This 4th-grade ‘gym rat’ will probably be a keeper

December 11, 2023 Andy Furman

Mark Collins stands in front of P.S. 11 in Clinton Hill, where he’s a fourth-grader. Photo courtesy of Andy Furman

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Mike Senior has found his next “gym rat.” And his name is Mark Collins.

“He’s a workaholic and a gym rat,” Senior told the Brooklyn Eagle. “Mark’s future is in college basketball. He’s already fundamentally sound, and he already knows how to teach the game. He has perfect form on his shot, and it’s his early trademark.”

Oh, did we forget to mention. Mark Collins is in the fourth grade at P.S. 11 in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood.

But Mike Senior knows talent — the former coach at Tilden and Benjamin Banneker Academy directs the Selvyn Smith Memorial Sports and Educational Program, with alumni, he says of about 14,000.

Some of the students who have “graduated” from Senior’s tutoring include Dwayne (Pearl) Washington of Syracuse University and the New York Nets; Lawrence (Bud) Pollard of West Virginia University; and Charles Jones, of Rutgers University, LIU and the Chicago Bulls.

The 75-year-old tutor says Mark Collins will be added to that list of famous alums.

Senior and Collins met at P.S. 11 where the elder trains kids who are 10 to 16 years old in basketball Mondays and Wednesdays from 7 to 8:15 a.m.

“We’re getting prepared for college now,” Senior said.

But first young Mark Collins has to make the school basketball team.

“Mark tried out for the basketball team at P.S. 11 and didn’t make it,” his mom Laura told the Eagle. “It was all my fault; I didn’t take him to the second tryout because I had to work.”

And that’s when Collins met Senior. “Coach Mike is the best,” Mom, an athlete of her own who was a gymnast at UCLA, said. “Mark gets up without even asking for those twice-a-week classes.”

As for his progress, she says he’ll get better over time, “But I’ve seen his ballhandling getting better and he’s blossoming with his teammates. He talks and has great eye contact with them.”

In fact, Mom says, son Mark even pretends to be dribbling a basketball when he doesn’t even have one. “He’s basketball all the time.”

Basketball became part of Mark Collins’ life a few years ago, says Mom Laura. “He’s part Korean,” she said, “And Korean kids sit in front of various items. He sat in front of a basketball. It was magic.”

Senior has been using basketball for his classroom for more than 44 years. “Yes,” he says, “My classroom is in the gym. It’s a place to get ready for whatever life has planned for you.”

Mark Collins’ plan is basketball — serious basketball like the NBA.

“I don’t think Coach Mike is crazy at all,” young Mark says, when asked if Senior just might be a bit over-the-top. “He’s a really good coach. He teaches passing, shooting and dribbling. He knows his stuff. And yes, I want to play in the NBA.”

Young Collins says his favorite NBA player was the late Kobe Bryant. “I loved him,” he said.

He got close to the NBA when he watched the Nets top the visiting Toronto Raptors last week at Barclays Center.

“One day,” he said, “I’ll be out there.”

But first he’ll earn a college basketball scholarship. And that’ll be quite easy. Just look who his teacher is.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR