dred-yard walk from one of the gyms to an outdoor area to
conduct a brief interview.
During that walk through a rec center teeming with
teams of 16- and 17-year-old centers and power forwards
and their fathers, uncles and coaches, not to mention the
numerous current or ex-NBA players who frequent such
events, Haas couldn't seem to walk 20 feet without a teenage girl stopping him to ask about his height.
There are days it gets old, days when Rachel Haas might
just keep walking to give her son an easy out — "My
mom's waiting for me" — or days where you can just only
stand to have the same conversation so many times with
so many people.
But Haas is big, always has been, hitting his peak (to
this point at least) of 86 inches just a few at a time over
time — no one or two dramatic spurts — since being almost 2 feet tall at birth.
And for whatever annoyances might have come with it,
and for whatever hassles it's created in his sport, it's who
Haas is, his "gift" as he terms it.
So he's generally happy to talk, sometimes remembering, too, the time he met someone even taller and was naturally compelled to ask how tall he was.
"There's some people out there that may never, ever see
a 7-2 guy in their lives," Haas said. "I just like to make
people happy in the end and maybe meeting me makes
people happy."
There's some small irony then in Haas hoping to bring
others such happiness with something he himself had to
grow, literally, to embrace.
"I never really expected to be this tall," he said. "Standing out in a crowd the way I always have kind of made me
worried at first, because I didn't know if I was going to be
able to use this gift I have to my advantage.
"But I understand now how great it is and how blessed I
am and I just try to use it. I've grown to love it." j
Chicagoland Boilermakers
Thanks to your overwhelming support, Chicago-area Purdue
alums now have two Clubs to help you show your spirit!
Purdue Club of Chicago
*Annual Holiday Party-January 12, 2014
Purdue Club of the North /
Northwest Suburbs
*Northwestern Basketball Tailgate & Game in EvanstonJanuary 21, 2014
*First Tuesday dinners monthly, game watches, service
projects
*Save The Date: 21st Annual Golf Outing-June 13, 2014
*January 7, 2014-dinner at Italian Kitchen in Deerfield
*Check out the details about our annual scholarship:
fundraising.puchicago.org
For details :
http://www.puchicago.org/
PURDUE ALUMNI CLUB OF CHICAGO
*February 4, 2014-dinner at Artistic Cuisine in Palatine
*Family outing at Fatman Bowl in Lake Bluff-date TBD
For details:
http://www.purduenorthsuburbs.org/
PURDUE CLUB OF NORTH/NORTHWEST SUBURBS
OF CHICAGO
• P
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