Brewington hopes to help kids make net gains in Lynn

LYNN – Dwight Brewington burst onto the scene in the early part of the last decade as a sophomore phenom, charged with the task of taking the place of one of English’s all-time basketball greats – Anthony Anderson.For two years, Brewington did exactly that. A different type of player than Anderson, to be sure, but very quickly in that sophomore season, Brewington was English’s go-to guy on the court. And he led the Bulldogs to a berth in the Division 2 North final (their second straight trip to the Tsongas Arena in Lowell), where they fell to eventual state champion Charlestown.And he did all this despite the fact that he is deaf.Now, almost a decade later, and filled with the experience that only collegiate basketball and a tour through the European leagues can bring, Brewington is back in Lynn, teaching kids not only how to play the game, but – hopefully – to love it as much as he does.He has founded the Active Skills Basketball Training Program, which has held clinics in and around Lynn.Click here for a photo gallery.”It’s designed to help kids be the best athletes they can be,” Brewington said. “My goal is to get every kid in my program into a Division 1 NCAA program and to help them graduate from college as a successful student-athlete.”He can certainly teach them about how to be basketball-crazed.”I was hooked on basketball at an early age,” says Brewington. “Since I was five years old, I was always on the court.”I can remember staring out the window watching my cousin, Steve Patrick, working out, dribbling and shooting around for hours.”At nine, he was already practicing his skills, and he scored his first dunk in the seventh grade.”I remember how happy it made me feel,” he said. “I wanted to get up there and dunk like Vince Carter.”Being 60 percent deaf in both ears, Brewington continued in high school with the help of hearing aids and by working out hand signals with coaches and teammates.After spending his freshman year at Wakefield High, he attended English as a sophomore. He followed up his successful sophomore season by helping the team make the North semifinals against East Boston, where he went up against future NBA star Will Blalock.He spent his next two seasons at Worcester Academy, partly because his family moved to New Bedford.”I learned a lot about myself (at Worcester),” he said. “I had to study extremely hard to get into college, but the school prepared me.”Initially, he went to Providence, playing alongside future NBA star Ryan Gomes, but it didn’t work out.”I didn’t agree with how some of the members of the Providence staff handled my disability,” he said. “I figured that parting ways was the best decision I could have made at the time.”He transferred to Liberty University in Virginia, “and it was the change I needed in my life. I wanted a clean slate with basketball, and with life.”I could have transferred to a bigger school, or a more competitive school, but it wasn’t easy for all involved, given my situation.”After stops in the NBA Development League, and also in Europe, Brewington is back home.”(The ASBT program) encourages kids to dream big,” he said. “Even though I did not reach my ultimate goal of playing in the NBA, if one of these kids goes to college because of my help, well, that is enough of a personal reward.”