Читать книгу Indiana University Olympians. From Leroy Samse to Lilly King онлайн

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Alford hid food from his roomie. “If I had any Cokes or candy bars, I stuffed them away in my gym bag,” Alford wrote.

Otherwise, Barkley was delightful, playing H-O-R-S-E with ball boys after practice or wrestling Auburn teammate Chuck Person on Alford’s bed.

Alford was mesmerized by Jordan, whose maneuvers were so unconventional that those at the trials could barely describe them. There were dunks with 360-degree spins, jump hooks, alley-oops—you name it. The one thing that Jordan did that Alford also could was wipe the soles of his shoes on a wet towel on the floor.

Knight spotted the mimicry and yelled, “See that, Jordan? You think Alford can leap from the foul line and dunk now?”

Alford could not. He could shoot.

So when the cut to thirty-two players was made, and the list was announced, Alford was on it.

Public scrimmages moved to Assembly Hall, which featured the atmosphere of college games, complete with cheerleaders and the IU pep band. Behind the scenes, Barkley was wavering on whether he wanted to play in the Olympics at all. He had already planned to leave college early, and if he went pro before Jordan, Barkley speculated he could make more money from endorsements.