He can't though. But you know what? His perspective is good. It's a different look because sometimes he sees things we might not see."

That helps in game situations.

"There are times where maybe I am having trouble driving to the basket against a particular player," Allen said. "Ben will come over and tell me something that he thinks will give me an advantage. Then later I try it and score. I come back to the bench and give him a thumbs up, and he nods back with that big smile."

Smith recognized that Wallek had an eye for the game when he was a freshman and a manager of the Windsor freshman team.

"I saw how hard he worked in practice and heard him talk to the players," Smith said. "He knows the game. I said, 'I don't want to waste you here. Come on up to the varsity.'"

He has been a student-coach since his sophomore season. The only other student-coach during Smith's 22-year tenure at Windsor, where he has three state titles and 14 Central Connecticut Conference titles, is Will Johnson.

Wallek, who says he has a 3.0 grade point average, wants to attend Eastern Connecticut or Mitchell College to study sports management and then pursue a master's degree.

"Oh, he can be a college coach," Smith said.

Wallek's basketball mind is always active and perceptive, says Smith, "like a sponge, soaking up everything ... He has broken down DVDs of opponents and sees stuff that we use in our game plan."

Before the game against Glastonbury in the Doc Hurley Basketball Classic Jan. 9 he spotted something.

"He saw how they were executing their press offense and those guys who weren't rotating properly," Smith said.

Windsor won, 82-67.

The Warriors (11-3, No. 8 in The Courant area ratings) followed another scouting report well at Weaver. They expanded their 55-26 halftime lead to run away with a 111-61 victory.

During a typical practice, Smith, often a stern teacher, will be on one sideline. And Wallek, clapping his hands to offer encouragement, will be on the other.

"There have been times when Ben might say something to a player, and I'll think, 'I was going to say the same thing,'" Smith said.

One of Wallek's talents is the ability to spot flaws in jump shot mechanics. Jones is a pupil. He had more misses than makes as a freshman. Wallek identified the primary need for Jones to finish high with his release and to snap his wrist at the rim on his follow through.

"I've been working with him since he was a freshman when his mechanics weren't good at all," Wallek said. "He has worked hard and is a much better shooter."

Said Jones: "Sometimes he's tougher than Coach Smith. 'Follow through, square up.' But you know what? He's right."

On game nights Wallek proudly wears his 2009 Windsor Class LL State Champs leather jacket, removing it before the team warms up. After player introductions, Smith and his assistants gather in front of the bench; the players and Wallek huddle on the court.

He is a student-coach, a classmate, a friend, and maybe much more.

"I hope what I've done and hopefully do will inspire someone with CP not to sit around, but to try and never give up," Wallek said.

He has become such a fabric of the team that Smith can have fun with him, too.

Smith remembers Wallek's halftime talk against Glastonbury, with Windsor leading, 42-21. He said Wallek's directives "to play tough defense, to play hard and don't let up" echoed what he would have said.

But Glastonbury scored the first 10 points of the third, before Windsor recovered to win. Before Wallek's halftime talk against Weaver, Smith told Wallek, "Don't say the same thing you said against Glastonbury. And he asked, 'Did I say something wrong?' I said, 'No.' But we came out with no energy against Glastonbury."

Wallek quickly realized he was the recipient of a sarcastic Smith barb. Wallek's anxiety disappeared with a broad smile.