It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. It shouldn’t have happened this way. But it did.
St. Ed’s basketball coach Greg Zugrave sent out an email this past weekend that Darell Flowers had died Saturday morning. He was only 20 years old.
Over the past two years Vero Beach 32963 had published several articles about Darell’s battle against cancer with hope against hope that all would turn out well. It didn’t.
Darell graduated from St. Ed’s in 2013 only to be diagnosed with kidney cancer a few months later. A kidney was removed but the cancer had spread to his liver and ultimately to his vertebrae. We know remarkable progress has been made against many forms of cancer, but in this case there was no mercy.
Darell returned to St. Ed’s for a sense of comfort in familiar and friendly surroundings when he could no longer continue after his first few weeks at college near Boston. He called St. Ed’s his second home. He started there in first grade.
I originally met Darell six years ago when he was a freshman on St. Ed’s varsity basketball team. He was a lightning-quick guard with enthusiasm and joy for the game. But it went beyond that.
He was the first to arrive at practice one day and the coach at the time said the gym floor was a little too slippery. Darell grabbed the broom with tacky cloth and proceeded to wipe down the floor to make it more playable. And he did it with a smile on his face.
That’s what teachers, coaches, students, and everyone who knew him always mentioned. He was ready to flash a smile anytime, anywhere.
When he returned to St. Ed’s after graduation and was welcomed back with open arms, you thought he would overcome his plight with sheer optimism. In my last conversation with him in December, he was making plans to return to school and continue pursuing his dream to play college basketball.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but he had me thoroughly convinced that it would happen. That’s what he left you with, a sense that all was okay.
I remember kidding with him about making sure I spelled his first name correctly. We sometimes agonize about that sort of thing. He handled my concern with the same humor and good will that he used to address a matter of much more consequence.
He was open and honest about what he was going through. At one point he turned to me and said I’m not going to lie to you, this is tough. Everyone could see the toll it was taking.
We know that basketball fit into Darell’s life right at the top with family and friends. Becoming an Assistant Coach at his high school alma mater was a bucket list item even if he was too young to have one.
Most of all, however, he loved to play the game. And it showed to all who watched. I was among that group and knew that was how the game should be played.
Almost unbelievably, his St. Ed’s jersey was to be retired in a ceremony before the game on Friday, Jan. 30. Darell was supposed to be there, but then word spread that he had taken a turn for the worse while in Atlanta for treatment.
It was a pleasure to have known this young man and I mourn for his loss. We express our heartfelt condolences to his family and many friends at St. Ed’s and elsewhere. It should have never ended this way.
But it did.