Ft. Smith -- In one word, Southside boys head basketball coach Jerry Bridges summed up Jeremy Geren's career as a Rebel -- Fearless.

³That little sucker would take it to anybody,² Southside head coach Jerry Bridges said. ³I loved having him out on the court for us because he was such a scrapper. He was very competitive and wouldn¹t ever back down from anybody.² Until one fateful night when Geren met his match. While most high school seniors never forget their final home basketball game, Geren wishes he could. As Southside¹s point guard in the 1997 season, Geren suddenly found himself waking up from a nightmare during a Conference AAAAA-West game with Russellville. In a freak accident, he had his legs taken out from underneath him and came down parallel to the floor. The side of his head caught another player¹s knee on the way down and snapped back his neck awkwardly as he hit the floor. ³I was knocked out for a minute or so,² Geren said. ³When I came to, coach (Brent) Griffis (the trainer) was looking at me and the gym was dead quiet. I couldn¹t feel anything at all from my neck down. ³I was real scared.² After a long delay, Geren was carefully strapped to stretcher in front of a somber SHS crowd and carted off in an ambulance to the hospital. Fortunately, the test on permanent damage proved negative a few hours later. Geren¹s spinal cord had been severely bruised and muscles had been ripped in his back, but he would recover. But doctors told him his basketball-playing days were over. ³I couldn¹t walk for four days,² Geren said. ³That¹s something you take for granted until something like that happens. It was pretty disappointing that I couldn¹t play basketball again because it was something I really loved, but I¹ll take being able to walk any day.² Southside was in second place in the league race when Geren was injured, but with his absence and some other key injuries, the Rebels failed to make the playoffs. ³I will never forget that night, it was really a scary thing for Jeremy of course, but for all us,² Bridges said . ³We didn¹t know what was going to happen with him.² Geren had several junior colleges and small colleges recruiting him, including Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. He wound up going to OBU anyway for the past two years but is taking this semester off and planning on transferring to the University of Arkansas. One day last fall, Bridges ran into his former player and asked if he would be interested in helping him out. ³(Assistant) coach Eric Burnett works with football until the last football game,² Bridges said. ³So I am all alone and I need some help.² As an unpaid volunteer, Geren agreed to help with the sophomores, organizing them during practice and actually coaching them in games. He also assists Burnett during the junior varsity games and is on the bench during the varsity games. ³I never really thought about going into coaching before, I was just helping out coach Bridges as a favor,² Geren said. ³But I really love it now. I realized that basketball is something that makes me happy, and I am planning on trying to get my degree and be a coach eventually.² Geren still has to get regular shots in his back and sometimes gets migraines from the lingering effects of the injury, but he is more or less unlimited in his activities as long as he is careful. ³I played intramurals at OBU and a few pickup games now and then,² Geren says. ³And I love to play golf.² Bridges said watching Geren mature has been a rewarding experience for him as a coach. ³When Jeremy was a sophomore and a junior, we had some problems with his attitude,² Bridges said. ³But he really grew up a lot as a senior and even more so now. He¹s really good with the young kids and they like him a lot. ³He¹s been a big help to us,² Bridges said. ³He knows the game, and I think he¹s going to make a great coach some day.²