County thanks Stitt for years of support; Stitt credits them for saving his life As he stood on the gym floor looking up at the entire student body of the school that shaped his formative years Jerry Mack Stitt couldn’t hold back his tears That’s not too far out of the ordinary for the 1990 Dover High School graduate Stitt had just been presented the Friends of Basketball Award for Region I from the Oklahoma Basketball Coaches Association He was nominated by Dover boys coach Jared Reese who also arranged for Wednesday’s assembly to present the honor As Reese stated - and as a video played during the assembly proved - it wasn’t an award from Dover So when Stitt began to address those students looking down on him the tears rolled and the truth flowed: “Basketball saved my life from my drug addiction.” ••• Basketball and other sports helped Stitt get through high school The youngest of Jerry and Recea Stitt’s three children “It was a two-minute walk to the back door of the gym,” Stitt said “Sports are what helped me get through high school because I had no direction on any career.” Still he landed a good job with Temtrol in Okarche But eventually a series of unfortunate events and poor decisions caused Stitt’s life to spiral out of control uprooting him from the only town in which he’d ever lived Stitt made the mistake of trying methamphetamine The addiction gripped him and among the casualties was Stitt losing his job at Temtrol in 2001 jobless and hooked on a drug that doesn’t want to let go when he was working a construction job in Ada Tragedy struck when Sitt fell from an elevated work spot Stitt was flown to Oklahoma City and spent several days in intensive care and more time in multiple rehabilitation centers He suffered some shortterm memory loss and partial face paralysis Surgery and physical therapy allowed him to mostly recover he did suffer permanent hearing loss in one ear on top of the ever-present brain injury the effects of which have lingered in one form or another for years a neurological condition that causes outbursts of uncontrolled or inappropriate crying or laughing “That didn’t match how I really felt,” Stitt said God has 95 percent healed me from that hell but to this day I sometimes have no filter with my emotions.” Even though Stitt was clean from drugs at the time of his accident but I was doing that job because I lost my job at Temtrol because of meth,” he said The accident and its after effects pushed Stitt back into that addiction ••• Jerry Mack Stitt was doing his best to dig out of those depths in February and early March of 2015 He started keeping up with the Lomega girls basketball team which had a talented freshman named Kenzi Lamer Stitt knew the family well as several Lamers were rooted in Dover “He was my idol when I was growing up watching him play for Dover,” Stitt said of Mike Lamer So Stitt was drawn in by the Lady Raiders as they claimed the 2015 state championship “I was one month sober the day they won it,” Stitt said I drove home an hour later and I just got to town and my old drug dealer texted me.” “And I relapsed,” Stitt said as he snapped his fingers Stitt used the last of what he had on hand that night I went to bed early and fell asleep instantly.” was the start of Stitt’s new life…one free from drugs “That was my first sober day,” he says now “I was thankful I had one more chance to stop drugs,” he said Something else was out there pulling him in an opposite direction “I knew they were going to be good again,” Stitt said of Lomega So he started going to their games at the beginning of the season “They were so much fun to watch,” he recalled Stitt found himself using his iPhone to shoot videos of Kenzi during the games and sending them to Mike “But I’d get so many videos of other Lomega players so I’d send them to their parents,” Stitt said And so he became a fixture at Raider games at center court Then came the process of putting the clips together and sending them out Several found their way to Facebook and players and parents alike couldn’t wait for Jerry Mack’s next video drop as he followed the team to yet another state championship in 2016 but those hours watching and editing clips and sending to parents the next day really helped me my first four months of sobriety,” he said that editing took Stitt’s mind away from drugs “That’s when it made me realize I could…that’s there’s life outside of a drug,” he said “And that’s why I say Kenzi’s Lomega team of 2015-16 helped saved my life.” Stitt found himself at a lot of Hennessey events He became a huge fan of the Kingfisher boys’ team during its historic run that began in 2017 There was still Lomega and of course his alma mater He started following and covering - athletes throughout the county Some of the players throughout that time stood out to Stitt A very short list includes the likes of Maci Mendell He went to school with or played against some of their parents then I look at each ball player like a niece or a nephew,” he said “That really helps me get into the games even more.” There was the time in 2019 after Kingfisher won its second Class 4A state championship in three years “He just started talking to me for a few minutes,” Stitt recalled “He just stopped and took the time to talk to me like he knew me Stitt made a post on Facebook about being five years sober “Things like that give me a connection to the players and teams,” he said “It makes me really feel the game in my chest.” ••• Stitt’s videos also turned into post-game recaps they wanted to know what he’d have to say about it later sometimes he struggled to control his emotions and outbursts He might be critical loudly at times - of coaches or officials But he was also always apologetic and always maintained good relationships with coaches and officials alike throughout the county One thing he was never critical of was a player He kept his comments about county kids positive And it wasn’t always easy on him to be there Stitt admittedly tired of shooting and editing the videos He also grew weary of driving to games by himself and even sitting by himself once at the gym He stated as such on social media multiple times and despite the support The Dover teams of 2023-24 revived him a bit His alma mater had returned not only to respectability The girls made the state tournament for the first time since 2007 The boys team won more than 20 games and reached area for the first time in a decade he attended at least 18 of Dover’s games this season Reese saw Stitt in the stands during those years of the Kingfisher run from 2017 through 2023 He saw him some more in 2023-24 with the Dover squads Reese had kept up with Stitt’s support of the county schools over the years and saw what it meant to people throughout the various school districts So when it came time to nominate someone for the OBCA’s Friends of Basketball Award “It celebrates someone who positively affects basketball in your district,” Reese said “And Jerry Mack for years has attended games and has greatly influenced many athletes in the area.” When word came down that Reese’s nomination of Stitt had resulted in the award he wanted to make sure the appreciation of everyone - not just Dover - was expressed He set up the Wednesday assembly with the entirety of the Dover enrollment to attend former players and even basketball officials to attend Reese compiled a series of recorded videos of just a few of the people who couldn’t be there but wanted to congratulate Stitt for his award They included Darcy Roberts and coach Kevin Lewallen from Lomega; Seth Simunek and Superintendent Jason Sternberger from Hennessey; Dale girls coach Eric Smith a former coach at Dover; former KHS players Drake Friesen Xavier Ridenour and Jett Sternberger; local officials Kent Weems and Brandon Friesen There were also several clips from those in Dover like coaches Jared Reese Matt Peck and Chris Combs; current athletes Ashley Gamez Casen Buck and Colton Burns; and Superintendent Jay Wood Videos also included fellow KHS and Dover “superfan” Clint Combs as well as Dover alum Dominic Bell the messages from all were the same: “There is no one more deserving Thank you for all you’ve done for Kingfisher County.” Stitt had inspired each of them - and countless others in one form or another The years of following and recognizing county athletes The hundreds and hundreds of hours spent recording and editing videos The hundreds - if not thousands - of Facebook posts bringing attention to the kids he loved The cheers from the crowd and the video proved that The tears started again when Stitt took the award from Reese and hugged him They showed up yet again when he addressed the crowd “(My addiction) took a lot of years away from me,” he said “So the kids that I support helped me more than I could ever help or acknowledge them.” he’s been sober for more than eight years and six months...and counting Stitt insisted he wasn’t worthy of the award I’ve gotten loud with refs before…I’ve gotten loud with Coach Reese...” which elicited a laugh DHS Principal Nathan Nance disagreed with Stitt “Your testimony is an inspiration to all of us,” he said “You may have gotten loud with refs or coaches but you’ve never said a negative thing about a kid You’re always for the kids and for the students and that’s what this award is about.” Reese’s motivation for the assembly was two-fold he’s also the elementary principal and had a message for those students “The main reason I wanted all my elementary students at this assembly today was to witness the impact that positive words and building up others on social media can have and can truly make someone feel better about themselves,” Reese said “Everyone loves themselves and is born selfish but truly loving others is genuinely a difficult gift to possess and Jerry Mack has it Those who possess that gift have the tendency to change schools “They also tend to help develop that positive trait in others.” Reese said the video compilation was proof “These kids will remember forever the person who believed in them and hopefully they will pass on that trait later in life as well,” he said his drug addiction and how basketball helped pull him away from his darkest of days He knows he’s repeating himself when he sends out that message Click here to read Kingfisher Times and Free Press Kingfisher Times & Free Press Copyright © 2025 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 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Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.Get the latest with our sport podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.Watch on SBS SportSport News EUROPA PENTRU TINE!Află despre beneficiile și oportunitățile oferite Republicii Moldova de Uniunea Europeană 22 February - Prime Minister Dorin Recean today pays a working visit to the central Straseni district meant to create better living conditions for people The settlements from the Straseni district benefited from state funds accessed through the progammes of the Agency of Intervention and Payments for Agriculture (AIPA) National Office of Regional and Local Development (ONDRL) as well as from European funds and of organizations from the USA the PM inspected the works of construction of the local road which makes the connection between the settlement and the M5 international road The European cross-border project implemented by the mayoralty of the settlement in partnership with the mayoralty of the Tulucesti commune of which 10 million lei was allocated by the government Prime Minister Dorin Recean went to  the Ioan Daghi public square in the centre of the village PM Dorin Recean visited the centre of family physicians from the Recea village built within the European Village governmental programme from which over 2,900 people of the settlement and the nearby villages will benefit The prime minister appreciated also the works exhibited at the museum of the Recea village stressing the importance of conserving the cultural heritage where the problem of landslides in the built-up area of the settlement must be solved Under a decision by the Commission for Emergency Situations the needed budget was earmarked for the elaboration of the technical project; yet as the priority of the local public administration is the efficient use of public money for the benefit of the citizens,’’ the prime minister added All materials featured on this site are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Technical-technological administration: Information Technology and Cyber Security Service.