Former Basketball Team Player for Wildcats 'Will Sheridan' Comes Out
Will Sheridan comes out\Source: ESPN
Will Sheridan, former forward for the Villanova Wildcats, announced today that he is gay – and that most of his teammates were aware of the fact throughout his basketball career.
ESPN reports today that Sheridan, 26, told friend and roommate Mike Nardi about his sexuality early on in their freshman year. As time passed, most of Sheridan’s other teammates earned his trust as well. Upon learning of Sheridan’s homosexuality, Nardi recalls, “I was surprised because it was new to me…but it’s not like it mattered. I mean, we were friends. Who cares?”
Nardi’s refreshing attitude and others like it have helped Sheridan, who went on to forge a career as an artists, musician and performer while also managing a high-profile fashion retail company, grow comfortable with his sexual identity and share his experience publicly.
“I’m trying to have a voice,” Sheridan said, “and I want that voice to reach as many people as it can.”
As a black man, a homosexual and a former athlete, Sheridan knows he’s something of a rare breed (“I’m like a quadruple minority,” he explained). Yet the very uniqueness of his position leads him to believe that there is also something universal in his story.
“I feel like a little piece of me resides in everybody,” Sheridan continued, citing the example of a young person struggling with their identity who might look to him as an example of an LGBT individual who achieved distinction in college basketball, traveled the world and successfully launched a music career.
“It’s my responsibility to talk about that,” Sheridan said.
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