A Second Look is an occasional feature in Floridian that revisits a news event to see what has changed.
By CHRIS ZUPPA
Published February 28, 2004
[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]
University of South Florida athlete Jimmy Baxter practices the high jump, a sport he hopes will help him support his two daughters. Baxter left the basketball team in January to focus on track and field.
TAMPA, Jan. 12 - The Monday after an 85-40 defeat to Louisville, Jimmy Baxter, a guard/forward for the University of South Florida's beleaguered basketball team, told Coach Robert McCullum he was leaving the team.
Baxter no longer wanted to balance track and basketball with college life. His focus would be on track now, especially the high jump, for which he's a two-time Conference USA champion and has a best leap of 7 feet, 5 inches.
The reality was that basketball wasn't working out the way he'd hoped.
Baxter is a senior, majoring in criminology. His team wasn't winning. He wasn't playing as well as he had last season, when he was the team's leading scorer. He was not having fun.
The decision took time to make. Baxter sought advice from his family and USF's then-athletic director, Lee Roy Selmon. His mother encouraged him to play until the end. Selmon encouraged Baxter to do what he felt was right.
Baxter thought about how quitting would affect his teammates, what critics would say and how his decision could affect his two daughters.
Finally, he decided to focus on what was most important to him: his happiness.
* * *
TAMPA, Feb. 9 - It's Monday, and Jimmy Baxter wants badly to practice the high jump. Baxter practices his jump on Monday and Wednesday, but a crew is painting lines, and the track and field are closed.
He feels like he has to prove he made the right decision to no longer divide his life between two competing sports. He realizes the need to be a provider for his two daughters, Jamilia, 2, and Jadaja, 1. Success in track, especially the high jump, could ensure a bright financial future.
"I quit a sport I love to come to a sport that I love, which balances itself out," Baxter said. "The basketball part of it - I still don't think I did what I wanted to do (to be successful). I think I was breaking out last year, and this was supposed to be the big year for me, and I'm really, really, really disappointed about that."
His grades are up. He feels like he is jumping better compared with a year ago. Things are working for Baxter.
And while his sights are set on the Olympics, Baxter is looking forward to his first outdoor meet this season at the University of Central Florida. It will be a chance to chart his improvement, to see if he is living up to his potential.
"It all comes down to being happy," Baxter said. "If you are happy with yourself, and you are happy with your performance, there is nobody that can stop you."
