![]() ![]() Now, when talking in the group chat often used for live reactions to Primo’s games, or if they’re in the same space and Lang says “Primo,” she can always count on Spears III to comment: “Big or Little?” It took her years to call her son by his inherited nickname, but by the time he was at Sage Park Middle School it might as well have been on his report card - “They didn’t even know his real name,” Lang said. “But I wanted to be different and not call him that.” “All his friends, coaches, he was an IT tech for years and they never even called him Amir,” Lang said. When they were together, Lang would travel around and watch him play in the local pro-am or at other basketball events out of town – everyone called him Primo, except her. Lang dated Spears III for 12 years they ultimately didn’t work out but the co-parenting team always remained friends. But I did think he could be a Division I athlete at six, seven (years old), a very early age.” Embracing Primo … Did I know that he would be on the NBA radar at six? Nah, I mean I was praying for it but I didn’t know it. ![]() And when it did, you could see his dominance. ![]() “In the beginning it was my dream for him to be a D-I athlete but very, very early it started to become his dream. “There was a plan for him,” Spears III said. Amir Spears II, Big Primo’s dad, was a three-sport athlete in college and spent some time with the Green Bay Packers (a Google search for his name garners similar results) so he knew the athletic genes would be there. Now, a Google search for his name will only dredge up photos and articles about his son.Īmir Spears IV was dubbed “Little Primo” before he was born, “when he was in the womb,” said his father, who sometimes calls him “Prince Primo” in reference to the first name’s Arabic meaning. The elder Spears was a more successful pro-am player he was on the team that won the first-ever Greater Hartford Pro-Am Championship in the late ’90s and then he won five more. Everybody called him “Premiere” growing up, which then evolved to “Prem” (pronounced “preem”) and finally became “Primo.”Īfter Weaver, where he played with the late local legend Mike “Uzi” Williams, who went on to play with fellow Hartford native Marcus Camby at UMass, Spears III walked-on at Auburn - “I was a walk-on, not the big-time scholarship player my son is,” he admitted. If I could go out any way, that’s the way I want to go out.” “Primo”Īmir Spears III says he was a late bloomer, though he earned the nickname “Premiere” from a public address announcer when he played at Weaver High in the late 1980s. Last time I played competitive, full court basketball was with my best friend. Come on, let’s get back in the game, let’s beat these dudes,'” Spears III said. So their team starts losing and he looks over at me and says, ‘Dad, come on, tighten the shoe strings up. “It didn’t hurt like everybody said it does, mine didn’t. They shared the court, working out together regularly, until a competitive game of pickup in 2019 that sent Big Primo to the sideline with a torn Achilles. Little Primo, Amir Spears IV, left, and Big Primo, Amir III, have spent plenty of time together on the courts around Hartford. By the time he was 10, Little Primo would be up to go to the gym with his dad before school and once school finished he’d return for practice. As his son picked up the game and continued to develop with the ball, Big Primo decided to start his own program - HDS (Hard work Determines Success) - which eventually became an AAU program where his son could learn to play with others. It started with one-on-one drills when Little Primo was 3- or 4-years-old. He earned a Division I scholarship to Duquesne University, eventually transferring to Georgetown, where he starred last season, then Florida State, where he’ll play as a junior. The regimen worked - Spears starred in high school at Northwest Catholic and then Windsor before taking a post-grad year at Mt. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |