Amare Stoudamire

Amare Carsaras Stoudemire was born on November 16, 1982, in Lake Wales, Florida, to Carrie and Hazell Stoudemire. Amare has an older brother, Hazell Jr. and a younger half-brother, Marwan. His parents divorced when Amare was young so he spent some of his time with one parent and some with the other.

By the time Amare was 12 he was getting very good at football and pictured himself as a reciever for Florida State or Florida of Miami and then star in the NFL. Amare played a little basketball and learned how to use his jumping ability to intimidate opponents from his brother and by the time he was in sixth grade he could do a reverse dunk on the playground. Amare's favorite player was Shaquille O'Neil who played a few mile up the road in Orlando. Amare's Favorite Shaq moment was when he destroyed the backboard with a dunk while playing against the Nets.

Around the age of 14 Amare had made up his mind that basketball was his thing. At 6'6" Amare began to develop his game by joining the AAU team over the summer. His power and anticipation made him a force as a defender and rebounder and his quickness gave him a move that no one could defend.

Word began to spread about Amare and recruiters began showing up, highschool and college scouts. He played for 3 different high schools before settling in Cypress Creek High in the outskirts of Orlando. This school wasn't even known for basketball its claim to fame was its marching band. Amare sat out his junior season due to transfer regulations. But in his senior year he averaged 29.1 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks per game. The team still only finished with a record of 16-13, but he was still named Florida's Mr. Basketball 2002. It was hard for anyone else to compete for this honor because by now Amare stood 6'10" and weighted 240 pounds..

As the NBA draft came around many scouts were looking at Amare, he was finally drafted by the Suns with the 9th pick, the only highschooler taken in that year, and his NBA career began.