Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2016

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The Basketball Diaries
Rob Masters Remembers
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Playing
When Rob MasteRs
walks into a surgical suite
as a trauma consultant,
he brings a wealth of
knowledge about the
high-end stainless steel and
titanium prostheses his
employer, Synthes, has crafted for the repair of shattered
human bodies, specifically their hips, wrists and ankles.
“It’s a 24/7 type of job,” Masters
said. “Terrible car crashes and other
violent accidents that grievously injure people have no
timetable. That’s why I’m always
ready and on call.”
When Masters enters that surgical
suite, he also brings a lifetime of
preparedness, much of which he
learned on the basketball court.
Folks who have lived in the
Lowcountry for a few years won’t
take much prompting to recall that
Masters was a star shooting guard
for a Porter-Gaud team that went to
the state finals. To this day, Masters
is convinced they would have
captured the title if another of their
outstanding players, Mark Pearson, had not been out with
a torn ACL.
Masters went on to play for three years at the College
of Charleston under the tutelage of legendary coach John
Kresse. But the basketball story that he believes helped
chart the course of his life began many years earlier.
Masters, who grew up on Sullivan’s Island, started
shooting hoops at the age of 3. By the time he was 5, he
was participating in recreation leagues, coached by his dad,
who played ball at the College of Charleston and Baptist
College – now Charleston Southern University. When
he was 10, he was a starter on his school’s team and at 13
became eligible for AAU play.
“That changed everything,” he recalled. “AAU
basketball was played all summer long. So together
with my school teams, the sport became a year-round
commitment.”
By Bill Farley
| |
Commitment isn’t the only lesson Masters soaked up
on the basketball court.
“I learned discipline, teamwork, respect for my coaches’
authority and putting the team before myself. Those are a few
reasons why playing a sport can benefit any kid,” he explained.
At the College of Charleston, his basketball career
taught Masters even more about sports and about life.
“I was lucky enough to attend on an academic
scholarship, which meant I had to keep my grades up.
Many of my teammates weren’t from as fortunate a
background as my own and knew that staying in school
and playing ball was their only chance for a better life,” he
said.
“No matter who we were or where
we came from, the challenges were the
same,” Masters added.
There were rewards as well, some
of them obvious, such as the team’s
trips to other cities and to compete in
tournaments in Alaska and Hawaii.
“We were in Hawaii five days,” Rob
remembered, “and think I was on the
beach for 20 minutes.”
Some rewards weren’t immediately
obvious, but friendships with young
men he otherwise might never have met
have stood the test of time. He remains close with many of his
former teammates, and three of them served as groomsmen at
his wedding.
Now married to wife Megan and the father of a 3-and-
a-half-year-old daughter, Masters believes his basketball
career helped prepare him for life.
“The discipline that underpinned everything in
basketball has helped me strike a balance between my work
life and my home life,” he said.
Masters said basketball might not be the right choice for
every person, but a positive sports experience can do more
than keep a young man or woman busy, off the street and out
of trouble. It can form a solid base for the rest of their lives.
For tickets to basketball games at the College of
Charleston this season as well as a full schedule, visit
Photo courtesy of Rob Masters.