Profile of Cady Lalanne

23-year-old Cady Lalanne was the 2nd Round draft pick for the Austin Spurs and is working hard at the D-League level. 

The 6'10" center doesn't take the opportunity lately because he knows how hard it was to get here.

"Coming off the boat. Having to hide in the woods. Seeing the cops pass right by. Went to car and get in. The whole time I didn't really know what was going on," Lalanne says.

Lalanne says when he was seven, he, his mom and his younger sister traveled with several others from Haiti to America hoping for a better life.

"As I think about it now. Reflecting back on it. It was eye opening. A lot of people did that trip and didn't make it," Lalanne says.

Austin Spurs head coach Ken McDonald says, "Everyone has a different background on the team, coaches included. To hear some of the things he's gone through in his life.  Kind of puts things in perspective."

Lalanne didn't start playing basketball until he was 14. He ended up getting a scholarship to play for the University of Massachusetts. But before he could play there, Lalanne had to go back to Haiti to gain legal status because he came to America illegally.

It was a process that was supposed to take two weeks but ended up taking six months.

"After like the fourth month of being over there. I thought I might be over here for good. So I started adapting to the culture more. Started trying to learn more about the culture.  Six month came by. All of a sudden my mom called me. Said we got the plane ticket.  You're coming back home," Lalanne says.

It's something that Lalanne says continues to affect him.

"Sometimes I'll be sleeping, and I'll wake up. I'll jump out of bed. Thinking I'm still in Haiti. The experience kind of scared me. Because at the same time you just came from having everything, you're in school.  Everything's going good. All of a sudden you're in a third world country, where it's not the best. You're barely eating. Don't have no electricity.  So just when I came back.  Didn't take nothing for granted.  Knowing everything's a blessing.  I don't enjoy that I went through it.  But I'm thankful that I went through it because it helped me grow a lot more," Lalanne says.