I remember growing up playing in various tournaments in my neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. This one hot summer day, I saw this kid by the name of LeVance Fields. I was coming from the store and my man said, “Lee Lee is killin’, son. He’s only in 7th grade too, son.” I said to myself, “He’s next from the hood to go.” As the years went by, his game only further expanded.
In high school, our teams would face-off in epic battles. The Brownsville Recreation Center 16 and under league was no joke back then. It was him and Eugene Lawrence (St. John’s alum and Brownsville native) in the back court. Just think about Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and Brandon Jacobs of the New York Football Giants in the same back field. The games were always fun and exciting. Also another memory I have is when he shared the back court with Eugene Lawrence, and the front court was Antonio Pena (Villanova Wildcat), Saiquon Stone (Southern Mississippi University) and Terrence Portis (St Thomas Aquinas College) playing in S.T.A.Y. at The Cage on Mother Gaston and Sutter Ave. Fields came from a “crime-ridden” neighborhood where the game of basketball is a gateway for people to make it out. Every time he stepped on the floor as a Pittsburgh Panther, while donning the nickname “General Lee,” he put Brownsville on his back. Even though he went undrafted in this past year, he is still keeping the hood happy with his success on the court. Read More »
I’m excited as can be about this upcoming college basketball season, but one player I’m going to miss a lot is Levance Fields.
Fields—who will play in Russia this year, according to Wikipedia—drilled countless clutch shots over his four-year career at Pitt and was a joy to watch any time he stepped inside the lines.
I recently searched him on Youtube and thought I’d post one of the clips I found. How New York is this?
Levance Fields has garnered plenty of attention here as of late, (here and here) and for good reason. His formative asphalt roots personify veteran leadership, rugged defense and stylish play on the ‘wood. Peep the highlights from last Thursday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup between Levance’s Pitt Panthers and the Xavier Musketeers. Fields’s between-the-legs Boogie and high arching fader from 3 had me envisioning blacktop glory and soon-to-come professional dollars (or Euros) for the burly Brooklyn guard. His defensive positioning and steal on the ensuing possession weren’t bad, either.
