CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — History can get forgotten, but not at West Oso. The home to Corpus Christi's only high school basketball star to play in the NBA, Adrian Caldwell. The Bears honor him every day with a banner hanging in their gymnasium.
"It says I'll always have a place in West Oso High School history," Caldwell said.
Bear's legends, like Adrian Caldwell, are never forgotten as history hangs in the rafters.
"You can't label somebody and think that there's no chance for them to be successful," Caldwell said. "I think I beat a lot of odds."
During his senior season at West Oso, the 6-foot-9 power forward averaged a double-double 20 points and 20 rebounds a game.
The 1984 Bears fell to Sweeny in the 3A Regional Semifinal.
"West Oso was the thing in the neighborhood," Caldwell said. "I mean as a kid you wanted to get there and participate in sports. We always had good athletes."
That jump-started his college career. Caldwell played for Cameron University alongside West Oso 1984 grad Willie Harper before transferring to Navarro College. He got his first Division 1 opportunity at SMU his junior year, but that did not work out. He sat out a year before finding his groove at Lamar University.
"I averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds," Caldwell said. "I played so well I got noticed by NBA clubs, so I got invited to camps."
Despite the looks, Caldwell failed to get drafted in 1989. Not long after teams made the call. He chose the Houston Rockets (1989-95), but from the start he was told he had zero chance of making the roster.
"My hard work, my perseverance, believing in the higher power who I always knew had my back and still has my back," Caldwell said. "Allowed me to make that team."
Caldwell also played lock down defense. One of his best NBA highlights was against one of the greatest of all time. Imagine throwing up a hand, stopping a dunk and blocking Michael Jordan.
"It was a good block and then Mike said, you know good block Caldwell. I just took it all in stride and kept playing because you don't antagonize Michael," Caldwell said. "Ha ha, but it was a good block though."
Caldwell also played for the Pacers (1995-95), Nets (1996-97), 76ers (1996-97) and Mavericks (1997-98) where he ended his NBA career in 1997. One thing that's never changed is his love for West Oso and Corpus Christi.
"Hopefully I won't be the last from this city to get an opportunity to play at that level," Caldwell said
