How Poor Test Scores Nearly Ended Dwyane Wade’s Career Before It Began

“My first set of scores wasn’t bad; they were disastrous,” Wade writes. “They sucked.”

Marquette head coach Tom Crean continued to recruit Wade anyway. In fact, Crean told him that he had a place on the team even if he couldn’t qualify academically — he just wouldn’t be able to play in games or travel with the team. Crean was determined to get a commitment from Wade.

“[Crean said], ‘Look, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re coming here and we’ll stay with everything as planned. The only difference is you won’t be able to play in the games or travel. But you’ll do everything else. You’re on the team,’” Wade writes. “Later I found out that Coach C probably didn’t have the right to say that and he had to go back to the school to make sure that he could stand by that. No matter, I was sold all the same.”

Wade took the ACT a third time, but his score was even worse. When Wade told Crean his results, they both cried. Shortly after, Wade’s girlfriend, Siohvaughn, got pregnant. Some people may have quit basketball and tried to find a different career path, but Wade decided to continue pursuing his dream, and Crean (who had emerged as a “father figure”) stood by him.

“‘Whatever happens, whatever you decide, I’m here and we’ll get through this together,’ [Crean told Wade]. Didn’t tell me what to do or how to do it. Just that he’d be there to go through it with me,” Wade writes.

Wade sat out his freshman season because he wasn’t academically eligible. After working hard with tutors, he managed to improve his academic standing and become eligible as a sophomore. From there, he became one of the best players in the nation, averaging 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.3 blocks. In 2003, Wade led Marquette to the Final Four for the first time since 1977. Then, he became the No. 5 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.