Leroy (Truck) Fludd III was a fixture for the Boys & Girls basketball team the first three months of the season. Everywhere, except on game day.
He attended practice and study hall. But on the days when the Kangaroos were in action, he wasn’t. His uniform was the clothes he wore to school that day.
“It was frustrating,” the rock-solid 6-foot-3 wing said. “But it didn’t matter. I had to support my team.”
Tuesday evening, he was part of that team, an integral part of The High’s biggest win of the season. He had nine points, 14 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Kangaroos’ 71-65 overtime victory over Lincoln, their seventh straight league win, which puts them one more win away from the school’s first outright division title since 2004.
“Ever since they cleared me, I was waiting to play,” he said. “I knew this was gonna be a good game. I was hyped to be on the court. I felt good. I just eliminated the crowd, listened to my coach and played my game.”
Fludd, a Grady transfer, was ruled ineligible by the PSAL Dec. 2 because of the league’s transfer-eligibility rules, which prohibits players from transferring from one public school to another without sitting out an entire season.
His father, Leroy Fludd Jr., said his son transferred because Grady principal Carlston Gray and coaches at the school told him there wouldn’t be a program because of coaching instability. Since, coach Mark Seltzberg has stepped down, the third time in the last three years, and was replaced by JV coach Karl Sanders.
He was denied before an appeal, conducted by a hearing officer representing Chancellor Joel Klein, cleared him Jan. 13. Unfortunately, he was then ruled academically ineligible when, his father said, he came up half a credit short, which traced back to a shop class at Grady.
“It humbled him a lot and made him realize now you got to really do what you need to do in school,” Leroy Fludd Jr. said. “Education comes before basketball and this what he had to take serious.”
Leroy Fludd Jr. could tell today was his son’s return to action just by the smile on his face in the morning.
“We call it the Kool-Aid smile,” he joked.
The Kangaroos were happy to have him at their disposal. Lovelace started Fludd. He scored his first basket on a baby jumper, then quickly added another, a right-handed jump hook following an offensive rebound. His best work came on the defensive end and off the glass. He blocked three shots and greatly aided fellow forward Leroy Isler against the bigger Railsplitters, grabbing 14 rebounds.
“He can just do so many things,” Boys & Girls coach Ruth Lovelace said. “He can rebound, he can block shots, he can score inside, he can shoot the jump shot, he can defend. I’m happy for him.”
Fludd wasn’t the only one making his Boys & Girls debut. Junior forward Anthony Hemingway, academically ineligible like Fludd, also saw action for the first time. He scored just two points, but his 6-foot-4 frame was important on the defensive end.
“They give us a boost,” senior guard Mike Taylor said. “All the pieces are here now.”