Book by Walk-on Basketball Player to Reach Out to Kids From: University Currents Date: June 9, 2000 By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones Phone: (513) 556-1826 Archive: Campus News, General News Alexander Meacham never played in a Bearcats basketball game for more than a few minutes when he played at all, yet he doesn't voice any complaints about it, and he never failed to show up. That's because he loves the game of basketball and now he wants others to learn to do things for the sheer passion of it. Meacham, a senior majoring in communication in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences well known for his seasons as a walk-on basketball player for UC from 1997-1999, is spreading his philosophy of pursuing what you love in a new book to be released this summer. Walk of a Lifetime: An Inspirational Journey from a Shattered Dream to the Cincinnati Bearcats will be published by a small hometown press, Clifton Hills Press Inc., run by College-Conservatory of Music professor Simon Anderson. The book will be geared to children ages 11-18 to tell them that stardom and fame aren't what it is all about - it's passion. Cheered by fans at UC games because he tried out for the team and made it, rather than being recruited, Meacham saw his share of lows before he came to the Bearcats. He never got a chance to play a full season of basketball in high school. A broken patella and academic problems sidelined him more than once during seasons at Seven Hills Academy, Purcell Marian and Roger Bacon high schools. "High school, oh yeah, it was probably the hardest time in my life," Meacham said. Yet UC coach Bob Huggins describes him as the reason why the term student-athlete came into our vocabulary. Says Huggins in the foreword drafted for Meacham's book, "We have many students who would love the limelight, love the exposure and loaf the work. My greatest appreciation for Alex comes because of the two loves we both share. One is, naturally, a love of this great game; and two, a love for this university and city." "I love the game of basketball so much," says Meacham, who is the son of two UC staff members - retiring College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning professor Grace Meacham and UC's retired associate athletic director, academic services, Bob Meacham. "I just love going to the basketball court to lose yourself," adds the younger Meacham. Since his days at Roger Bacon, Meacham says he has also learned to enjoy other things besides basketball. At Roger Bacon, he did the play-by-play for the school's public access games on cable TV. He even dressed up as the Easter Bunny one year for kids. At UC, he has been active in the Program Advisory Council. This year he modeled for his last time in the DAAP fashion show, a role his mom has hooked him up with since he was 7. Finally giving in to friends who urged him to write a book, he turned to two acquaintances to help him. Co-authors are Sam Dunn, an electronic media alumnus of UC and Alex's former roommate, and Mark Brown, a sports writer for the Cincinnati Herald.