Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 December 1998 — Page 18

The Muncie Times, December 17,1998, Page 18

BIOGRAPHIES

Rashid Shabbaz

Career Highlights: Cincinnati Royals, 1967-69, Boston Celtics, 1969-1971, Milwaukee Bucks retired 1972. Education: Graduate of Central High School 1962, attended Highland Unversity (Las Vegas, New Mexico). Personal Comments: “I left Muncie knowing that some black folk were doing something out there and Muncie wasn’t teaching it,” said Shabazz. Recalling his days of growing up in Muncie, Shabazz said his motivation came from the influence of the “whole village.” As children he, his brother and sisters attended Shaffer Chapel A. M. E. Church. “You’ve heard the saying that it take a whole village to raise a child and that village had me.” Returning to Muncie from California in the late sixties, Shabazz got off the bus only to be picked up as a suspect in an armed robbery. “I just let the officers take me downtown and when they closed the door to the cell, I produced my bus ticket receipt,” said Shabazz. That erroneous twist of fate is what started his NBA career. “After the false arrest, the officers started eating cheese,” he said. “The chief of police at the time was friends with the general manager of the Cincinnati Royals.” “He (the chief) asked if I could play ball. I said yes.” “He arranged for me to meet his friend in an attempt to make up for what had happened.” During the time you played all positions and I pretty much did that for the Royals, Celtics and the Bucks. He mother remebers Shabazz as

being a good kid. “He was pretty disciplined and playing basketball was all he liked to do,” she said. “Of course parents were old-fashioned in discipline then and we kept a close watch over our children.” Raushaunah Shabazz said that her

Rashid Shabbaz

former husband carries a strong sense of loyalty to the community.” “He has great motivation and is a very positive person.” “He’s very devoted to his religion, Islam,” she said. Shabazz is the owner of Rashid’s Fish and Chips which is located in the Whitely community. Family Information: Born July 15, 1943 William Elbert Dinwiddie to Curley W. (deceased) and Madeline Coatley Dinwiddie. The family resided at 1501 E. Butler St. His siblings are Ambemita D. Barnes (West Covena, California), John M. Dinwiddie (Big Bear, California) and Karen Thompson (Muncie). He is the father for five sons and two daughters; Rashid, Rashoul, Rahim, Chad, George, Kimberly and Stephanie.

Bonzi Wells

“There are so many people that have influenced my life, friends, family, there’s too many to mention. You’ve got to start with my family, my parents, my mom, dad, uncles, aunts and friends. I’ve got so many people in my family. I’ve got to have a lot of influences,” Gawen Bonzi Wells said in a previous interview with The Times. Wells, bom Sept. 28, 1976, to Gawen Wells and Christine Coleman, has two sisters, Andrea and Veronica, and three brothers, Shaun, Dejuan, and Jajuan. Wells has a son, Gawen Wells III. Wells talked of how he learned to play his game, a game that led the Detroit Pistons to make him an 11 th pick in the first round of the NBA draft. Wells said that he spent a lot of time watching, as well as pilfering moves to incorporate into his game. “I’ve thrown a lot of bits and pieces into my game from a lot of people playing around the neighborhood. I guess I learned (how to play basketball) by watching. I was so small, no one would let me play. I guess my uncle Robert had confidence in me. He first picked me to play, so I guess uncle Robert Scaife taught me how to play,” said Wells (excerpt from a previous interview). Wells, a 1994 graduate of Muncie Central and a former Ball State University student 1994-98 grew up in the Whitely area of Muncie. Wells said that he had many influences in his playing game, as he grew older. He said that his father was very active in basketball in high school and college, and would take him with him when he’d go to the park to play ball with his friends. The young Wells was much too small to play. So he’d just watch. But as he grew older, he’d play until it got

to the point where his dad, nor his dad’s friends could keep up with him. His 1994-95 season was a launch to his many accomplishments. During his college career when he was named Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year he was selected for 1995 U.S. National Team trials, was ranked 12th in the country in steals per game and was selected for Basketball Weekly All-Freshman honorable mention. His 1995-96 season was more flamboyant than the previous. He was named Mid-American Confer-

ence Player of the Year, achieved Associated Press all-America honorable mention, was A 1 1 - MidAmerican Conference First Team, MAC AllTournament Team, selected for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association AllDistrict 4 and received the National Association of B asketball

Coaches All-District Award. Wells wasn’t finished hooping. He still had more to do, more to accomplish in 4 years of college. So he went on to Basketball Times AllMidwest honorable mention, he was fifth nationally in scoring and eighth in steals, including 10 steals vs. Ohio in March 1996 tied for the country’s best single-game effort in 1995-96 and set a BSU and MAC record. But there was still more to come. His 1995-96 MAC rankings were first in points, first in steals, third in rebounds, eighth in field goal percentage and eighth in blocked shots. He was the second most See WELLS pg. 19

Bonzi Wells