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Feehan takes a shot and makes The ShotMar 05, 2011 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- There were 65 seconds left in the final home game when Jesse Feehan stepped onto the court for the first time in his three years as a member of the Wheaton North High School basketball team. What happened next can only be explained as karmic. It was the return on Feehan's love and loyalty for a high school with 2,200 students where, as basketball tri-captain Rich Finley said, "There is not one who doesn't like Jesse." And maybe it had something to do with coach Jim Nazos giving Feehan No. 23, Michael Jordan's number, when the special needs student got the opportunity he had thought about for so long. "I told everyone I was going to make it special, and it was special," Feehan said. For days after, everyone at Wheaton North would be talking about "The Shot." It had taken on an aura like the buzzer-beater Jordan sank against the Cavaliers in the first round of the 1989 NBA playoffs. But Feehan had been so nervous. A teammate had to remind him to remove the warm-up jersey before he checked in at the scorer's table. His mouth was dry, and his legs were shaking. Then Wheaton North got possession, and a pass came to Feehan on the left wing about 20 feet from the basket. The Naperville North players, who had been told of the situation, gave Feehan room. It probably wouldn't have made any difference if someone had tried to guard him, so quickly did Feehan catch, take two steps and shoot. A classmate, Jeff Schalk, pulled Feehan aside as a sophomore to teach him how to shoot with one hand instead of two. Feehan would go on to try hundreds of 3-point shots in practice his three years as varsity manager. He made so many for his Special Olympics team that its coach, Adam Ferguson, would tell disbelieving rival coaches, "You better guard him." When he released this one against Naperville North, Feehan knew it wasn't going to be the swish he dreamed about but would hit the backboard first. "I didn't call, 'Bank shot,' " he explained, a bit apologetically. The ball hit the glass and dropped cleanly through the net. Fans of both teams stood and cheered, as they would for the rest of the game. "Nothing better than hitting my first shot in a high school basketball game," he said. Feehan barely missed another banked 3 and scored on a layup. When it was over, Wheaton North students put Feehan on their shoulders, and he gave the No. 1 sign. "How could you script something as perfect as this?" Nazos said. Early diagnosis Ann and Mike Feehan knew the youngest of their three children had hyperactivity tendencies from the time he was 18 months old. They got a diagnosis of ADHD when Jesse was 2 and soon saw developmental issues. He eventually would be classified PDD-NOS -- "pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified." Jesse, now 18, has some features of classical autism, some of Asperger's syndrome, slight malformation of his face and sleep apnea related to brain stem issues. He takes Concerta, a medicine prescribed for hyperactivity in children and adults. His memory of sports facts and events in his life is stunning for its recall of detail. The developmental delay is most evident, according to his mother, in difficulties with "organization, inferential reasoning and 'why questions.' " "I love math and stats," Jesse said. And talking nonstop -- about anything, especially sports. He was dressed in yellow Wheaton North football shorts and a grey Wheaton North basketball sweatshirt as we talked in the family's living room. Jesse's vocal enthusiasm is evident for everything that has to do with sports at Wheaton North, where he has been a manager for the football, baseball and basketball teams. "Sports has given Jesse a wonderful connection with regular-ed kids," Ann Feehan said. Jesse got involved in Special Olympics, where he competes in bowling, basketball and track, only two years ago. Now, Ferguson said, he's by far the best player on the District 200 basketball team that will compete next weekend at the Illinois Special Olympics state finals. "When you look at Jesse, you don't see a person with a disability," said Ferguson, Wheaton Warrenville District 200 assistant director for special services.. "You see a caring, happy kid, who has this charisma, who carries himself in a way that makes you want to be friends with him." At the recent pageant where 13 boys vied for the title of "Mr. Wheaton North," Feehan performed the Josh Groban song, "You Raise Me Up." Midway through, he tried to spot his father in the dark seating area and said, "Wherever you are, dad, I love you ... mom, dad, thank you so much." There was a disgruntled rumble in the auditorium when the judges didn't choose Feehan as one of the five finalists. The eventual winner, Kurt Klinger, took the crown, put it on Feehan's head and said, "We all know who the real Mr. Wheaton North is." 'Pure heart' Another special needs student, Ryne Stolarz, was Wheaton North's senior varsity basketball manager when Feehan was a freshman manager. Nazos also put Stolarz in a game, where he missed his only shot. That would motivate Feehan from the time he became a varsity manager. "It changed my life when Coach Naz came up to me when I was in biology class as a sophomore, brought me to his room and said, 'Feehan, you're coming up to the varsity,' " Feehan recalled. Feehan got his chance Feb. 19 in a game in which Wheaton North fell far behind before the final minutes. Nazos sent in Feehan to a roar from the crowd. "It was really good to see him get in the game and show what he is made of -- pure heart," teammate Finley said. Sitting in the stands, fighting tears when she heard the crowd's reaction, Ann Feehan was hoping for her son's sake that something exciting would happen, the way she would hope for any child to do well at something they love. What did happen was reassurance of her determination to delight in Jesse being who he is. "I don't look at him as something to be fixed," she said. "Other people didn't make this shot for him. He did it himself." After the shot dropped through the net, Feehan simply ran back on defense. At the next whistle, with the gym in an uproar, he slapped teammates' hands as they came to congratulate him. And it soon became a part of local basketball lore. "All around school," Feehan said, "kids were telling me, 'Jess, you made 'The Shot.' " [email protected] To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chicagotribune.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Chicago Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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