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~~~(POV: Ulysses Kennedy)~~~

~~~(Date: September 27th, 2025)~~~

~~~(Time: 5:15 AM)~~~

~~~(Location: Home)~~~

My morning alarm goes off, and I get out of bed. Today is Monday, which means it's time for school. I head for the bathroom and quickly jump into the shower. Enjoying the fact I can now take one comfortably. I clean up and get out, I look into the mirror, and it's time to shave the facial hair.

While the rest of my body doesn't have hair. My face, head, and lower area do. I don't mind the look of the stubble. It's just a little more irritating than I'm comfortable dealing with. I lather some shaving cream on, and I slowly and carefully shave the stubble off.

One thing I'm terrified of is cutting myself with a razor blade. I know the risks are low for any significant injury happening, but I still don't like sharp things around important blood vessels. I finish shaving, and my face is nice and smooth.

I head for my closet and get dressed in my usual style of sweats and t-shirt, with a hoodie, of course. I head downstairs, and I have the kitchen all to myself. I make myself some food and quickly devour it. It's high in protein, which is what I eat most of the time. I need it for my workouts and schedule.

Today the NBA should be announcing I'm forgoing college and heading straight to the 2026 NBA draft next year. That'll be interesting. I grab my backpack and my basketball and start my normal routine at school. I wonder what team I'll end up being drafted to?

I'd love to play for the Portland Trailblazers, and they aren't doing too hot this season. There is a good chance I can go to them. There are also the Knicks and other lower-quality teams. While I don't want to end up being with the Knicks. If that's the case, then so be it.

The sun is starting to rise over the city of Holden, and I'm getting closer and closer to the school. I see the parking lot filled with many high-end vehicles. It's probably the scouts again. Once today is over, I won't be bothered by them anymore.

I hear my phone go off as I enter the code to get into the gym. I pull my phone out as I walk across the court, and I see it's a message from Hannah. She wants to know if I'm already at school. I text her back, confirming her question. I put my phone away in my backpack, and I start dribbling towards the basket.

I jump and throw down a dunk. Getting the blood flowing from the cold weather outside. While the routine getting here helps, it's cold enough to make it hard to move regardless. I hear the door to the gym open, and I see Coach Rodgers.

He usually isn't here this early. "What are you doing here, Coach?" He takes his attention off the tablet in his hand, and he walks over to me. He shows me what he's looking at, and I can see now why he's here early. They changed the length of the high school seasons again. Our first legitimate game is 2 days from now.

Talk about a change on short notice. That also means no scrimmage games this year. "I have to start writing up plays for our opponents. Our first matchup is our rivels at Edwin." I like that the basketball season is going to be longer.

But this will cause a lot of stress for many of us student-athletes. "I'm surprised the Oregon High school Basketball committee is doing this. Is this because they want a more regulated schedule with the bigger states?" Coach Rodgers nods his head. Oregon isn't a big basketball community like California or similar high population states.

It'll raise the amount of competition for sure. As we are looking at the tablet, we both see a notification from the NBA. Coach is subscribed to their newsletters. He opens it, and we both read the headline. "Ulysses Kennedy is skipping college and heading straight to the NBA draft in 2026?! What the hell kind of shit did you pull?!" They announced it way earlier than I thought they would. The players who think themselves good enough to head straight to the NBA will cry out in protest, but it won't matter. I'm too valuable for the NBA to lose.