printed in the San Antonio Christian Beacon
by Brad Parrott
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Kurt Attaway stood before 250 San Antonio area high school student-athletes in a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) “Fields of Faith” celebration at Alamo Stadium. The four-year starter at point guard on the UTSA men’s basketball team and two-time Southland Conference (SLC) Student-Athlete of the Year shocked his audience when he called himself “a flawed, failed man.”
“I was named Freshman of the Year and went to the NCAA Tournament in 2004,” Attaway said. “Then I hurt my thumb and couldn’t do anything for my team for most of my sophomore year. I was named Student Athlete of the Year in 2006, but our team won only 11 games. I stand before you tonight as the UTSA FCA president, and two of my teammates were just released from jail. I look into the mirror each morning and see a flawed, failed man. Then I remember that no one earns their way to heaven through good deeds. It’s only through the grace of God.”
Following both the 2004 and 2005 academic years, Attaway was selected as the Pat Clynes Male Student-Athlete of the Year awarded to the UTSA student-athlete achieving the highest degree of excellence academically, athletically and socially. Each semester during his first three years at UTSA, Attaway has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average and three times has been named to the Hibernia Bank/SLC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. In 2006 he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Men’s Basketball First Team.
On the court, Attaway was named the 2004 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after leading the Roadrunners to a SLC Postseason Tournament championship and a first-round NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 1 ranked Stanford. His 2005 season was interrupted by a torn ligament in his right thumb—injured while diving for a loose ball. In 2006 he averaged 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, and tied a UTSA school record with eight steals in a single game.
No one on the UTSA campus has ever referred to Kurt Attaway as a flawed, failed man. “Kurt’s reputation precedes him wherever he goes—on the basketball court, in the cafeteria, in class or in a professor’s office,” said Student Government President Adam Cowden. “He is a stand-up gentleman, always there to help. He has the ability to captivate people. When people come up to talk to him about basketball, he turns the conversation around and gets them talking about themselves. He treats everyone with great respect.”
Attaway is primarily responsible for building a UTSA FCA huddle leadership team that has taken weekly attendance from 15 or less three years ago to more than 50 on Monday evenings this fall. FCA College Huddle Coordinator Bobby Kohler often accompanies Attaway to middle school and high school huddles to speak. Parents of youngsters influenced by Attaway write to the school in appreciation and bring their youngsters to games to see him play. “Kurt’s knowledge of the Bible is so sound,” Kohler said. “And he lives out his relationship with the Lord. He is a tremendous influence on young people. He’s someone who they can respect.”
Attaway is respected equally by his teammates and coaches, fellow students, and the UTSA faculty, staff and administration. His reputation around campus is exemplified by the School of Business asking him to present an appreciation gift to Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, a guest lecturer in a distinguished speaker series. The gift was a framed picture of Attaway getting his shot blocked by a Stanford player in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The brass tag on the picture said, “No Yahoo for the Roadrunners.” Yang is a Stanford graduate and Cardinal basketball fan.
During his senior year, Attaway is working as an intern in the Athletics Department helping to raise scholarship dollars and increase community awareness of UTSA Athletics. Immediately following a recent in-home talk by Attaway to a group of potential donors, a woman turned to her husband and said, “Where’s the checkbook? I’m sold!” The couple donated $5,000 to the Adopt-A-Roadrunner scholarship program, even though neither had ever attended a UTSA athletic event.
“Being a part of UTSA Athletics and the FCA, everyday we have an opportunity to represent Jesus, our teammates and the University in a way that is respected and honored,” Attaway said. “What a privilege it is to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself. So often today, the world makes it about you. It makes you believe that you are the most important thing—and that’s just not true. Coming here and playing college basketball has helped me see the value of investing who you are in something bigger than yourself.”
Attaway married Lauren Allen last summer at the Houston Vineyard Church, the same church where they met 16 years ago. Their fathers both worked as associate pastors on the church staff in 1990. Rev. Bob Attaway now of Vista Ridge Vineyard Church in Lewisville and Rev. Alan Allen now of Pearland Vineyard Church in Pearland performed a “tag-team” service in marrying their son and daughter. Attaway hopes to follow his father and father-in-law into the ministry after graduation in May.
“I’m really excited about what God has in store for Lauren and me,” Attaway said. “My heart is to be in a position to become involved in the ministry and see His community extended. I’m really open to whatever that might bring.” Already two churches in the San Antonio area have offered ministry positions to this “flawed, failed man.”