University of Hawaii football player Dior Scott has learned that hopefulness does not come with limits.
“Everything is great,” said Scott, who moved from the Bay Area to Honolulu in January. “I’m living in paradise, looking at mountains right now (and feeling) the breeze. I really can’t complain. I thank God.”
Since joining the Rainbow Warriors as a walk-on receiver, Scott has endured a surprising coaching change, cancellation of spring workouts and, this past week, the postponement of UH’s 2020 football season.
“There was a whole lot of adversity,” Scott said, “but I’ve been through adversity my whole life. It’s just another obstacle. Nothing’s been easy for me. The season’s been postponed but we’re still going to keep grinding, keep working out, and hope for the best. We can’t really complain.”
Scott’s tribulations were revealed in Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” a reality series that offered a behind-the-scenes look at Laney College’s 2019 season. Scott — known on the show as Dior Walker-Scott — had one of the more compelling story lines detailing his estrangement from his father, bouts with anxiety, and homelessness. He slept in the backseat of his car during the season. Scott’s journey was chronicled in a New York Times’ article, as well as other publications.
“It’s been amazing,” Scott of the reaction. “People from all around the world have been hitting me up, and telling me they appreciate my story, and telling me how our stories relate. The popularity of (the show) has been humbling. I came from nothing. Now people are hitting me up, telling me they know how they feel, telling me I created a movement. It’s humbling.”
A football player’s life at Oakland-based Laney is challenging. Laney does not offer football scholarships nor on-campus housing. Players are scattered across the Bay Area. It was during prep work when the film crew learned Scott slept in his car following his evening shifts at Wingstop, a restaurant where he cooked, cleared tables, washed dishes and cleaned the bathrooms. Because of eligibility restrictions, Scott turned down assistance offers from the sympathetic crew. “They wanted to help me so bad, but I told them, ‘it’s OK,’ ” said Scott, whose only concern was “about the next day.”
Scott parked in Brentwood, a city in Contra Costa Country, then showered each morning at a friend’s house. He then drove to Oakland, where he attended classes and study hall, participated in football practice, studied until 6:30 p.m., and then went to work.
While Scott was a promising receiver, he was asked to change positions when three quarterbacks suffered injuries in a one-week span. Scott made the move even when it was suggested it might hurt his recruiting value.
But UH wideout Jared Smart, who was Scott’s Laney teammate in 2018, and Laney head coach John Beam strongly endorsed Scott to UH receivers coach Andre Allen. It was decided Scott would join the Warriors as a preferred walk-on.
Scott used money saved from his job and student loans to pay for his airfare to Hawaii and the first semester’s tuition and living expenses. He accepted an invitation to move into a house Smart was renting. “It was really unreal knowing I can sleep on a bed for consecutive nights,” Scott said. “That was the best feeling I had in a long time. The first sleep? I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was amazing. It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud.”
But then Scott learned that Nick Rolovich was resigning as UH’s head coach to accept the head job at Washington State. A few days later, Allen agreed to join WSU’s coaching staff.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Scott said. “I just got on the island. I had no Plan B. I was scared. … This is another obstacle. Am I going to leave the island and hope for something else or stay on the island and keep doing what I’m doing? I decided to stay on the island. The new coaching staff is really a blessing in disguise.”
Scott has become a mental-health advocate. He admitted to anxiety attacks, depression and loss of appetite after bottling emotions. He said talking about his feelings, as he did on the show, was therapeutic. He said expressing his feelings and sharing his story have made “me for comfortable with myself, that I can express myself, and let people hear my side.”