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 | Michael Dyer
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Five years ago, an AAU basketball team added Michael Dyer to its roster, and a Christian community adopted him into its family.
Bryant dentist Rick Cain helped Dyer transition from a rough North Little Rock neighborhood to elite Little Rock Christian Academy. Other families helped keep Dyer at Christian and gave him a better life.
"Michael had some help, and
there are some other kids out here who have had some help," says LRC coach Johnny Watson. "That's what makes it a special place. There is a special Christian environment here with caring people who love those around them."
Dyer thrived in the new environment, growing into an impact athlete. Dyer, a running back, ran for more than 900 yards as a freshman and played point guard on the Warrior basketball team. After seven games this season, Dyer has rushed for 1,305 yards and 15 touchdowns and passed for another TD.
"I would say he is one of the top running backs in the state," LRC junior QB Griffin Kuhn says. "I haven't seen Dennis Johnson (Texarkana running back) play, but I haven't seen a high school running back do what (Dyer) does, and he does it in a hard conference, the 5A West. He is in the Top 3, if not No. 1."
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY
Cain met Dyer at the North Little Rock Boys and Girls Club while coaching his son in a fifth-grade league. Cain noticed Dyer's potential when his team played Dyer's. For several weeks he visited with Dyer after games and eventually invited him to play on an AAU team he coached. Cain met with Dyer's mother, Pamela Jackson, who gave her blessing.
Dyer played in tournaments that summer, traveling with the AAU Huskies and practicing at Christian.
"I had a son (Davis) at Little Rock Christian, and I wanted (Dyer) to be a part of that," Cain says. "I asked (Dyer) if he wanted to move to Little Rock Christian, and I knew he did."
Cain met with then-Christian superintendent Boyd Chitwood and determined Dyer qualified for a minority scholarship. However, the school tested Dyer and the soon-to-be sixth grader didn't meet Christian sixth or fifth-grade standards. Dyer's physical development kept him from being held back two grades, but Cain's wife, Trish, had a solution. She agreed to tutor Dyer for two hours a day in the fifth grade.
"I wasn't going to come because they were going to hold me back," Dyer says. "I waited a few days and came for a day to try it out. I liked it, and it has been a lot of fun."
Trish Cain picked Dyer up every day in North Little Rock and tutored him. Dyer made significant progress but his transition to private school wasn't smooth.
"When he first came over he was kind of angry," LRC athletics director and basketball coach Dewey Pennell says. "He didn't understand why they were taking him over here, and he didn't understand the regulations and guidelines. He was used to getting anything he wanted. If he were bigger than someone, he would take something he wanted. He was used to pushing and shoving to get what he wanted. He was a young kid who needed some guidance and to know people cared about him as a person. He wasn't over here long when people started taking interest in him as a person."
Occasionally, after tutoring sessions, Dyer stayed overnight with the Cains. Their West Little Rock neighborhood was in stark contrast to his gang-infested environment.
"It was just a neighborhood, and it was where I grew up," Dyer says. "I had to learn where to go, and I had to step up and hold my own sometimes. I had no problem with that. That's life."
Dyer's father, DaRon, died in a car accident 13 years ago, leaving Jackson with four kids to raise (she later had another child). Dyer used sports as a distraction while Jackson worked two jobs to support the family. After commuting from North Little Rock to school, Barry and Piper Thomas decided to include Dyer in their family. Dyer also lived with Mark and Babrara Cole, the mother of Christian senior receiver Tyler Weddle, among others.
"Michael really is a part of the Little Rock Christian family," Kuhn says. "I hate to hear people say he was recruited here (for athletics). He had a hard life, and he had friends here who wanted to help him become part of the family. He is just like any other student, and he is humble and thankful for it."
Pennell appreciated the families hosting Dyer but decided he needed more stability. In February 2006, he invited Dyer to live with he and his wife Marinell.
"My wife and I run a fairly restrictive household, and I felt like (Dyer) needed some discipline," Pennell says. "He was bouncing around like he was living in a hotel. He didn't really have anyone to answer to."
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME
DaRon's death devastated his brother, Andre' Dyer. Andre' Dyer starred as a running back at Little Rock McClellan and earned four letters as a defensive back at UCA (1987-91). DaRon died while Andre' finished his degree at UCA.
Andre' Dyer didn't see his nieces and nephews because the loss was too painful. He shut out his family.
"At the time I was in my last semester of college, and I almost dropped out because my brother and I were that close," Andre' says. "I thought about (the kids), but I was just angry. I couldn't understand why it had happened, why he was taken so early in life. It seems like my nephews and nieces were the last thing that crossed my mind, but it wasn't."
Andre' Dyer, a Little Rock police sergeant, knew his nephew attended LRC but was unaware of his living situations. When he discovered Michael lived with several families, Andre' asked his wife, Nancy, if they could raise Michael.
She agreed, but Pennell wanted to make sure Dyer wasn't pushed into a hasty decision. The two agreed he could move back, if the arrangement with his uncle didn't work.
"When I pulled my nephew in with me, I had to apologize to him because I didn't step in sooner," Andre' Dyer says. "I am so happy I did it, but it's not because of what he does (on the field). I could care less if he ever runs up and down the field or shoots a ball again. I want my nephew to be successful in life. I love my nephew for who he is and not what he does in athletics."
Michael Dyer found a confidant who empathized with his situation. Andre' Dyer's father left the family when he was little.
"He makes things a lot easier," Michael says. "At first, there wasn't anybody I could talk to about that. I kept it inside for quite a long time. My uncle was in the same boat, and we talk about that some days. Some days, we just let it be."
Dyer says some at LRC questioned his move and thought it was unfair to Pennell and the other families who worked to keep him in private school. Dyer says he appreciates the families who helped him but is glad to have a permanent home with a blood relative. When Andre' Dyer meets the families who have helped his nephew, it touches him. "I want to hug them, but I don't want to look like an idiot because they don't know me," he says.
SUPER SOPHOMORE
Dyer started playing football in the fifth grade with the North Little Rock Panthers Pee-Wee team. In middle school he longed to play with the varsity. He got his chance as a freshman in 2006 at LRC. Dyer ran for more than 900 yards and racked up 107 yards and two TDs in a 20-19 upset of Alma.
Dyer and the 2007 Warriors played for the 2007 state championship. He ran for 262 yard and two TDs Week 2 in a 26-15 win over Central Arkansas Christian. Dyer racked up 164 yards and passed for a TD against Vilonia and ran for 180 yards in a 42-31 win Week 6 at Harrison. He caught a pass for the Warrior's only score in the state title game in December.
"Michael has great balance and outstanding speed," says Watson, who has coached at the varsity level for 34 seasons. "You take those ingredients and tack on the ‘refuse to lose' attitude, and that sums him up. He is blessed with God-given speed and balance, and he doesn't want to lose or be a failure. It shows. I have never coached a sophomore who is as good as he is."
Some watchers say Dyer was better as a sophomore than Arkansas running back Darren McFadden was. Dyer idolizes McFadden and admires his stiff-arm, but the two have different styles. Dyer (5-9, 190) runs low to the ground and makes defenders miss. Andre' Dyer says his nephew's build, shiftiness and speed remind him of former Detroit Lions 'back Barry Sanders.
Dyer's football exploits landed him in the spotlight. After seeing his nephew's name splashed in the sports pages after Week 1, Andre' Dyer became concerned. Andre' Dyer remembered how his McClellan teammates resented him his senior season when he received headlines for his all-state running. He sensed that it might be worse with a sophomore star and shared the concern with Watson. The head coach didn't allow Dyer to do interviews with a throng of media after a win at Alma.
"I think if Michael was a jerk about it, it would be an issue, but he isn't," Kuhn says. "He isn't sitting around bragging. He is the real deal. He plays good and racks up yards. His uncle wants to keep him from getting a big head, but I can tell you no other upperclassmen minds him getting the attention."
LRC showed progress last year by finishing 4-6, but Dyer says the unity of the 2007 team was the difference.
"We have the heart," Dyer says. "We have the team, and we have the players, but we have to play together. We have that. This school has that. Everybody has to reach down inside. Not just Griffin Kuhn, not just Tyler Weddle and not just Taylor Johnson. Everybody. We all have to do it together."
LSU BOUND?
Dyer began rooting for LSU in elementary school. Purple and Gold are a regular part of his wardrobe. He attended LSU football camp last summer and left even more enamored with the Tigers.
"LSU has always been my team since the fifth grade," Dyer says. "I watched them and liked how they hit hard and run hard. At camp, they showed us a clip of the best plays. I saw that, and that is where I want to be. It's all about team. If I have a chance to go there, that is where I want to go, if they still play like a team."
Dyer grabbed the LSU coaches' attention by running 40 yards in 4.37 seconds. The bewildered coaches made him run again to confirm the time. The coaches moved Dyer with older campers, invited him back next summer and handed him a recruiting letter.
Alabama and Arkansas added Dyer to their mailing lists. Watson expects several programs to recruit Dyer this fall.
"I know (the recruiting) is going to come eventually, but this school has something to get done," Dyer says. "We have to prove to other teams we can play football, and we aren't some rollover school."
Dyer's future appears bright, but he won't look ahead or forget those who help him.
"I'm blessed to be where I am. Most people don't have the life I've got," Dyer says. "I'm not going to let it all go to my head. I am going to keep working hard and be thankful for it. What I have gone through is making me what I am. Where I come from, where I am now. It will all help me in life."
(c) 1993-2007 Hooten Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this site may be retransmitted without the express written consent of Hooten Publishing, Inc.
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