Member’s son rises to challenge
He shoots! He scores! And scores and scores and scores

By SHERRY HALBROOK
It’s one of those stories that makes you feel so good it brings tears to your eyes.

Even President George Bush said he teared up when he saw the news on TV of how high school senior Jason McElwain in Rochester got a chance to play in the last four minutes of his school’s last basketball game of the regular season and stole the show — hitting six three-pointers and a two-pointer to bring down the house and set a school record.

Because Jason is just 5 feet 9 inches tall, because it was his first chance to play in a varsity game, because he has worked selflessly all season as the team’s student manager, and most of all because he refuses to let his autism define his vision of who he is and what he can do — for all those reasons, Jason was swept up triumphantly onto the shoulders of his teammates and friends that night in mid-February and he is still riding high.

Literally dozens of movie offers, professional team offers from as far away as Europe, TV appearances, a meeting with Bush and other dignitaries, and countless awards and local and national recognitions keep rolling in.

Jason’s beleaguered family finally hired the famed William Morris talent agency to field all the calls and offers.

“I was stunned,” said Jason’s dad, PEF member Dave McElwain, a section head in the sales tax division of the state Department of Taxation and Finance in Rochester.

It wasn’t Jason’s brilliant performance that surprised him so much.

“Jason’s very passionate about basketball. He shoots hundreds of baskets a day,” McElwain said.

It’s the way the world has responded that takes his breath away.

In a shotgun e-mail response to more than 60 congratulatory messages he received from co-workers, McElwain said, “We just thought he was going to suit up and he might get to play. Who could have dreamed what would happen that night?

“The next day there was a short article in the paper on the game and Jason’s name was mentioned as scoring 20 points. I was overjoyed. I cut out the article and we had our basketball memory. I thought that was the end to it.

“The next day, I went to Albany for a meeting. While I was gone, the local stations came to school and interviewed him. The next thing I know he is on CNN, ESPN, and the CBS Evening News. This story just keeps on going. I am truly amazed at the response from these four minutes of video.

“I can only conclude that most of the news that we see centers on the bad in the world and that people are really hungry for stories of goodness.

“The kids on Jason’s team and the students in his school have been super. Their support for Jason was the true story and the reason this story has touched everyone.”

Meanwhile, the dazzling pace continues. Jason and his dad and coach were guests of honor at the “final four” games of the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament in Indianapolis. They were guests at a Cleveland Cavaliers game, and many nights and weekends are taken up with sports banquets and guest appearances.

“He’s handling all of this much better than his mother and I,” McElwain said. “Wherever he goes, he’s recognized and people want to meet him and have their picture taken with him. I’d be very nervous, but he really doesn’t have any fear.”

WINNERS — Jason McElwain and the Greece Athena High School Trojans and coaches celebrate their win in a sectional HS basketball tournament.

The Communicator May 2007

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