A recent visitor to San Quentin was Terrance O’Kelly, a former Harlem Globetrotter. He played with the AIS basketball team that defeated the San Quentin Kings team. He scored 27 points for the winners. He agreed to the following interview:
Where are you from?
I was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and raised in Long Beach, California.
What college did you attend?
I attended Long Beach State.
Have you tried to play for the NBA?
I tried out for the Utah Jazz in 1995 and was cut before the preseason.
When did you play for the Harlem Globetrotters?
I played one year during the 1997-98 season in Japan, Mexico, Poland and etc.
Did you enjoy your professional experience?
I had a good life experience during my career. I traveled the world and saw many countries.
There are lots of gangs and drugs in Long Beach. How were you able to escape the negative influences during your childhood?
My mother and my grandmother guided me in my life. Plus I was more afraid of them, more than anybody in my neighborhood.
How did you end up here playing against the S.Q. Warriors and Kings?
(A friend) who knows me from the Orinda Summer League invited me to come and play here.
Do you enjoy playing with incarcerated men?
Most definitely! When we are playing, it is as we are not in this prison. We are fellowshipping and playing basketball.