Scott Swanson
Jesse LeBeau knows how to handle kids – and basketballs.
Which isn’t surprising, considering he does both frequently.
LeBeau, who’s starred in TV commercials and is a regular on the street ball circuit, appearing under the name “Spin Cycle” in nationally televised games on Fox Sports Net against the best players in world, is in Sweet Home this week to talk to local students and visit with his old baseball coach.
“This is incredible,” said Randy Claussen, who coached LeBeau as a 10-year-old in Ketchikan, Alaska in 1995-96. Claussen and his wife Carla were in the Sweet Home Junior High gym Monday morning, Dec. 4, waiting for LeBeau to speak to the student body.
Carla Claasen said the now 5-foot-8-inch-tall LeBeau was an excellent athlete and student, who won the local Elks Hoop Shoot in Ketchikan.
“We knew him when he was practicing for the Hoop Shoot,” she said.
LeBeau said he actually switched from another team to play for Randy Claussen because he liked the coach’s dedication to kids.
“He was such an amazing coach that really poured into the lives of all his kids, not just the ones on his team, but that were in the community that needed a role model,” he said. “He would drive through in his truck and he’d hit grounders, pitch to everyone. He was the most fun to be around when you were a young person. He was a huge influence on my life.
“What really came through was his heart for kids. He really spent time and that meant a lot to so many kids in our community.”
Despite his diminutive size, LeBeau went on to play high school basketball on a team that won its regional title in 2004 and 2005 before losing to an Anchorage team led by Mario Chalmers, who now plays for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.
He went on to earn an Elks academic scholarship and played at Pt. Loma Nazarene College in the San Diego, Calif. area, where he played with Michael “Airdogg” Stewart, a notorious dunk artist in commercials, who took LeBeau along on a Hollywood audition.
LeBeau has gone on to appear in commercials or films with Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Heidi Klum, Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups, And 1’s The Professor, Matt Barnes, Dennis Rodman, Justin Bieber and Spike Lee, among others.
He has been on shows such as Good Morning America, The O’Reilly Factor and made his movie debut in the 2012 film “Thunderstruck,” starring Durant.
In 2014 he released an autobiography, “Among the Giants: How One Underdog Pursued His Dreams and You Can Too!” and began a career as a motivational speaker.
“I think the biggest takeaway from my story is being an underdog and being overlooked and underestimated,” LeBeau said Monday.
LeBeau wowed the Junior High crowd with some demonstrations of his basketball skills, challenging students to match his antics. One, eighth-grader Russell Holly, actually rose to the occasion, drawing big applause by swishing a shot from half court.
Between tricks and giving away goodies to students, LeBeau emphasized the importance of initiative and making good choices.
“No matter what that thing is – it might not be basketball or size or being from a small place, like it was for me – it could be something totally different, but almost everybody is an underdog in some way. “You have two choices: You can get bitter or you can get better. By choosing to get better and not making excuses and going for it, it radically transformed the direction of my life.
“What I hope the kids take away is that whatever that obstacle is, you can overcome it if that’s really what you want to do. It’s a lot more fun to go for it than to be the victim.”
Randy Claussen said he and his wife reconnected with LeBeau on a trip back to Alaska four years ago.
“We got to go crabbing and fishing together with (LeBeau’s) family. That was the first time I had seen him since we left Alaska 16 years ago.”
The Claussens had become very active in the Sweet Home Elks Lodge since returning to Sweet Home from Alaska in 2002, and their paths crossed again when LeBeau was honored as Alumnus of the Year at the Elks Grand Lodge in Reno, Nev. in 2013.
“He surprised me being there,” Randy Claussen said. “I got to sit at his table. It was a proud moment.”
Carla Claassen has worked for several months to get LeBeau to Sweet Home and she said a financial contribution from Gary and Pam Rasmussen made it happen, along with some scheduling assistance from Wendi Melcher. He made stops Monday and Tuesday at Sweet Home and Lebanon Boys and Girls Clubs, Central Linn and Junction City schools are also hosting LeBeau this week and he will appear at Sweet Home High School at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 8.
Randy Claussen said LeBeau has a lot to offer.
“There were traits of him as a kid, as a 10 or 11-year-old kid, that were astounding,” he said. “I’m not surprised at what he’s doing now, at all.
“His family background, in coaching, he wanted to learn everything. He didn’t just practice when we were there. He practiced away from the field and he did that in everything – in his schoolwork, in his church, everything.
“I learned more from him than he did from me, I believe.”