Heeding a call

The gymnasium at the Cornerstone School in Huffman is a far cry from Coleman Coliseum, and that’s just fine with Ronald Steele.

At capacity, Coleman Coliseum — where the University of Alabama plays its home basketball games — holds more than 15,000 people. By comparison, a few hundred people might be able to squeeze into Cornerstone’s gym before the fire marshal raises an eyebrow.

After playing at John Carroll Catholic High School and winning “Mr. Basketball” in the state of Alabama twice, Steele became a star in Tuscaloosa. Injuries derailed hopes of a career in the NBA, but he still played professionally in Turkey, Italy and Israel.

But Steele continued to feel a different calling for his life than simply playing the game of basketball.

“I knew coaching was my real passion, and I wanted to get settled,” Steele said. “I knew I wanted to coach; I just didn’t know the path.”

He also knew he wanted to move back to the United States in order to provide more stability for his wife and young son. So he began searching for that path back where it all began — at John Carroll — as an assistant with the boys basketball program for his brother Andrew, the head coach.

After a season doing that, the school needed a girls coach, and Steele took on that challenge successfully. His team advanced to the Class 6A Central Regional in Montgomery.

But once again, Steele felt a different calling.

“I was at John Carroll, and that was great, but I felt God was calling me to do something a little different,” Steele said. “I wanted to make sure I was making a good impact.”

As he enjoyed breakfast with one of his past high school teammates one morning, he was pitched the story, mission and opportunity at Cornerstone. 

Steele was convinced.

“This is a perfect fit for me,” he recalled.

At Cornerstone, Steele has the perfect balance: a chance to coach basketball and to have an impact on lives.

“We have some really good kids that come from tough backgrounds a lot of times,” Steele said. “I really want to step into that role and help mentor them and show them how basketball helped me along. I was blessed to play college and professional basketball, but the lessons I took from basketball stuck with me, and I think we need more of that in our communities.”

Instead of searching for a job that Steele knew would allow him to compete for championships at the highest level, he found the opportunity he saw the greatest potential for significant leadership, even if it was a private school competing in Class 1A.

“It’s not about championships or winning,” he said. “If that was the case, I would’ve tried to be on a bigger stage. But I felt like this is where God was calling me to be, and I’m going to do my best to do that.”

Winning is a goal, and Cornerstone advanced to the state semifinals at the BJCC in Steele’s first season. But there is a greater need he is attempting to fulfill.

“If you allow the scoreboard to determine your self-worth, you’re going to have a tough life,” he said. “Someone’s always going to make more money than you. Someone’s always going to be better than you at this or that, and if you can’t find happiness in doing your best, it’s going to be tough. As long as we perform to our standard and do the best we can, we can walk away better. Winning comes from that. It’s not the other way around.”