By Gary Ahuja
Langley Times

LONG AGO, Louis Hurd vowed to make his mother smile each and every day.

Hurd was just five years old and his oldest brother Chris Ledesma, had been convicted of murder, sentenced to 99 years in a Texas prison.

"It was really hard on my family," Hurd said.

"My mom had a real hard time with it, because obviously that is her first born son. From that moment on, I promised to make my mom smile each day."

But it was an event like this that helped shape the 22-year-old into who he is today.

Many people see Louis Hurd as the star basketball player.

The Trinity Western Spartans point guard averages nearly 11 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. He is also deadly from beyond the three-point arc, connecting on nearly 44 per cent of his tries, second best in the Canada West conference, although the leader in that category has made only 18 compared to Hurd's 42. Such a threat from the outside keeps the defence honest and prevents them from clogging the lane, opening up space for his team mates down low.

And he could score more if he wanted to, or was needed to, especially considering he led the entire B.C. Colleges' Athletic Association in scoring last season while a member of Abbotsford's Columbia Bible College. Hurd scored more than 20 points per game for the Bearcats.

But Hurd is about more than just scoring and filling out his personal stat sheet, he is a helping person on and off the court.

"That is my biggest passion, bigger than basketball, is helping people out," he said.

"I want to get out there and help people as much as I can because I was helped out when I was younger, so that is something I really strive for and want to do."

He is the first member of his entire family to attend college or university.

"I wanted to use basketball as a tool to get there," he explained.

"Basketball could be a tool to better my family and educate myself."

Kevin and Mary Hurd moved from Spokane, Washington to Memphis, Tennessee when Kevin, who was in the U.S. air force, was transferred there. After six years in Memphis, where Louis was born, the family was transferred to Germany. They spent three years in Germany before moving back to Spokane when Kevin retired.

The family had purchased a home prior to leaving for Memphis and had rented it out in their 10-year absence.

"We came with nothing," Hurd explained about the first few weeks. "We were sleeping on the ground, all bundled up in the cold, getting next to each other for heat."

He remembered the family would get a big stash of McDonald's hamburgers and eat those for all three meals in the day.

His dad asked him what the one thing he wanted was and Hurd answered a basketball hoop in the driveway.

Sure enough, three days later, there was a hoop and a basketball.

Hurd would play every day, all year, shoveling the snow, just so he could play.

There would be times he played past midnight, but thankfully he had understanding neighbours.

It was on the basketball court that Hurd and his other brother, Kevin Jr. or Bubba, as his family call him, grew even closer.

The two, four years apart, had already become quite tight following the incarceration of Chris.

Hurd writes the occasional letter to his brother in jail, and does see Chris' kids, DeAngelo, Desmond, Anjenette and Anqunette, every summer.

Bubba holds a significant height advantage over his five-foot-11 brother.

"People wonder (now) why I can shoot with people in my face and it is because of my brother," Hurd said. "He would never let me get an open shot, he would never give me a chance to get an open look. He always played me tough.

"I had to learn how to play against bigger, stronger men."

High school was the next major influence on Hurd's life.

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Playing at Spokane's Lewis and Clark High School, Hurd was coached by Terry Reed.

"Terry Reed taught me more about basketball than any other coach I have ever played for," Hurd said, calling his former coach "amazing."

Like many great coaches, Reed had high and lofty standards for his players and Hurd admits he could not handle it.

"He challenged me and I just couldn't take it," Hurd admits.

Hurd transferred to North Central High School for his senior season, where he earned Northwest Hoops 4A all-state honours.

"It was a really tough scenario," he said. "Now that I am older and look back at it, it was just me not being mature enough to deal with the things he wanted me to do.

"And what he wanted for me was the best. He saw the potential in me, but I just wasn't mature enough to deal with it."

One message that Reed preached -- and Hurd still abides by -- is "you can't get back time so you have to make sure that you do all that you can with the time you got."

The key is to have no regrets.

Following high school, Hurd went to Everett Community College, where he played under Larry Walker, another influential coach.

"He is the one that really gave me confidence," Hurd said.

"He is the one that upped my game to more than I can ever imagine."

Two years there, and Hurd made his way north, first to Abbotsford and Columbia Bible College and now to Langley and Trinity Western University.

He credits Bearcats coach Mike McLaverty for giving him the inspiration that he could in fact play at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level. This season marks Hurd's first in Langley with Trinity Western University.

The fourth-year student is majoring in psychology with a minor in political science.

And of course, he is a major contributor on the court for the Spartans, and the turnaround of the program under first-year coach Scott Allen.

"He brings an edge to the team, that is probably the key," Allen said.

Off the court, Allen has noticed the work Hurd does with youth all across the Lower Mainland. "He is a real people person, a relationship builder."

Hurd doesn't envision playing professionally one day or anything like that, but hoops will always remain a central part of his life.

His bigger calling is helping others.

"At that age, they (youth) don't need to be told what and what not to do," Hurd said.

"What they need is encouragement to build and foster confidence."

Coaching kids to be the best they can be on the basketball court is all fine, but Hurd wants more and he wants to repay all those who have helped him along the way.

"(Bubba) always went out of his way to help me," Hurd said.

"Whether it was school, sports, socially."

His brother was never too busy for him and always offered encouragement, Hurd explained.

"He has loved me to death and I just want to be that kind of figure to other kids."

"I want to return the favour by building not only kids to be better basketball players, building to live better, to understand life better as far as having virtue and character," he added.

"The sky is the limit if you put the Lord first and live selflessly."

Hurd's mother says a lot of the credit for the way her two youngest boys turned out goes to the involvement of their father in their lives and his military background.

And as for what her youngest has done, she said that has been all his own doing.

"Everything he has accomplished, he has done on his own," Mary said.

"That is my heart and soul, that is my baby. He brings tears to my eyes."

February 12/2009