By Mohamed Bafakih (@MoeBafa):
Deteriorated pavements surrounded Keith Fisher’s neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles.
It was between Broadway and 66th Street where the 6-foot-8 redshirt freshman for the Spartans grew up.
You couldn’t walk a mile without noticing nearly a dozen liquor stores, fast food restaurants or even places of worship heading north to south along Broadway. But getting there meant you must step on cracks. A lot of cracks.
“No matter how cracked up it is, it’s always going to be home,” Fisher said.
The city of Los Angeles never put enough money into Fisher’s area, but it was those streets that helped shape him into the man he is today.
“I grew up not around the right people, but my family, those were the right people,” Fisher said. “Outside of that, some of my old friends, I can’t really hang out with no more… some of them are in bad places.”
Fisher is the second oldest of six children, with all four of his younger siblings being girls. He and his older brother fought and argued which is typical, but when he was 12 and became an older brother to his sister, things quickly changed.
“When I finally became a big brother, it was certain things I had to learn,” Fisher said. “I’m still always overprotective, but no matter how old they get they’ll always be my babies.”
Growing up in an area that gets a bad reputation like South Central forces one to grow up fast because of the odds that are stacked against making the right choices. Fisher used basketball as a way to avoid trouble.
He started playing organized basketball in eighth grade. Then 6-foot-3 and grazing the rim, Fisher began growing into his frame. By the end of his senior year, Fisher earned a three-star rating by ESPN and led the state’s 13th-ranked team in Westchester High School to a L.A. City Section Championship.
Florence, the neighborhood Fisher grew up in, unfortunately ranked 10th worst for violent crimes within Los Angeles’ 272 neighborhoods according to the Los Angeles Times. Violent crimes are categorized by homicide, rape, aggravated assault and battery.
Between March 13 and Sept. 10 of this year, data compiled by the Times using police reports showed Florence generating 521 violent crimes during that six-month span.
Bordering Florence was third-worst neighborhood Vermont Knolls.
Askia Booker, a former recruit of SJSU’s first-year head coach Jean Prioleau, attended high school (Price) in Vermont Knolls before earning a scholarship to play for him and his staff at Colorado in 2011.
Both Booker and Fisher starred for their high schools and played within the AAU circuit for the Compton Magic organization — utilizing basketball as a form to make it out of their rough neighborhoods.
Booker, now a professional basketball player for the NBA G-League’s Northern Arizona Suns, said he had “that dog” in him which emerged from overcoming tough situations in South Central.
Fisher’s message to those looking to make it out or be a difference is to make the right decisions and not falling into the hype.
He did it and it has helped him, his family, his community and his current home in San Jose where he also majors in psychology.
Sophomore point guard Isaiah Nichols, who’s a Southern California native and was part of the same 2016 recruiting class as Fisher, has enjoyed being alongside Fisher as they look to create memories on the floor.
“I’m really excited to play with him,” Nichols said. “He’s a good guy on and off the court… he’s outgoing. He’s a cool guy.”
With the season rapidly approaching, Fisher knows the significance of what it means to be here, as opposed to being back in Florence — a place he hopes to one day fix.
“It’s so important for me to be here,” Fisher said. “I feel like I’m not only making my family proud, I’m making my area, my city proud.”
Statistics have yet to accompany his name as he missed the entire 2016-17 season due to an ACL tear. That time will come.
More importantly, not being a statistic of his neighborhood is why Fisher said he is his own inspiration and his own role model.
“I try to strive off myself and try to be the best me I can be,” Fisher said. “I don’t try to look up to anyone else.”
