RCC Freshman Deaf Basketball Player: Orion Palmer
RCC freshman basketball player Orion Palmer, who is Deaf,
is having no trouble fitting in with the Tigers
06:04 PM PST on Monday, January 18, 2010
By KEVIN PEARSON
Special to The Press-Enterprise
RIVERSIDE – Standing on the sideline in front of Riverside Community College’s bench, men’s basketball coach John Smith lets his booming voice shout the play call toward his team bringing the ball up the court.
“B-2! B-2!” Smith yells, his voice echoing but nearly drowned out by the sometimes ear-splitting decibel level inside Wheelock Gym. As his voice rings out, Smith’s hand is high in the air, forming signs to correspond with the play call, so that his newest star knows what is coming.
RCC, the defending state champion, has maintained its dominance this season thanks in part to freshman Orion Palmer, a California School for the Deaf, Riverside, graduate, who was born deaf. He has been joined on the Tigers’ roster by a pair of interpreters.
The team has been more than willing to adjust its habits for the 6-foot-7 forward who has a soft touch around the rim.
Palmer is averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, and he is shooting 59 percent from the field, highest among Tigers regulars.
“When I initially joined, I was nervous about how I’d communicate with other players and the coaches,” Palmer said through an interpreter. “I did not expect to have (an interpreter) throughout basketball season but was surprised when the college provided one.”
Palmer, 22, attended Chaffey High School for three years before transferring to CSDR. He said he was curious about living in a residential school and immersing himself in the deaf community.
After graduation, he moved to his native Arizona and worked for a water department before opting to return to school and basketball at the urging of his family and friends.
RCC’s Disabled Students Programs and Services department has been fully accommodating to both Palmer and the basketball program.
RCC has a stable of full- and part-time interpreters at its disposal and assigned Josh Miller and Alpin Gibbons to work with Palmer during basketball activities. The pair alternate days and are with Palmer during games, practices, meetings and nearly every other team activity.
When the squad does training runs up Mount Rubidoux, the interpreters do as well, throwing on their gym shoes and climbing the mountain.
“As an interpreter, this has been a career highlight of mine,” Miller said. “It sure beats sitting in a math class.”
When an interpreter can’t be there, sophomore guard Aaron Snyder handles the duties. Snyder’s mom previously worked at CSDR, and he has become familiar with the deaf community.
During a summer trip to San Francisco — before the interpreters were available — Snyder spent the weekend translating, but he acknowledged his signing skills were rudimentary.
“It was like a giant game of charades,” he said.
From the moment Palmer stepped into the program, Coach Smith said he has pushed his team to adjust. If point guards do not call out plays using sign language — even when Palmer is on the bench — they run or do push-ups. Smith said he plans to take an American Sign Language course through the college and already has learned the alphabet and some other signs.
During time-outs, an interpreter stands behind Smith, translating in the huddle so Palmer can keep up when he is not reading lips. Players often joke with Palmer about the tongue-lashings that are doled out when the Tigers are struggling during games.
“They tell me I’m lucky I can’t hear,” Palmer said with a wry smile.
Coaches and teammates talk about Palmer’s high basketball IQ and feel for the game. It has helped him to overcome instances where his lack of hearing has been an issue. Several times he has continued to play after a whistle has blown. Opposing players have not understood until an RCC teammate tells them that Palmer can’t hear. Smith said some opponents have attempted to take advantage of Palmer by deploying specific defensive strategies, knowing that he cannot call out for help from teammates.
“It’s been different, but we’re used to it,” guard Danny Redmon said. “Sometimes I forget he’s deaf. He just plays hard all the time.”
Palmer, who helped the U.S. capture the bronze medal at the 2007 World Deaf Games in China, has drawn attention from a handful of Division I programs and is a legitimate candidate to play at the four-year level. At the RCC Holiday Tournament last month, several scouts expressed their interest in Palmer.
Smith said he already has started to look into Division I programs that have a history of accommodating athletes in similar situations (such as Cal State Northridge, which recently had a deaf player on its basketball team) and believes that Palmer is good enough to earn a scholarship.
Despite Palmer’s prowess on the court, there is legitimate concern that schools will be hesitant to sign him because of the financial burden, Smith said. Those include employing an interpreter and the additional costs associated with that person traveling with a Division I team.
The coach believes his pupil will overcome those odds, much as he has done before.
“Everyone leaves here talking about him,” Smith said. “He plays hard, has a soft touch and a high basketball IQ. He will help you win games, and he goes to class. He is as low-maintenance as they come.”
