Thurl Bailey Speaks at Common Hour

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Thurl Bailey Speaks at Common Hour

By Olivia Webb in The Utah Statesman, Thursday, November 13, 2014

Former Utah Jazz player Thurl Bailey spoke at Common Hour Wednesday.

After an introductory video about him and his career, Bailey started his lecture with a song he had composed himself. He spoke about three questions he considered essential on the path to reaching a goal: Where have you been? Why are you here? Where are you going?

“Those are three of the most important questions with desire, with passion, with goals, (that) could be asked,” Bailey said.

He encouraged students to decide what they want to make of their lives.

“If you can make these questions three of the most important questions that have ever been asked of you and then if you can figure out an answer to each one of them, you’re well on your way,” Bailey said. “Don’t be a floater.”

Bailey described his journey from a dirt-patch court in his backyard to being the seventh pick in the 1983 NBA draft. He spoke about coaches and mentors who taught him important lessons that helped him in his success.

He talked about the lessons he had learned on his journey and how they each related to his goal.

His advice to students was to always be prepared for what would happen, the way his father had taught him to always be prepared for a basketball game. He spoke about blocking out negativity, even when everyone around him wanted him to fail.

“I was understanding what preparation was,” Bailey said. “I was understanding what focus was, even outside of basketball.”

Bailey spoke about recovering from failure and encouraged students to not give up.

“What in the world would take you back in that place?” he asked. “That place where all you have to associate with is pain, failure. You can decide what it is for you.”

Bailey finished his presentation with another song that he had written and urged the audience to live a life of service.

“There’s no greater feeling than the feeling that you get from serving someone else,” he said.

— olivia.webb@aggiemail.usu.edu