Chris Uhle: Gone to Soon

I was at a red light when I found out, waiting to turn left and head into Avalon Park. I was on the clock for my other job as the Business Development Representative for the law firm I also work for. Like I typically do, I glanced down at my phone while waiting. As busy as I am, every second matters. I utilize every moment to progress the plans, vision and work that God has called me to do.

I received a Facebook message from Juan Bernal, a coaching colleague here in Orlando.

“Chris Uhle just passed away.”

“I know he was one of your former players.”

I shook my head. My eyes squinted as I read it again to confirm. I read it correctly.

The light changed, and I had trouble moving. my mind drifted into a fog. I stared blankly ahead of me, trying to process what I just learned.

I pulled my phone out and called my wife. She was in just as much disbelief. Although most of my players rarely get to know my wife, she knows a lot about them. I talk to her about them all. She knew how I felt about Chris, and that I’d take this hard. She encouraged me to pull over as soon as possible. I was close to my friend Brandon’s house, so I told her I’d stop there and get myself together. Brandon had to take one of his boys to a doctor appointment, but he invited me to stay at his house alone while he was gone, so I did. The quiet was so peaceful. I just sat on his couch trying to process what I had just learned.

If you know me well, you know that I absolutely hate losing. I hate it. It makes me so very angry, while also depressing me. I typically do not sleep the night of a loss. Consider the fact that the Flight has had 4 straight seasons filled with under-performance and losses, and you’ll gather that I haven’t sleep very well in 4 years. This year was supposed to be different.

As we approached our 6th Florida Flight season, I was determined to put together a winning team this year. The Flight had been dismal the last few years, as we relied heavily on our Flight School Scout League (our tryout league) to discover players. That hadn’t been working as well, so this season, I set my sights on doing some actual player recriuting. I had two guys in my sight: Kasey Wilson (University of Central Florida) and Chris Uhle (Rollins College).

We had been keeping tabs on Kasey for 2 years. I bumped into him by chance at a Walmart 2 years prior. Seeing how tall he was, I introduced myself to him, got his name, and then started following his career.Chris was a bit different. I hadn’t spent much time scouting the Rollins College basketball team.However, Greg Kite, our Florida Basketball Association (FBA) Commissioner, brought Chris to my attention. A former NBA post player (and 2X NBA Champion), I believe Kite had been working with Chris, a 6’11”, 245 lb. center about to graduate. Greg put me in touch with Craig Uhle, Chris’ father.I gave him a call, and the recruiting began.

The more I learned about Chris, the more excited I became. In Chris we found a legitimate Center that could step behind the arc and shoot the three pointer better than most guards could. This would afford us the ability to also get a rebounding advantage over teams, as Chris could step outside and pull the opponents biggest guy along with him. It would free up the lane for guard penetration and allow us to rebound better. More than anything, where most other team’s big men were scoring 2 point baskets, Chris was going for 3’s. With Kasey Wilson, another forward able to shoot the ball well, we were going to stretch the defenses out and have a serious advantage as a team this coming season.

By all accounts, Chris and his father were just as excited to get started with the Flight. Unlike most minor league basketball programs outside of the NBA D-League, we had things in place to take player growth and development seriously. We had coaches Gerrod Trytten and Nick Trapp with TNT Elite on board, able to provide strategic, individual sessions for players to enhance their games. We had our own Mental Strength & Conditioning Coach in Peter Folch. We also had free 24 Hour Fitness Memberships for our players, thanks to a sponsorship deal we orchestrated earlier in the year. We were also taking things to a notch that no current minor league was able to do: we were playing a couple of games on an actual NBA floor at the illustrious Amway Center, home of the Orlando Magic.

Chris got right to work with TNT Elite, and boy did he impress. I knew we had a solid player, but I started to see just how special Chris was. At the end of his workout with Coach G and Nick, he finished off the session by shooting 400 mid-range shots with the shooters gun. Chris hit 362 out of 400 shots. That’s an astronomical 91% completion percentage. We also discovered that although he had been used primarily as a shooter, he actually did have solid footwork and a post game to work with. In Chris, I realized that if he stuck to the program and worked hard, we might have found the first player with a legitimate shot at playing in the NBA in the next couple of years.

In his professional debut, Chris put up a solid effort. We played the Heartland Prowl on the road in Lake Wales, Florida (home of Amare Stoudemire). He gave the Prowl 12 points and 13 rebounds, with all of his points coming from behind the arc (3-9 from three). He also added an amazing 5 blocked shots, 2 steals and an assist – a very complete game for his rookie pro debut. We lost a tight game by 7 points (110 – 117). Our second game was against the Marion County Showtime Stallions. Chris unfortunately got food poisoning and had to miss this game. He would, however, play against the defending FBA Champions and Macabbi Haifa-owned (the Israeli super league team) Miami Midnites the following week. He added another 7 points and 8 rebounds to go with 2 blocks and a steal. Although his numbers dropped, the impact of both him and the other rookie from UCF, Kasey Wilson, was felt. We had control for most of the game. We let it slip at the end, losing 102-94.

Despite feeling like I put together the best roster in years,we started off the season 0-3. I still knew that we were better than our record suggested, and that we would pick it up, finish strong, and compete for the FBA Championship at the end of the season…so long as we kept this roster in tact. That’s where things started to go sour.

On May 5th, I received an email from Chris requesting a leave of absence for a few weeks. He had been invited to an international combine that several international teams were supposed to attend. He felt it was in his best interest to focus only on working out, getting into better shape, and preparing to put forth his best effort for that opportunity. I disagreed. Vehemently. It’s a decision I’ll live with for the rest of my life now.

You see, in the United States, there are so many people running fake camps, combines and showcases selling aspiring players false promises of a lucrative overseas contract. I see it every day. It’s one of the reasons we do an actual mini-league to scout and recruit players. I don’t believe in these 1-2 day tryouts, and I have seen people blatantly lie and sell players these fake promises just to pad their own pockets. Oftentimes, the camps will have players already signed to deals participate, making it look like they are getting their job specifically because of their attendance at their event. It’s despicable, it angers me, and I get so disgusted when one of these events is pushed on my players.

So when Chris made it clear that he was making this decision with or without my approval, I was furious. First, we were 0-3, and Chris, in my eyes, was going to be a major contributor to us turning the season around and competing. I didn’t want to lose him, even if for just 2-3 weeks. Further, I felt like the event was going to be a waste of time and money. I didn’t want to see the young rookie get taken advantage of. With his skill set, and the fact that he was a legitimately skilled 6’11” player, Chris didn’t need to get some exposure. We film all of the Florida Flight games. We issue press releases. Him getting an overseas job was a no-brainer. He’d get signed without question. My focus was to get him closer to actual NBA form. He needed to work on his post game. He needed to get stronger. He needed to better balance his game instead of sticking around outside of the three point line so much. I guess I saw the 3-5 year plan. He was looking at the immediate next step.

Things between Chris and I ended poorly. Looking back at the messages and how he handled it, it didn’t actually end as poorly as I initially thought. You see, although Chris was leaving the Flight with or without my blessing, he still handled himself with class. He even praised my efforts and the platform I had created, as well as the tireless work-ethic that I not only preached but exemplified to him as a player. From his departing text message:

“You have also been a great example of the kind of commitment it takes to become a success in this business and that has shown me that it would not be fair to the team to not concentrate all my energy on training for the workout. I’m not trying to burn bridges here at all, but understand that I am trying to do what I feel is best for me.”

As I read that again, I realized…he wasn’t trying to be vindictive. He wasn’t trying to disrespect me, the team, or his teammates. He was really trying to make the best decision for himself. As I read those messages again (something I should’ve done a lot sooner), I can see the class, the professionalism, and the intellectual capacity that he had despite his young age.

The reality is that I was selfish. I was more concerned with winning and keeping this team together that I couldn’t properly assess this situation with the grace and understanding that I should have. To compound matters, I was going through a lot of other things away from basketball (which caused me to eventually step down as the head coach midway through the season). My wife and I had our third child, who was born 2 months premature. During the month of April, I spent most of my nights staying overnight and/or traveling back and forth to Winnie Palmer hospital. Add to that the fact that we started off the season poorly than I anticipated, I was under a lot of pressure. I wasn’t thinking as clearly as I usually do.

May 6th was the last time I communicated with Chris. Who knew it would be a decision that I’d regret so badly. I stayed up to date on what was happening in his life. Just as I figured, he landed an overseas opportunity easily, signing with the Saitama Broncos in Japan. I saw how proud his mother was to share the article of him actually signing his contract. I watched an interview he did while training in Atlanta. Chris was going to do great, and in spite of how he left the team, I was proud, too.

Fast forward to last week. Our season was ended. I could now focus on next season, and my prematurely born baby girl was healthy and strong. I knew Chris was in Atlanta training, and that he’d be leaving for Japan in a couple of weeks. I knew I needed to give Chris a call. I wanted to tell him how proud I was of him. I wanted him to know that as much as I wanted to deny it, he probably made the better decision to leave. If for nothing else, struggling through a 2-11 season with us would have done nothing for his confidence as a player. I also didn’t want any bad blood. Heck, I’ll be blatantly honest: there was also a part of me that wanted to restore things in a way that perhaps Chris might come home from Japan next season and play with us until his next playing opportunity abroad came along.

Here’s my sad reality: I’ll never get that chance. I left things unsaid, and I didn’t get to reconcile things with him…and It hurts. Chris deserved better from me. No matter how I try to justify that, the position remains the same – he deserved that. So the lesson is simple, and it’s likely one that you’ve heard before. Maybe you’ll hear it a little clearer reading this story from me because you know me. I don’t know. Listen – be sure to reconcile with people. Don’t be so ignorant as to think you control the time table.

All I Know is Chris was easily one of the most talented, loving, intelligent, mild-mannered, friendly players that has ever worn a Flight jersey. He was easy to like. You could see how much he was loved…by his family especially. The biggest root of my pain stems from me not reconciling with Chris, but it’s not just that. As a father of 3, I can’t imagine the anguish and pain that Chris’ parents are going through. The outpouring of love and sadness from his friends has had an impact. Seeing all of his schools/teams issue releases regarding his untimely, tragic death proves that he was a class act, loved by everyone that was graced with his presence. The Japan Times even covered the story, and Chris hadn’t even arrived yet.

I’m a Christian. I believe in God, and trust that His ways are beyond ours, and He has motives for causing things to happen that might not make sense to us in the immediate, but make complete sense in the grand scheme of His will and purpose. In spite of all that, I am still struggling with this. I just wish it wasn’t so. I selfishly wanted to see his career blossom over the next 10-15 years. I was curious to see if my own predictions were right: that he’d find his way into the NBA when it was all said and done.

If you’ve read this entire tribute/blog…thank you. While I wrote this to honor Chris, I really wrote it because writing helps me process things better. This has been therapeutic for me, and I pray, perhaps, that it was helpful for you, too. I’ll be attending both the viewing and the funeral over the next couple of days. I hope to bring along several of his Flight teammates as well. I suspect I’ll break down and cry when I see him. It’ll likely be worse when I see his mother and father. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, though. Chris represents the best of humanity. He’s the type of player you hope your kid grows up to be.

I don’t know what we’ll do as a team to pay our respects and honor Chris Uhle. I have some ideas. I know we’ll do something. I walk away from this realizing how important it is to cherish the time you have with people. You just don’t know when that time will be gone. Chris was 22 years old with the world ahead of him. As a coach, you never really prepare or think of burying one of your players. I’ll cherish the time I have with my players a whole lot more going forward. That I can say for certain.

Chris…Flight Nation was lucky to share our short time with you. I hope you’re in heaven shooting hoops with Pistol Pete or something crazy like that. Perhaps Michael Jordan’s father is in the crowd watching. I know one thing. If you are, you’re shooting the lights out up there. We love you, Chris. Rest in peace, big fella.

FLORIDA FLIGHT MOURN THE UNEXPECTED PASSING OF ROOKIE CENTER CHRIS UHLE

(Orlando, FL) Former Florida Flight Center Chris Uhle passed away unexpectedly this past Wednesday, August 19^th, at the tender age of 22 years old.

While the official cause of death has not yet been published, unofficial reports suggest he went into cardiac arrest before heading to an early morning workout in Atlanta.

“We’ve lost the life of a young man that had such promise ahead of him. As a coach, you never imagine something like this happening,” said Flight Owner and Head Coach Mark King. “He was only with us for a short time, but I spent a lot of time talking with him and his father early on during the recruiting process. It didn’t take long to convince me that he was not only an outstanding basketball player, but an exceptional person. He’ll be deeply missed by everyone.”

The 6-foot-11, 245-pound standout center from Rollins College played in just 2 regular season games for the Flight, averaging 9.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game in his rookie professional debut season.

“He’s one of the most talented players we’ve recruited,” said King. “A coach’s dream. A big guy who could shoot the three better than most guards. A great shot blocker. He had a promising professional career ahead of him, making this all the more incredibly difficult to comprehend.”

Uhle was in Atlanta preparing for his next professional playing opportunity. He signed to play for the Saitama Broncos in Japan. He was scheduled to leave in two weeks.

Kasey Wilson, another rookie recruit this season, was particularly shocked by the news. The two squared off regularly as youngsters in AAU tournaments throughout the country.

“I remember battling Chris all over the country while he was with the Florida Rams AAU team,” expressed Wilson. “I was excited to finally play alongside of him. He was a great player and an even better person. I really appreciate getting to know him more personally over the last few short months. He’ll continue to live on throughout all of our spirits. Flight Nation will miss him.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Chris, and especially to Craig and Alisa Uhle,” continued King. “As a father of three myself, I just can’t comprehend how someone handles a tragedy of this nature. I pray that God’s grace, comfort and peace surround them in this time of sorrow.”

The funeral service for Uhle will be held Monday, August 24, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church, located at 5 SE 17th Street Ocala, Florida 34471. A viewing will be held Sunday, August 23, 2015 from 4:00 – 6:00 at Forest Lawn Funeral Home, located at 5740 S. Pine Avenue Ocala, Florida 34480.

In Lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Christopher’s memory to:

Marion County Animal Services

5701 SE 66th Street

Ocala, Florida 34480

www. http://www.marioncountyfl.org/animal

About the Flight: The Florida Flight is a member team of the Florida Basketball Association. The mission of the Florida Flight is to utilize the platform of professional basketball to invest in the lives of others. For more information on the Florida Flight, please visit http://www.flighthoops.com.

About the FBA: The Florida Basketball Association is a Florida-based professional basketball league providing a development, branding and exposure platform for athletes, referees and other individuals seeking to further their professional basketball career. For more information on the FBA, please visit http://www.thefba.com.

Preparing for the Playoffs

It’s playoff time. Each year in the FBA, the playoffs have been a weird time for me. On one hand, I want the Florida Flight to compete and be successful. Getting prepared for those games takes a lot more than a typical regular season game. EVERYTHING is on the line, because it’s win or go home.

The toughest part of owning a team AND the league is that there are other preparations to consider as well. I have to make sure each host team gets their venues secured. I have to get the logistics for each game, and coordinate the referee assignments, making sure each game is staffed. I also try to make sure that ‘m available to attend the Championship game, whether my team is in it or not. This is probably the hardest part. It always reminds me of what Isiah Thomas used to say about the Detroit Pistons and making their own NBA Championship run. He used to attend those championship games between the Lakers and Celtics. It was painful to watch, because you want to be playing. However, the pain of watching that can be useful motivation. Each year I’m motivated by watching Championship games as well. Unfortunately, the Flight haven’t scratched the surface to even come close to a Championship game in the FBA. Our last Championship game was in 2011, against the Carey Invasion, formerly a league mate of the Continental Basketball League, not playing in the Tobacco Road Basketball League (TRBL).

One thing is certain: no one in the FBA can suggest I’ve done anything to favor my own team over others. For one, the Flight’s existence in the FBA has honestly been lackluster, having a career record that is far below a .500 winning percentage. Performance aside, I also worked hard to develop a structure that prohibits such an option. We’ve divided the leadership of the league into 2 parts: a Board of Governors, consisting of myself, my other partner Bernie Mapili, and Commissioner Greg Kite.The three of us are responsible for anything that impacts the brand awareness and marketing, the growth and the development of the league, Then we have the Board of Directors. Each team has a seat on the Board of Directors. This group is responsible for decisions directly impacting the teams. Commissioner Kite also serves on the Bard of Directors as the voice of the Board of Governors. It may sound complex, but it’s worked quite well for us. We’ve developed an FBA culture in which each team is a competitor ON the court, but business partners OFF the court. Lastly, we utilize a separate, independent referee assignor. This prevents any home cooking for the home teams, and also keeps me out of the referee payment transactions.

BACK TO THE PLAYOFFS

I mentioned the difficulties of scheduling the playoffs. This year, I am faced with the unfortunate circumstance of not being able to travel with the Flight for our first playoff game. We ended up with a match-up against the undefeated Miami Midnites, so we’ll clearly have our work cut out for us. We’ve played the Midnites, who are owned by Macabbi Haifa, a super league team from Israel, on Sunday for EVERY game this regular season. Knowing this, I scheduled a family trip to Pittsburgh the week before the playoffs. One thing I’ve had to adjust and improve was my availability to my family during the season. Playing in the summer, it’s easy to lose an entire summer to basketball and neglect time with family. Summer is a time for vacations and small trips. These are tough to schedule when you have a game every weekend. Anyway, I thought I was able to squeeze in a fun family trip without missing the playoff game. Unfortunately, Miami couldn’t get their venue for Sunday, and asked to play Saturday instead. I fly back on Saturday, so I’ll have to send the guys on to play without me. It really stinks, but it’s all a part of being the league owner as well. It can’t be all about me. I have to consider all parties involved. Fortunately, the Midnites Live Stream their games, so I’ll still be able to watch it live from home.

We’ve been preparing well for this first round match-up. The Midnites might be undefeated, but the way I see it, statistics are on our side. Most teams that go through a regular season dominant/undefeated rarely win the actual championship. Teams like the 1991 UNLV Rebels, the 1999 Duke Blue Devils and the 1983 Houston Phi Slama Jama Cougars quickly come to my mind, but a very recent example happened last season with the undefeated University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Now, I’m not saying we will win. I am, however, saying that we CAN win. The struggles that we’ve had as a team this season are more than that which we’ve ever dealt with. For starters, I was forced to step down as the head coach in the middle of the season due to personal issues. We had a 2-month premature baby in April, and the workload I had on my shoulders with the law firm was picking up. Add to that the fact that I also run the team and the league, and…well, you can imagine the limited time and resources I had. I made the right choice – I stepped away for the season to ensure that I was available for my family, who will ALWAYS come first.

As much as that was absolutely the RIGHT decision (moreover a decision that I DO NOT regret), it was still a very difficult one. I was fortunate this season to even have that option because I had a larger assistant coaching staff. I decided to shift our General Manager, Andrew Haas, to the Interim Head Coach. Of all the staff members to choose, I knew him the longest. I knew I could trust hi, and I knew that although he hadn’t been a pro basketball coach before, he knew the game of basketball and understood the philosophies I’ve taught the previous 5 years.

In theory, it sounds like an easy transition. It just wasn’t. After putting together what I consider one of my best recruiting seasons, we couldn’t seem to keep all of those players. Our two biggest college recruits were Kasey Wilson (UCF) and Chris Uhle (Rollins College). I don’t want to put those two guys on any pedestal, but grabbing 2 of the most skilled big men in the central Florida area was big time. What I didn’t anticipate was the struggle to keep them motivated and playing with us all season. We lost Kasey to basketball burnout. and Chris because he decided to train and prepare for several key pro combines instead of honoring the contract and the work that we put into signing him to the Flight family.

Those weren’t the other 2 players we struggled to keep on our roster. Several players missed multiple practices which prevented them from playing some games per club rules and regulations. There is also the challenge of work schedules. Since we do not pay the players enough (we pay based on attendance), most of the players need to have jobs as well, and we had a difficult time working things around everyone’s work schedule. We had gaps to fill, and must have circulated through 20+ players overall this season, preventing us from developing any sort of chemistry.

Above all that, having a coaching change mid-season didn’t do us any favors either. Andrew Haas has done a fabulous job keeping things together and coaching the team, but there’s a big difference between having a 6 year head coach as opposed to a rookie head coach. Having the experience to make key adjustments in games and seeing the game with a wider lens is something that takes years to develop. He was able to get us our 2 wins on the season, but this team is MUCH BETTER than 2 wins. The bottom line is neither he nor I were able to have a consistent roster in place to make a good run at winning some games this season. In fact, I believe we’ve had a different roster for every game this season, due to someone missing or a new face being added here or there. It’s been tumultuous. It’s tough to win that way.

In spite of all that, we are still a very good and competitive team capable of surprising these undefeated Midnites. We got Kasey Wilson to return, which is a huge positive. Better than that, we’ve had some players that took full advantage of the opportunities presented this season. For example, in our last game of the regular season, Edward Mincey, a player that had a couple of DNP’s (did not play – coaches decision) early on in the season, dropped 40+ points against the Midnites. If we bring our fully-loaded roster to this upcoming FBA Semi-Final Playoff game, and if we value each possession and take care of the ball, we’re going to compete and have the potential to upset the Midnites. In my opinion, even with the roster changes and missing key players, we’ve competed every time against the Midnites.

We’ve got one more week to prepare for the game. My hope is that everyone within the Flight organization takes this week seriously and prepares appropriately to make some noise in this year’s FBA Playoffs. Heck – in my life, I’ve never been one to take the easy road in life anyway. Having a team go 2-11 and win the FBA Championship would be one heck of a surprise. I guess weirder things have happened.

Until next time…

FLORIDA FLIGHT SIGN ROLLINS COLLEGE PRODUCT CHRIS UHLE

(Orlando, FL) – The Florida Flight today announced the signing of Rollins College product Chris Uhle to their roster.

The 6’11”-inch recently completed his senior season with the Tars, starting every game and averaging 9.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Uhle displayed an exceptionally soft touch from the three-point line for a big man, connecting on 40 percent of his attempts – good for seventh in the Sunshine State conference. He also led his team with 49 blocked shots.

“We’re excited to have Chris onboard,” said Flight owner and head coach Mark King. “He gives us another skilled big guy, and his unique outside shooting ability will pull opposing centers away from the paint, which will open the lane for his teammates.”

Uhle’s signing is the second local college product joining the Flight roster, as it comes on the heels of the acquisition of former UCF Knight Kasey Wilson.

The Flight’s regular-season opener is set for Saturday, April 4 as they hit the road to face the Heartland Prowl. Their first home game is Sunday, April 26 against the defending FBA Champion Miami Midnites at 5:45 pm, at the Downtown Recreation Center.

The Florida Flight is a member team of the Florida Basketball Association. Its mission is to utilize the platform of professional basketball to invest in the lives of others. For more information, please visit http://www.flighthoops.com.