He spent time in a juvenile detention center. Now he’s leading Bayshore’s football team

Bayshore High head football coach John Biezuns was struck the first time he saw Le’Quayvaious Greene last fall.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound wide receiver had a build that Biezuns didn’t see often in the hallways of the school. He wanted Greene to play football.

Greene wanted to play football, too. He had played at Manatee High his first two years of high school before transferring and had a dream of playing in college and the NFL.

But then came the bad news.

Biezuns asks every student interested in playing football about their grade point average. Greene responded that his was a 1.8, shy of the 2.0 required to participate. His junior season was over before it began.

Biezuns decided to give Greene a chance, inviting him to practice with the team during his junior year while he tried to raise his grades.

Biezuns, though, wasn’t confident it would turn out well.

“A lot of people say they want to do it,” Biezuns said. “I never had anyone follow through. Ever. In 18 years. They say they want to do it, but they never follow through.”

Yes, becoming eligible would be a challenge for Greene, but nothing compared to what he had overcome just to be in the office meeting Biezuns that day.

A tough start to life

Greene grew up living largely with his father, Lee Greene, until his father died of complications from diabetes when Greene was 9 years old. The loss left a big impact on the younger Greene.

“It was really tough,” Greene said. “He was basically my only motivation. I looked up to him a lot. I think he did the best he could, and I guess he kind of made me who I am today.”

Greene moved in with his mother, Phadra Edwards, who lived in Citywalk Apartments. From their balcony, they could see the razor wire on the fences of the Manatee Regional Juvenile Detention Center. We want you on this side and not that side, his godmother, Sheila Serrao, would tell him.

Edwards, Greene said, began battling issues with drugs, and the electric bill would go unpaid, leaving them in the dark.

After his sophomore season at Manatee, Greene said, he began hanging out with what he described as the wrong crowd and turned to selling drugs.

“I was trying to make money to help my mom out,” Greene said. “I was basically trying to do whatever I could to earn money and help her pay her bills. You’re 16 and don’t have a job …”

Serrao, Edwards’ friend and with whom Greene lived for periods of time, noticed a difference.

“As soon as football ended, he disappeared from us,” Serrao said. “We weren’t sure if he was being a teenager, and he was just backing up from us or what, but we kind of lost touch with him. We were like, ‘Oh, I hope we’re not losing him.’

“Next thing we know, we got the call saying he was in trouble.”

Greene said he was busted for possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana and crack and served a month and a half at the Juvenile Detention Center. He was on the wrong side of the fence.

“It was an eye-opener to be honest,” Greene said. “That really opened my eyes because I knew I really wanted to play football, but I had no support.”

A few days after Greene was released, he and his mother were evicted. He was homeless.

Working his way back

The conversation last year between Edwards and Serrao regarding Greene’s living situation really wasn’t much of a conversation. Serrao didn’t hesitate in deciding to take Greene in.

She helped Greene through his court appearances and remembers one big conversation.

“We were driving home from one of his court things, and he said, ‘I could be out on the streets smoking every day or selling. I don’t want that,’ ” Serrao said. “He said, ‘That’s why I’m with you. I want a chance.’ He was a different person after that.

“I don’t know what clicked. I wish I knew (what clicked) because I would sell it.”

Adds Greene: “If they would have never came, I probably would be in worse trouble. I probably wouldn’t be in JDC. I’d probably be in the big jail. They were trying to get my confidence back up — ‘You can do this. Football can get you out of here.’

“Everybody talks about my rough background, but I just want to see in the future that I do good things in this world. I just want to make a name for myself.”

Serrao lives in Bayshore’s district, leading Greene to the school and to his meeting with Biezuns last year. Greene began taking a credit recovery course with David Stubbs, then a Bayshore volunteer coach and now the team’s outside linebackers coach, and practiced with the football team. He spent his Friday nights filming the team next to Stubbs on top of the press box.

“We had a lot of conversations about just life in general,” Stubbs said. “I thought he had a lot of talent and potential, and it was killing him he couldn’t play. I was like, ‘You can play next year, but you have to do the work to get on the field.’ He did the work.”

Greene raised his GPA to 2.40, making him eligible for his senior season. The captain has been a bright spot for the Bruins, leading the team with 35 receptions for 451 yards and five touchdowns heading into Friday night’s season finale despite also playing defensive back and on special teams.

Greene still hopes to play college football, but he hasn’t had many conversations with coaches. His poor GPA over his first two years of high school hurt, as does his not playing as a junior.

But Biezuns believes Greene will play college football.

“He’s a high-caliber, Division I receiver,” Biezuns said. “He needs to put on some weight and add a little bit of strength. He runs great routes, he has great hands, he actually likes to block. He’s a kid that’ll play on Saturdays for sure, just because he’s overcome this much to get to this point.

“Any coach would fall in love with him in a heartbeat. I did.”

Whatever the future holds, Serrao knows what she wants for Greene.

“I don’t know how he got to be who he is with what he’s been through,” she said. “I’m proud of him, (considering) what he’s been through and where he is. When he smiles, you see who he really is. He’s got a beautiful heart, and that’s what we want the world to see.”