But, in my book, few Flyers have a more satisfying, more meaningful story to tell than does Nate Green:
• He works with troubled youth — all who have at least one felony — at the West Central Juvenile Rehab Center in Miami County.
• He coaches a team in the Troy Junior Basketball league.
• He’s a newly married man with a daughter and stepson.
• And he’s a guy who daily lives the life-changing lesson he learned a dozen years ago at UD.
People most remember Green as the burly, 6-foot-6, 245-pound forward who played through pain and problems from 1998-2003 for then-coach Oliver Purnell.
Until this past season, he held the record for most games played in a Flyers’ uniform (133.) And many of those efforts came when he was wrapped mummy-like about the upper torso to aid his continually dislocating shoulders, both of which were in need of surgery.
People know he had some big games in his career — especially against George Washington, which wasn’t far from his Maryland home — and they also remember how he became a hit on ESPN SportsCenter and later YouTube with his on-court feint and flex at the taunting Xavier Musketeer mascot at the Cintas Center.
One thing many people forget is how his career at UD started on such a nasty note, one that almost got him sent home before he ever played a second for the Flyers.
“When I was a kid, I was a problem child and I almost didn’t graduate from high school because I was so unruly,” the 31-year-old Green admitted. “Freshman year I came to UD with that street mentality and I thought that lifestyle was going to work here.
“I was wrong. UD wasn’t just a school, it was all about family.”
It was not about what happened that October night in 1998 at a Student Ghetto party. A few Flyers players got into an altercation with another UD student there and Green punched the guy on two separate occasions.
The other student pressed charges, Green admitted his involvement and was convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault. He got two years probation, did community service in a Brown Street soup kitchen, completed a couple of court-required rehab programs, was suspended for two games and went through a “Convicts Against Prison” program at London Correctional Institution that he admits “was a scared-straight program that worked.”
And through it all, he remembers how UD treated him:
“Like I said, UD is about family and they were supportive. They looked at it as I made a mistake, but that I could learn from it. That I could change ... and I never forgot that.”
Helping the kids
Green is reminded of that every day as he works as a rehab specialist with those youth offenders, some as young as 10. When he started he was surprised by the severity of their crimes at such a young age — everything from burglary and gun possession to rape and drug trafficking.
Some of the kids’ stories are heart-wrenching, some just numbing — like that of a child whose mom, now in prison herself for rape and attempted murder, used to sell and prostitute him when he was a little.
“They’re young and commit the type of crimes that has so many people saying, ‘Look at them. Just another statistic ... they’re gonna be nothing,’ ” Green said
“In my opinion, we need to encourage them more to do the right thing, so maybe they do change. I know it’s difficult, especially when they leave us and go right back into the environment that sent them to us, but you have to try. Maybe we only change one or two kids, but that’s one or two who eventually become a positive influence in their communities.
“And I know it can happen. My life wasn’t picture perfect, but I learned from my mistakes. I just want to help some of the kids through some of the things I’ve been through and let them know: ‘There is hope. People do believe in you. You can change.’ ”
Grew up at UD
After his UD career — where he played on two NCAA tournament teams and two that went to the NIT — Green began a pro career that took him to Austria, Luxemburg, Ecuador, to Argentina for three seasons, a brief stop with the Dayton Jets and two seasons in Mexico, where he played with former UD teammate (and soon-to-be business partner) Brooks Hall and against Wright State’s Vernard Hollins.
Throughout his overseas odyssey, he kept up his relationship back here with Rebecca McMillan, the former Troy High School cheerleader he met when he was a sophomore at UD.
Three years ago they had a daughter — Tatyana — together and Rebecca also has a son (11-year-old Devon Langer) from a previous union.
Green retired from pro ball two years ago, moved to Troy and he and Rebecca married Oct. 9.
He’s about to partner up with Hall, who is opening a gym — No Limits Sports — in Troy that, Green said, will have five basketball and volleyball courts, two indoor soccer fields, state-of-the-art weight and fitness equipment and will include basketball instruction and volleyball, soccer and hoops leagues.
Green has maintained his bond with UD and developed a special connection with current coach Brian Gregory, who never coached him but, as Green said, “it really seems like he did ... I talk to him quite a bit. He and his coaches are real good at making us feel like we’re still part of the family. And that’s what UD was to me.
“It was the perfect place for me to come to. It taught me how to grow up and become who I am today.”
Today — in so many ways — Nate Green is a family man.
About the Author