LOUISVILLE, Ky. — First in a series.
Making it to the NBA is a journey.
It starts with the dream, then the reality of a lot of hard work for just a shot to make the dream come true. It's not always going to be perfect, but like basketball, life is about how you rebound.
For Precious Sam, the journey started more than 5,000 miles away in West Africa. He was born and raised in Ghana before being discovered and brought over to Kentucky.
How he got here, why he left and who's taking care of him now are just a few of the many unanswered questions surrounding Sam and his basketball life.
Katie Slaughter, a teacher at Kammerer Middle School in Louisville, is fighting for custody of the teen basketball prospect who was once her student. She believes the former University of Louisville basketball player looking after him now doesn't have Sam's best intentions at heart.
"I was his teacher in eighth grade," Slaughter said. "I was his science teacher. He's a good kid, he's honest, he worked hard."
Slaughter said she and the international prospect grew close during his time in Jefferson County Public Schools when he was brand new to the United States.
"He's not just a kid that you typically would see in a middle school classroom," she said. "He's seven feet tall."
Sam, a giant among boys, dwarfs almost everyone his age on the court. He's a rare find, very much synonymous with his first name.
Sam has been on a student visa since coming to America a few years ago. However, that visa said he was going to go to school at Wesley Christian School in the remote town of Allen, Kentucky.
But Slaughter said he never spent a day there.
"When he came from Ghana, he flew in, I believe, to Cincinnati. There may have been another layover, but I know he was picked up in Cincinnati, and he was driven straight from Cincinnati to Louisville. So he's never even been to Allen, Kentucky."
Wesley Christian, a known basketball college prep school, confirmed that even though the required form I-20 was in order for the visa, Precious never showed up.
Instead, he turned up at Kammerer Middle School, where he was Slaughter's student, and then went on to play at Ballard High School and Eastern High School. His dominance was displayed all over Instagram.
However, no JCPS schools are Student and Exchange Visitor Program-certified. Only certified schools are allowed to enroll kids on student visas.
Overseeing the SEVP is the job of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"Homeland Security knew nothing about it until they got brought in," Slaughter said. "But they're now caught up to speed and have been doing their own investigation."
Slaughter had big concerns Precious was being neglected while under the care of his legal guardian Brandon Bender. Bender played at UofL as a freshman in the 2001-02 season before leaving a few weeks after Rick Pitino suspended him indefinitely for violating team rules.
Bender has been around the game in the years since, but his reputation is less than stellar. He was even named in an NCAA investigation involving recruiting violations at the University of Central Florida.
"Not getting enough food, not being able to buy appropriately fitting clothes," Slaughter said.
WHAS11 attempted to speak to Bender and Precious numerous times. Those attempts were unsuccessful.
Slaughter met with Homeland Security in September 2023. A summons dated Sept. 11, 2023, states "the minor non-United States citizen student" was under the "guardianship of Brandon Bender."
At a recent hearing, Judge Christine Ward asked Bender how he came to have Precious in his custody.
"His father, in his country, he had petitioned that I become the guardian when he came to the United States," Bender said.
Bender was an accomplished basketball player himself back in the day. He had a promising future at UofL after starring at Ballard.
But his time as a Cardinal was short-lived as suspensions followed.
"If he doesn't get his act together he'd be better off going to some other school," Pitino said in 2001.
Bender left the team, but he never really left the game. And trouble never really left him.
FOCUS found Bender pleaded guilty to credit card fraud in 2007, and in 2018 more fraud in California.
The court there ordered Bender to pay almost $200,000 for falsely claiming to represent Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown and producing documents with Brown's forged signature in order to steal a $45,000 advance from Stars Management -- a talent agency wanting to represent Brown at the time.
Bender has also been in the news, featured in several articles as a so-called "street agent." They are runners or middlemen who scout young talent and then connect those kids to basketball programs for an often questionable fee.
In 2011, the NCAA named Bender in its investigation of recruiting violations at UCF. The NCAA accused Bender of helping UCF recruit high school basketball and football players without actually being employed by the university.
"It's a pattern; I think controversy follows him a little bit," Slaughter said.
In the current custody battle, Bender is trying to get sole custody of Sam from his legal father, Albert Sam, who is his stepfather.
Slaughter is in a full court press of her own to intervene.
She and her husband had temporary custody of Precious in July of 2023.
"He was like, 'I don't want to. I don't want to go back to them,'" Slaughter said.
However, Judge Christine Ward returned Sam to Bender, and to Tara Brice who the teenager had lived with.
Sam was since sent to AZ Compass Prep School near Phoenix, Arizona, where he is currently developing his basketball skills as a sophomore. He's being recruited by multiple big-time programs, already offered scholarships from Florida State and Mizzou according to his and the school's Instagram accounts.
"Many kids don't get that opportunity because it's a school that just doesn't take any random kid," Bender said during a virtual court hearing Sept. 4.
Bender testified that even though he is the guardian, he's not physically with Sam in Arizona.
"Have you stayed in contact with [Sam]," the judge asked Bender.
"I've spoken to the coaches; Coach Will is out there now. Coach Will is also one of the people who supported Precious," Bender said. "Yes, ma'am, he does have someone out there who is from this city.
Guardian ad litem Elizabeth Barber, appointed by the court to represent Sam's best interests, followed up with Bender, arguing that he "didn't exactly answer" the question.
"I've spoken to Precious," he said. "When? It's been a while. It's been a while since he's been out there."
WHAS11 tried calling Bender and even went to his house in Jeffersontown and left a note for him to call. Bender never got back to us, but his attorney had plenty to say over the phone.
"This is a ridiculous case," said Paul Mullins, Bender's attorney.
Mullins repeatedly questioned what's driving Katie Slaughter.
"Ask anybody the question," Mullins said. "Would she do this if he was a 5-foot black kid with no sports prospects?"
Mullins argued the teenager's future is at stake.
"Katie doesn't want to help the kid. Do you think Brandon Bender wants to help the kid? I think Brandon Bender has helped the kid."
