Back in the late 1980s when Bruce Hornsby was probably at the peak of his pop/rock star persona with his band The Range, he wrote a song called The Old Playground. The smooth Virginian probably could have guessed given his musical acumen that there were great things ahead of him in his professional career, but he was rolling the dice of serendipity when he wrote the following lyrics to the song:
Take me to the old playground
Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time
Take me to the old playground
Where the talk is cheap
And the restless stalk the baseline
The old sage frowns, he says just pass it on around
But all-world junior’s pulling up from downtown
For some it’s a way out, for some it’s a way in
Most of us don’t even care
We’re just looking for another gym to get in
All-world junior may not be pulling up from downtown, but he is capable of going with a windmill reverse jam off the bounce. Check out Keith Hornsby, a freshman guard at UNC Asheville, who also happens to be the basketball-playing child of the three-time Grammy winner.
At UNCA’s Midnight Madness event on Friday night, the Oak Hill product wowed his teammates and the small assembled crowd with his hops, no doubt honed through years of shooting hoops and running drills in the Tidewater gyms with dad (a fairly accomplished area baller when not touring with the Grateful Dead or selling millions of jazz albums). Keith’s favorite player is Stephen Curry, another son of a famous father, but he’s already got the former Davidson star in the jumping category. His game consists of a strong jumper and is modeled after another former Virginian star, Duke’s JJ Redick.
Keith’s brother, Russell, matriculated at Oregon this fall as an elite middle-distance runner. According to this article from The Roanoke Times, Bruce is proud of where his progeny have ended up: “We’ve got both our kids going to two of the great hippie towns in America. They can let their freak flag fly in Asheville and Eugene. All the Deadheads in Asheville and Eugene can come and root for the son of the guy who played with Jerry.” Spoken like a true rock superstar.
Bruce Hornsby is planning on performing the national anthem at the debut of UNCA’s brand-new Kimmel Arena on November 13 (ESPNU). With a significant portion of the team returning from last season’s Big South championship squad, this game will be no piece of cake for the nation’s #1 team.
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