NOZA: A True Basketball Success Story
By: David Espinoza

This is a true story about a boy whose life revolved around God and basketball. Matt Espinoza aka “Noza” was taught about the game of basketball at a very young age. During that time he faced many obstacles, the most difficult one being that he lost his mom to brain cancer when he was nine years old. His dad raised him and his brother and continued developing them for basketball. Other challenges would confront Matt. He was dealing with a blood platelet condition he had not grown out of yet. Matt had a love for the game of basketball but his body was not developing as fast as most kids. In his younger years things were going great. But when he got to Jr. High other kids seem to be passing him up and he was struggling for playing time. Matt would always tag along with his older brother, Jake, but always found himself watching and not playing. When Matt was a freshman and a sophomore he almost didn’t make McNary High School’s basketball team. His dad speaks of the challenges and lessons learned in this amazing story. Matt was always trying to keep up with his older brother Jake. They would eventually battle it out in a college basketball game. This is an inspirational, encouraging, and an amazing story of a young man that believed in himself and was not going to be denied. Matt set goals for himself and he worked hard to reach those goals. His attitude of never giving up, and having faith paid off big time.