Not just good stuff today from Ma-B-Ez – and by the way, if anyone has seen Mrs. Smith’s license plate, she still wants it back – but great stuff. Mike Beasley’s mom agreed to be this week’s “Five,” and rumor has it she might make a few more visits here at “K-Stated.” But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
I think you’re going to like her candor and insight. If you see her at tomorrow night’s game, wish her a “Happy Birthday” – it was Tuesday, and she told me she was turning 30.
She’s a funny lady. She got rolling, so we went with a few extra questions, and I’m sure you all won’t mind. Special thanks again to ‘clams, who did the hard part, which was submitting questions.
1. What is something about Mike that no one else knows?
Off of the top of my head I would say that the one thing which MOST people don’t know about Lil’ Mike is that he’s afraid of the dark. Yep, you got it, Big, Macho Mike is afraid of the dark! To this day he will not stay in the house alone unless every light in the house is on. Chances are that if you see him outside after dark more often then not he’s probably not alone or he’s in a well-lit area…go figure!
2. Does Mike have any contact with his paternal father? Has he tried to latch onto Mike’s fame?
Now this is a “doubleheader.” Lil’ Mike’s dad (Big Mike) contacts him periodically to see how things are going just as a normal parent would. As for him latching on… I wouldn’t quite call it that. He’s just proud of the accomplishments that his son has made and absolutely loves his bragging rights on his name sake!
3. Are your other children interested in sports?
Now it’s time for me to introduce the other members of my official “starting five,” let me go down the list…
Dymond (Leroy), age 20 – Dymond was the star of his high school basketball team as a senior and he was actually pretty good. Now his love for the sport is pretty much recreational. He loves to shoot around and play one on one with Lil’ Mike and some of the other guys from the K-State men’s basketball team.
Mychaela, age 16 – Now before we moved to Manhattan you would have thought that Mychaela made her own sport of how long can she stay on the computer, phone and watch T.V. at the same time… Now she’s going to be the next “Flo-Jo” and try out for the track team at MHS.
Malik, age 9 – Malik is a very rambunctious little boy. His first love is bowling but he also likes basketball, football, soccer and baseball, too, in that order.
Tiffany, age 3 – Tiffany’s sport is definitely to see how fast she can make me pull out my hair, strand by strand. She gives a new meaning to the term “Daddy’s Girl.”
4. How do you handle the criticism that Mike is undisciplined and/or immature?
At first, just like with any parent, I would be offended because he is still one of my babies, no matter how big he is. But then I realized that people will say anything about anybody. I believe that Lil’ Mike’s being immature was attributed to him being a prankster, although his pranks could be very annoying to most. As far as him being undisciplined, that is just a blatant untruth if I ever did hear one. He gets grounded just like any other average kid, trust me…
5. At what age was Mike when you realized he was going to be really good at basketball?
When Lil’ Mike was either 14 or15 years old his AAU summer league team, D.C. Assault, in the boys’ 16-U national championship game, coached by David Cox, against the D-1 Greyhounds featuring O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker (that was actually the first time I’ve ever heard of that duo). D.C. Assault only had six players that were able to travel with them at the time, one of the other players was Lil’ Mike’s best friend, Nolan Smith (now a freshman at Duke). Nolan’s mother, Monica Smith-Malone (J-Mart note: Monica is married to Curtis Malone, the D.C. Assault founder) and I were on pins and needles all week but they actually pulled off the “W” and brought home the gold. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world to know that our boys were able to go the distance with less than half of their teammates on a national platform.
Another indication would be what seems to be countless pages of information, links and photos from doing a Google search.
(BONUS) 6. How do you handle the pressure that comes along with being the mother of a very soon to be multi-millionaire?
If I may, I would change the word “pressure” to “responsibility.” Now, how I handle the responsibility of anything dealing with Lil’ Mike is the same as I do for all of my children. I have a close circle of friends and family that I trust/know like the back of my hand and I discuss all matters with them before making any final decisions about my kids, in particular my sister Mona.
(BONUS) 7. Aside from No. 30, who is your second favorite Wildcat on this year’s team and why?
First of all, who says No. 30 is my favorite? I’m just kidding – of course he’s my favorite! This is a difficult question because I consider the whole team my “boys” so to speak, especially the freshmen. I have an open home to them all, if they just want to get away from the “college life” scene and get a home cooked meal, do some laundry, watch T.V. or just plain sleep. But if I had to pick a second favorite, it would have to be both of Lil’ Mike’s Sunday Morning Brunch partners at my house, who are:
Bill Walker, because I’ve grown closer to him since we have been here, especially since he and Lil’ Mike are dorm mates and I have also followed Bill’s high school and AAU careers over the years. He really has a great personality, even though he drives me absolutely crazy sometimes.
And Ron Anderson, because he a fellow D.C. Assault “brother.” Ron is a gentle giant and fun to have around. I like to hear how excited he gets when he speaks about all of his accomplishments that he has made since arriving here at KSU and the goals that he has set for his immediate future.
(BONUS) 8. And, of course, is it true you’re going to be submitting a weekly entry for K-Stated called “Mama Sayz…”?
Absolutely! I have been called on so be sure to check back next week to hear what “Mama Sayz”!