This wasn’t how things were supposed to go for Robert Manson. When he first boarded a plane in his native Australia bound for some place in North America called Natchez, Miss., he had one thing on his mind &045; one goal that perhaps dwarfed all others that go along with being a foreign exchange student.

A basketball scholarship would be absolutely wonderful.

He arrived last season, suited up for Trinity Episcopal and played awfully well as a 6-6 center by averaging 17 points and nine rebounds. But since then very little has gone right, and Manson is just trying to hang on to a dream that’s been dealt a serious blow.

He initially enrolled at a school in Colorado this season, was declared ineligible and returned to Trinity hoping to finish out his senior season there.

The MPSA, too, ruled him ineligible.

In the world of high school basketball recruiting, coaches and players are in the middle of a dead period. Manson is hoping that’s not a reference to his dream of playing college basketball.

&uot;The schools that expressed interest right at the start kind of stopped talking to me because I’m not playing this year,&uot; Manson said. &uot;It’s tough sitting there on the bench for Trinity.&uot;

Officials in Colorado denied him eligibility because he had no U.S. passport (players without one are allowed only one season of eligibility) and he was not part of an approved foreign exchange program.

Now he’s sitting out, and the names of the schools interested in his services have changed &045; it’s no longer Central Florida and Arizona. Instead, it’s St. Francis of Indiana, Metro State, Palm Beach Atlantic, Jamestown College of North Dakota and a number of junior colleges.

But it’s better than none at all, and he’s still pursuing that dream &045; although he’s appeared to have fallen through the cracks.

&uot;The bigger schools &045; because I’ve been telling them I’m not playing this year &045; stepped off,&uot; Manson said. &uot;They want people playing this year instead of not playing. It makes it tough. It still sucks. I hate it. I still have a passion for basketball. It’s tough.&uot;

Tough, yes. But Manson isn’t giving up. In the meantime, he’s working on his game the best way he knows how. You can find him in the gym after Trinity practices working on his ball handling and other facets of the game along with former Saint guard Gervoni Ware, who is busting his tail in the classroom in order to play next year for the Saints.

Manson may have also become the team’s biggest supporter &045; all the way down to his dyed hair of black on one side and red on the other.

He could be heard during Wednesday’s Trinity-AC South State contest, and he’s happy right now to be involved in the game any way he can. If that’s the only way he can stay involved right now, so be it.

&uot;Something good is going to happen to him,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;Because he’s a good person.&uot;

It’s a shame everything has turned out the way it has. But if Manson has the last word, it’ll be a mere setback.

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at 445-3632 or by e-mail at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com

.