Ja moves like a stanza in motion – every crossover a metaphor, every dunk a declaration.
On the hardwood, he embodies the essence of being Trained To Go: relentless, fearless, and ready for any challenge that dares to rise.
His game reads like poetry carved in real time, rhythm pulsing through the court as if each step were a line break, each leap a crescendo. In the quiet before the buzzer, you can almost hear the verse forming – a story of grit and grace, of a player who turns pressure into art and competition into cadence. Blocking out the noise and turning up the volume of the game, of life, of family. Trained to go, starting out from a quiet country backyard lit by a streetlight, to electrifying the world.
A Poem
TRAINED TO GO
Let them tell it,
phenoms won’t be found in small towns.
Won’t be seen training hard in backyards,
working on their game as soon as sun rises
until well after dark.
They won’t tell you about the heart of an underdog,
about the passion of the overlooked,
how a young man from Dalzell
came from Catchall Road to worldwide viral,
from dismissed to top 5 draft pick.
They call athletes like this
sleepers.
Athletes like his father Tee,
a dreamer.
But the difference is how he woke up —
how a father poured his hopes and beliefs
into his son’s cup until it runneth over
with talent and game.
That’s why they runneth over
to find out your name.
What’s his story,
where’s he from?
They tried to shorthand his basketball story
into happenstance at a snack stand,
but that wouldn’t be the total tale of Ja Morant.
The saga of an unnoticed baller isn’t new,
but this one is about a boy who grew
into someone special.
Didn’t let the lack of recruitment or attending a small school
cause him to settle.
Instead he saw the court as a cauldron,
calling him to the kitchen to start cooking.
His game caught flame,
brought his opponents the smoke.
That’s when coaches started taking notes,
taking notice, paying attention
to 12’s tenacious basketball ascension.
And what they won’t mention
is that it took all of his heart and determination
to even get him to this situation.
This is a story of hard work pays off.
This is a story of stay on your grind at all cost.
This is a tale of stay on your path and you won’t be lost.
That no matter where you are from,
you level up your game,
stay trained to go,
because there are no days off.
Believing in yourself to the fullest,
remaining amazing even when the world ain’t looking.
Trusting that the investment of blood, sweat, and tears
will be returned with a victory.
When they ask about Ja Morant,
start with that backyard on Catchall Road —
and how he rose with the sun.
That he was beneath no one,
and he stayed Trained To Go.
Boris “Bluz” Rogers, raised in the red clay of Dalzell, is a 3x Emmy Award Winner, Slam Poet National Champion, and a leading cultural voice at Catch12.
