Column: Manager's story shows what's right with sports

MARION - Adults doing the right thing isn't a foreign concept. Kids being selfless instead of selfish is possible. Sportsmanship is not dead.

Zach Slone became a viral video star over the weekend because he made a notable shot, but a lot of good things had to happen for it to become the moment it became.

“The way the whole thing unfolded was pretty special," Harding Athletic Director Sean Kearns said. "It was a great moment for Zach and a great moment for both teams and everybody who was there.”

Slone is a senior manager for the Prexies and has been with the group since they were in middle school. He films the games, he gets the water and runs the clock at practice, he doesn't miss open gyms, and he helps with the elementary school program. And when he has time, he gets his own shots up on the side.

Slone is someone who's always around, but also someone easy to overlook. However, his teammates and coach recognize his contributions.

"He’s always just been one of the guys to be around. He’s fun,” fellow Harding senior Jordan Scott said.

Don Worstell has been coaching basketball since 1989. He's taken teams to the state tournament, but he'd never done what he did Friday night. He remembered a request Slone made in the preseason: Could he dress with the team on Senior Night?

As a sort of spur-of-the-moment decision last week, Worstell secretly set the plan in motion. He made sure there was a uniform waiting and put Slone's name in the scorebook to make it official. He didn't have to do it, but he did because of what Slone meant to the program.

"You’re always concerned about the integrity of the game and how it’s going to impact the other school, but once there was a margin and the game was not in question, it just felt like the right thing to do," Worstell said.

Other right things followed. The Fairbanks coaches saw a new name in the book and wondered who it was. The Harding team found out at halftime and made sure to stretch the lead out so that their buddy could get his moment on the court. The junior varsity coaches got Slone from his film perch at the end of the third quarter and sent him to the locker room to suit up.

"I know Zach, and he’s been wanting to play since seventh grade year. He’s in the gym all the time running around and shooting," Harding senior Roger Hamon said.

It became a rallying cry within the team and when it finally happened.

“It was awesome," said Harding's leading scorer, Tyler Longstreth. "Slone has been with us since seventh grade, and to see something like this happen and to make him this happy and actually get to play (is great). He’s always managing us, so for him to actually get on the court and us support him like that was great. It’s just what we pictured — Slone getting out there.”

With about 90 seconds to go, Fairbanks coach Justin George called a timeout with his team trailing big. His message was simple: Let No. 25 score if he gets the chance.

Another adult doing the right thing.

“The rest is history," George said.

But a lot more sportsmanship had to go into making it history.

Slone shot a few errant 3-pointers, but eventually he was set up for a feel-good layup. However, that's not why the video went viral.

The Prexies had one last possession and fed Slone the ball for a 3-pointer. He missed. A teammate rebounded and fed him again. But it was another miss, with the ball bounding out to Colton Green, of Fairbanks — the unsung hero of the night.

A little background on Green: He's one of 32 children, some of which are special needs. If the ball bounces to any other Fairbanks player, they likely hold the ball for three seconds and walk off the court after a 66-45 loss, and everyone would have been happy with how it played out.

Yet through destiny, the ball found Green, who without hesitation tossed it out to Slone for a final 3-point attempt. Green can't get credit for an official assist, but as the ball drained through the net with the buzzer sounding, the kid will never throw a more meaningful pass.

“It was a great attitude by the kid," Harding senior Jesse Ansley said of Green. "He saw that we had a player come in who was not exactly a threat, but for him to have the sportsmanship and the compassion for the game and for him to realize that would make Slone’s day for him to be able to get that last shot attempt, for him to make that happen, it was a great moment for him, and we’ll never forget it."

Slone finished with five points, which set off a mosh pit on the court as his teammates piled atop of him in celebration, soon joined by the Harding student section.

“It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever been a part of," Harding's Taylor Peterson said. "It was a lot of fun, and it was a great experience for Zach and the team.

“It’s really awesome that it happened on senior night and that he got to go in. We’re hoping other people around will see these kind of things like how long he’s waited to get his chance and he finally got to go in. He persevered."

Slone made the shot, but a lot went into it.

He had to show punctuality, reliability and loyalty over six years to earn the chance. Worstell had to set it in motion by granting that request made long ago. His Prexie teammates had to want to play well enough to build the cushion needed to get their friend on the court. George had to see beyond the impending loss for Fairbanks and make a request opposing coaches don't make: Let the kid score. The Fairbanks players had to listen to their coach, and one in particular — Colton Green — had to take it beyond that.

"We live in such a selfish society," Worstell said, "and it was so cool to see everyone thinking of someone else."

A lot can be taken from Zach Slone's viral story.

"It’s a life lesson and it’s more than basketball,"  George said. "That’s what we’re trying to do and instill in our kids here. Basketball is important, but outside it, being a good member of your community is as well.”

Selflessness, sportsmanship, doing the right thing, seeing the bigger picture — those 90 seconds in an otherwise unremarkable Mid Ohio Athletic Conference boys basketball game encapsulated everything that can be good through athletics.

All is not wrong with sports.

Rob McCurdy is a sports writer at The Marion Star and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 740-375-5158 (work) or 419-610-0998 (cell). On Twitter, follow @McMotorsport.