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Two Years After Being Shot, Tyquone Greer Ready For Division I Hoops

By Justin Breen | March 28, 2016 7:55am | Updated on April 2, 2016 2:35pm
 Tyquone Greer, a former star at Orr, committed to Hofstra
Tyquone Greer, a former star at Orr, committed to Hofstra
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Tyquone Greer

CHICAGO — Tyquone Greer has a message for all the kids living on Chicago's West Side: "What don't kill you makes you stronger."

Greer, the former Orr star who made a game-winning 3-point shot to send his team to the 2014 IHSA Final Four a few days after he was shot in the leg, committed to play basketball and attend Hofstra University on Sunday. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward said going to Division I Hofstra next season proves "anything is possible."

"It's just about working hard," Greer said early Monday morning on his way to class at Daytona State, a junior college he has attended for the last two years. "You have to stay focused. I've been waiting [to play Division I basketball] for so long. For it to finally happen, it's pretty exciting.

"Knowing what I've been through and [to] still be able to maintain things, that shows you who I am as a person. I can go through obstacles and still stay on track."

Greer was attending a party in Austin on March 9, 2014, when a fight broke out, shots were fired, including one that hit him in the leg, according to the Tribune. Nine days later, his late 3-pointer beat North Chicago to win a Class 3A supersectional and advance Orr to state.

Greer chose Hofstra over Colorado State, Detroit, Florida Gulf Coast, Evansville and others because he felt most comfortable with Hofstra's coaching staff.

Daniel Poneman, whose film "Ball So Hard" focused on Greer and Whitney Young's Paul White and Jahlil Okafor when they were high school sophomores, said Greer is "an incredible kid and deserves this wonderful opportunity."

"Knowing all he's overcome in his life to get to this point, makes today a really special day," Poneman said. "Hofstra is getting a great basketball player and an even better person."

And Greer said growing up in Chicago has made him the person he is today.

"Chicago means a lot to me," he said. "I've seen the bad and the good. If you're able to survive in Chicago, you're able to survive anywhere."

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