Ducks shine for plucky eighth-grader.

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

We waited and waited, we fans of University of Oregon men's basketball. At some point, The Turnaround had to come.

At some point, this spiral toward the Pac-10 cellar had to stop. At some point, something had to happen to redeem a season of despair.

Now, in hindsight, I realize The Turnaround did happen - at least in the mind of one 14-year-old Eugene boy. And in mine.

Last August, I wrote about Bryant King, calling him the greatest athlete I've ever known. An eighth-grader at Monroe Middle School, he skateboards and plays football, basketball, soccer - you name it. And does so with one leg - and wild abandon.

He was born with caudal regression syndrome, a disorder affecting the legs and lower intestines. He's on his second kidney transplant. Has had a spinal fusion. And has broken his leg four times.

After learning he'd never seen a game at Mac Court, I invited him to join me for Oregon-Winthrop on Dec. 22. My third-balcony, cable-vision seats weren't exactly ideal for a boy with one leg; with no elevator, just getting there requires 72 stair steps.

He said he'd love to go. So on game night, we walked a half-mile from Patterson Street, through the Pioneer Cemetery, to Mac Court. Bryant has a metal prosthesis and uses a brace. "Can I carry you?" I asked. He weighs only 68 pounds.

"Naw," he said.

Once inside, Bryant grabbed the stair railing with one hand and, metal cane in the other, started hopping up the steps. Midway up, I offered again to carry him.

"I'm fine," he said.

When we arrived at the seats, I was about to apologize for the cables that obscured our vision when he said, "Whoa. What a view!"

Then he saw coach Ernie Kent in front of the Oregon bench. "After the game," he said matter-of-factly, "I'd like to talk to Ernie."

"That'll be difficult," I said. "He has to talk to the team, do the postgame interview with (KUGN's) Jerry Allen, you know. He's a busy guy."

"He'll talk to me," Bryant said. "I kinda know him. I saw him at Copeland's once. And he remembers me from when I played in a wheelchair basketball game here against the Ducks."

I didn't say anything. This is a kid - he's had 20 major surgeries - who's known his share of disappointments in life; he didn't need me offering false hope.

After the game - Oregon won, 71-56 - we headed down. Counting a trip at halftime, Bryant hopped up and down 432 steps with no complaint. We found a strategic position near the court and waited for Kent to return from the locker room for his interview.

"Here he comes," I said.

At 6-foot-5, Kent glanced right and left to acknowledge well-wishers; at 4-foot-1 1/2 , Bryant wasn't even in the same airspace as this guy. "Hey, Ernie," said Bryant, his head tilted up like a satellite dish.

Kent nodded briefly as he hung a right and strode purposefully toward Allen at midcourt - just as I'd feared. Bryant just watched him.

Suddenly, Kent stopped, slowly did a 180-degree turn and walked straight toward Bryant. He bent over. He looked the boy in the eye.

"Hey," said Kent, "don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Copeland's," Bryant said. "And I saw you at that wheelchair basketball game."

"That's right," Kent said. "Sure, I remember you. So what do you want for Christmas?"

"A new basketball hoop."

Kent nodded with a slightly smug look on his face. "Good choice," he said. "Very good choice."

He then gave Bryant a high-five and was gone. Back to the spotlight, where it's all about the important stuff, the wins and losses.

But Bryant King knows better. And so do I. Because when I look back at the 2004-05 season, I'll quickly forget UO's record. But I'll always remember the look on Bryant King's face the moment he saw it:

The Turnaround.

Bob Welch can be reached at 338-2354 or at [e-mail].