By DAVID MORRISON
Opelika-Auburn News
Opelika, Ala. — Kenny Gabriel didn’t even know there was a “Paris” in Texas. He did know that Texas was “one of the biggest states” in the U.S., but that was about the extent of his knowledge on the place he’d be spending the next year of his life after he graduated from United Faith Christian Academy in Charlotte, N.C., in 2008.
He also knew that succeeding in Paris after hitting an academic roadblock on his way to Auburn was his only chance at playing Division-I basketball. And he’d have to go about 1,000 miles from home to get it.
“I just felt like I was on an island by myself before I really got comfortable with my teammates,” Gabriel said. “Being that far away from home, you get homesick really easy. It was just really tough on me.”
The 6-foot-8 forward shined at Paris Junior College in the 2008-2009 season for Dragons head coach Ross Hodge, qualified at Auburn and was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer and rebounder with 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds a game last year.
Gabriel, like many other athletes in major college sports, hit a snag in his journey from high school star to Division-I player. He also knew exactly what he was working for the whole time he navigated the junior-college transitional period necessary for a shot at the big time.
“It’s just staying on track, not getting sidetracked because you had to take a detour,” Gabriel said. “Just staying on track and keeping my goal in my mind every day. Knowing what I’m shooting for when it’s all said and done.”
After getting over the initial shock of being there, Gabriel said, the relationships he formed were extremely valuable.
“I remember one time I gave the custodian’s son one of the shooting sleeves I wear,” Gabriel said. “He told me it made his day and he wanted me to sign it for him and everything. It’s just the impact I had on some people down there.”
Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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