Zaide Lowery woke up early Monday morning — he had a basketball scrimmage against Republic that he needed to get ready for.
His phone started to buzz. He was getting a phone call from Dana Ford.
"Man, you're up early," Lowery remembered Ford saying around 7:30.
Lowery laughed.
Lowery remembered the Missouri State men's basketball coach telling him that he was a great kid and that he was going to go far in life. Ford then told Lowery that he wanted to be the first one to offer him a full-ride scholarship to play college basketball.