CHICAGO _ The little boy and the coach had never met when an assistant coach brought him into her office with a plan to make a connection.
Davion was 14 months old. He barely walked and didn't talk. He was a shy tot.
But instantly, he noticed Misty Opat and reached for her.
"It was immediate," said Opat, the first-year women's basketball coach at Chicago State. "The bond and the connection were there. It's hard to describe."
It became the second time Opat threw up her hands, dismissed concerns about her career and took a leap for love.
Davion, now 5, lives with Opat and her three nieces in Rockford, Ill. His adoption was finalized in December.
Opat's days involve a mother's multitasking: dropping off Davion at school; making the two-hour drive to Chicago State's South Side campus, where she is trying to breathe life into a long-dormant program; juggling long flights with a Western Athletic Conference schedule; recruiting; and solving the logistics of childcare.
It can be dizzying.
She's a lesson in keeping open doors and open hearts. Family is defined by love more than anything. Sacrifice doesn't mean sorrow. Career paths don't have to be vertically linear to be successful.
"It's all worth it," Opat said.
