That’s the ncaa’s fault, even if he had learning disabilities, he passed the SAT and they could let him play. NCAA’s evil action can be viewed as discrimination against people with disabilities today and should be sued for millions of dollars.

All that smoke with Garnett bought me here

I played against Shea in the 13-U national AAU tournament in 1992 in Kingsport Tennessee. He played for a team called PTI I believe. Manchild is a great nickname. Even back then at 13 years old you knew he was different. He was everything this video says he was. Had an NBA body already at that age. He was slam dunking and won the MVP of the tournament. Jason Terry and Chris Carraway (Duke) were also in that tournament. Played pickup vs Chris Carraway. He was also head and shoulders better than most but still not at Cotton’s level at that stage of their careers. Happy that he has found his way through. We’re not always going to find success in our first career or in what other people think we will. Though he’s been through dark times he’s found a purpose and a path. “The path of the righteous one is like the bright light that gets brighter and brighter until the day is firmly established.” - proverbs 4:18.

His mistake was not going to the NBA right out of high school... You can't give NBA Scouts an opportunity to pick your game apart !!

He's my little brother in Christ! He's just as amazing off the court as was on the court. This video brought tears to my eyes because I know what it is firsthand to see a child get screwed over by the system! One thing I know for sure is my brother is at peace with God and himself! God's got you Brother Schea, you're still great in His eyes! Love you man!

However, his brother James Cotton went to Long Beach State out of St. John Bosco. His brother got drafted by Seattle Supersonics out of Long Beach State. Wished he could have played with his brother at Long Beach State so he could have played in the league. His film Manchild is a documentary people should support

Glad you did this one about Cotton. I played against him in highschool. He did a 360 dunk and I was like who's this kid. He was a beast in the 90's

Damn that's messed up...all the stuff about grades. Today he gets in D1 easy.

Best prep player I ever seen, being out here in Cali.. He was the real deal.. 💯

I know the Cotton family personally, I grew up with Schea and James, went to school with Schea since kindergarten, he was always a different type of blessed when it came to basketball from day1. By the 5th grade he was dunkin with ease, and he had deadly range. Our Junior high all-star basketball team only had 6 players on the roster me, cheese, Hodges, Tiere, Schae and a lil whiteboy forgot his name, but we went undefeated the whole entire tournament with every game being a blowout, honestly I believe Schea was the best player on the planet, we were seventh graders and he was unmistakably the clear dominating factor on every basketball court including the pick-up games with talented grown men, he was better than Garnett, Pierce, and B.Davis, he owned them with very little effort on his behalf, he was so damn good on the court he rarely had to bring his "A-Game" bcuz his "not even really trying that hard" game was leaps and bounds ahead of any human he came across, no matter the city or state, no cap

Shei Cotton was Partizan Belgrade player. He was dunk machine. Grobari(fans of Partizan) respekt you! All the best from Serbia!

I heard about this guy forever growing up and I didn't even grow up in the west coast. It felt like folklore. Cool to finally see clips and a story.

God bless you Shea Cotton. Watch out for those children under you, as others should have done for you when you were playing. 👊🏿

Man, let me tell you, coaching kids on the sport that you love is the best medicine when you feel life didn't go as expected.

Great call on doing this! I was in the East coast in high school hearing about this guy when there was no internet. I always wondered what happened to him but never bothered to look it up.

I read about him when I was a junior in high school. It was in the Sports Illustrated. A year later we meet in the Boston Shootout and I had to guard him. It's true, much respect.

Thank you for this story, on many levels.

Best High School player I’ve ever seen live

Excellent, informative story... And one that doesn't end in tragedy... YAY!

Good shit keep it up. Was really feeling this.

Man this dude was an absolute legend back in the early to mid 90's. I had the pleasure of seeing some really good athletes in various sports during my HS days (91-94) here in Southern California. From football to baseball and of course basketball there was just some dudes that you heard of that you just had to watch. Even til this day when I think of certain sports the same names pop up just from having watch them play during high school. These are the ones that stick out for me (that I saw in person). Football - For me it was no doubt Reuben Droughns from Anaheim HS. Dude was just a monster of a running back good lord. Watching him just run everyone over was such a treat. Kind of reminded me of Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl lol. Baseball - Jaret Wright, the pitcher from Katella HS. I was 5'10 and 120 pounds and this godzilla was 6'2 220 throwing 95mph. It was unreal and I was quickly introduced to what a real fastball was. Mark Kotsay of Santa Fey/CSUN, this dude wasn't very big but would hit massive homers with that beautiful swing. There was just nobody better around that time. Basketball - Schea Cotton. Without a doubt in my mind the most dominant athlete in his sport, period. I had heard about him from a buddy so we went to watch him while he was at Mater Dei (some tournament in Anaheim) and good lord I was in awe. Sky high dunks and just a god among insects running the courts. I heard all the stories about why he never made it, but this is the one cat that should have been in the NBA without a doubt.

I coached against him, when i was at Riverside Church in 1996, he was a MONSTER...Early LeBron for sure !!!

Great story, I really enjoyed it and will pray for my brother and many like him.

Nice piece... I watched all that unfold as those years were going by nice hear he's helping youngsters..

Ahhh yes the great Schea Cotton!!! Yes this guy was amazing!!! I remember this guy's dunks my 7-8th grades . He went to Mater Dei then St. John Bosco. Dude was windmilling from the dots,sick!

Interesting!! I never knew!! Thank you for the video!!

I remember Shea Cotten, he was the biggest basketball player in the country in high school. I hate that the NCAA ruined his chances to play at UCLA. I am glad that they have almost no power now. They abused their power and hurt a lot of young men in the game.

had to check him out after all the smoke podcast

When your 6'5'' and people don't think your big enough meanwhile I'm 5'7''

Ronnie Fields needs one of these. Also, Stanley Branch from NJ. Was a teammate of JR Smith at St. Benedict Prep.

For next you should tell the story of Whiteside from high school until being a star in the nba

I love my boy so much! He was the goat! He was my favorite player ever! Love u schea!!!

7:09 Boards of Canada....those guys are two of my favorite musicians ever. nice work

great story, you narrated very well.

Good stuff bro. Randy Moss and K.G. interview mentioning Shea name is what sent me here to look him up

Great video man! I love your stuff, keep doing your thing bro

Saw him play in the CIF championship against Nogales. I entered not knowing who he was & thought Nogales & its 2 stars Shemario Richard & William Porter would dominate. I left the gm remembering Schea cotton to this day!!!

Schea Cotton was dope! I swore he would go pro! I remember him when I was a senior one and he was a freshman in high school.

This was a good little documentary man.

He was a Beast! We played against each other in the Irvine Valley Tournament in California! We Both had 35 points Adrian (Spanky) Parks Allan Hancock College! I Happy for you my dude!!

It's great that he's at peace and giving back.

NICE, Thanks!!!

I saw him play as a 12 year old in an AAU tournament in Utah. Beast.

Great Story of not giving up through hard times

Wow.. talk about victim of circumstance😯every time he needed just one thing to go right nothing did. That’s some real tough luck.

Schea was a beast! I remember him.

i know him from slam mag back in 94. but never know why he never play in the nba. so this is why. thanks for the video man.

I went to ABCD back in the mid to late 90's where Kobe, Odom, and Cotton were there. No internet only by word or Streets and Smith was the way you would hear about these guys. I was there I witness Schea kill every top player there in that week of time. I don't know about Lebron before Lebron but, he had EVERYTHING. What I mean by everything, he had a jumper, mid and 3 pt, hops, the size, body, aggressive, could handle the ball, moved his feet on D, and beyond athletic!!!!! Sucks to see what happened to him, always wondered how he would be on that NBA level. But in all honesty he was LEGIT!!!!

Bout to have this same discussion for Wiggins in about 3 more years

Yea I remember hearing about this guy when he was a kid. Goes to show, the hype don't always come to be

What a great story, this guy repensent everyone with a dream that didn't reach it but still fights for a better life.

Ernest Killum from Lynwood High School in California. Class of '90. All the popular players that never made it already have documentaries i.e. Ben Wilson, Hank Gathers, Len Bias, etc. Stick with the guys that were legends in there cities that had NBA talent that most people don't know about. Good job

Fremont High Tigers vs Mater Dei at Oakland Arena in 96... I was there

That beat at the end tho🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Awesome video

I played schea in high school and college, I hate he didn't make it. The world missed out.

Great story. I always heard about jim and wondered why he never played in the nba

S. C. Rips, always has and always will. Got to do some youth enrichment programs with him. Dude is a man of God, Grand Cayman islands ,this man has been given back. Peace to the brother!

They did him dirty

Now this is a story players need to hear about.

Damn watching this brought back memories. Shae was a bad dude, he was balling everybody up. I remember seeing him play at the pond for the cif title and he didn't disappoint.

I remember him..... He's much older than me but I'm a baller and my older cousin was hip to Cotton 👍

I was at that game vs odum in 96. That was a great game odum, Khalid El Amin some others

Fr N.Cali remember this young man

Up coming youtuber 💯💯💯

Mater Dei is a god mode school for sports.

Sounds like all ALL THE SMOKE interview. Big ups to this basketball Phenom…

Do you have a video of Charles and Ed O'Banon? Thanks!

What happened to Schea Cotton is he had the body of a grown man when he was only in the 9th grade and was more physically mature than the rest of the players in his class and then by the time that he was a senior some of the other kids in his class started to grow and develop physically and improve their game like Tracy McGrady and they passed him .

I know that we're supposed to take responsibility for the choices we make,but damn; when outside sources cont. to hold you back, even the best of us will break. Glad he was able to turn things around and find peace.

i used to go watch shea cotton play at st thomas moore in connecticut where i live...... for free the level of play in juco is unreal........ he was so powerful wen he dunked it was like vince carter in person.... hes the best ive seen at that level ive played aau etc all over since 11 im 32 nmow he was the truth

I went to crenshaw high lol crazy to see them in this vid

I remember this guy very vividly. This cat was LeBron before he ever existed. He had the OC talking when he was in high school in #Santa Ana. He would just laugh at the other team, because it was so easy to him. He should had a long career in the NBA, out of high school.

He was at Long Beach junior college a year before I got there

I remember reading about him in "Slam" magazine back when that magazine was worth a $hit. SO MANY guys that you would read about and things wouldn't work out. Peeps like Lenny Cooke also.

Your a legend

The NCAA played a HUGE part in his lack of success. 🤬

classic story of overuse, i bet this happens more than everyone thinks

! Ps Much Gratitude

He was Zion back then 😂

Dude i remember this guy coming To play at a tournament in montreal he was da best....could shoot...jump high asf....a beassstttt

You should do a video about Jaron Rush

Of all the what ifs, this is the only guy I truly felt would go on into the NBA.

do one on Jerome Harmon, ex louisville player from Gary, Ind. was the cardinals leading scorer off the bench the one year he was eligible to play. could have developed into one of the best from Ind.

Do a story on B.hop ..he played with Chris Bosh and was the star on they team....he was like 5,6 and dominated...like Iverson in high school...his name was big back then...

another great player

Shoutout to you, could've extended your video to 10 min easy 👏

He was one of my favorites. Never got that outside game. But this is another reason why despise ncaa.

You should do a story on Lloyd Daniels

He was the best highschool player in California history 💯

I'm from tustin in orange county.. when I hooped I didnt want to be like mike..i wanted to be like schea! Dude was a monster

Great player.

Nice bro ,Do one on Ronnie fields kevin garnett teamate . He was a sg had more dunks then Kg had..Was the best player on the team. Wild story thxx.

Did you do one Ronnie fields

Damnnnn that sucks

Great video, watch his Ted talk

I know him. From the time he was in Partizan(Serbia). We share the same injury history. I was the only white man who could say black man can not jump. But however from basketball you get some life time friends and connections. And a strong looking body. 😎 I recommend basketball for every kid to develop his body and character.

Dope ass video b

If this was 30 mins longer it couldve been a 30 for 30...

2:52 Yuuuummmmmyyyyy!!!!!😆