Bond with late brother provides heartbreak, inspiration for Michael Orris

DeKALB – An adjustable toy basketball hoop stood in the unfinished basement of the Orris house.

The two brothers – Michael, around 5 years old at the time, and Billy, around 10 – would play on that hoop for hours. Now a junior guard for Northern Illinois, Michael's first basketball memory comes from those battles in the basement – eventually, it was carpeted, providing more padding for the inevitable falls.

"I remember him bullying me a lot," Michael laughs now. "We would never stop playing. I remember him bullying me and pushing me around."

However, those 1-on-1 battles now are only a memory. Last summer, Billy died in a motorcycle accident while trying to pull into a grocery store to pick something up for Michael's 21st birthday.

Billy, who died at 26, was Michael's biggest fan. Billy was the one who molded the toughness Michael needed to eventually become a Division I basketball player.

When they got older, the games in the basement had turned into battles in the driveway. Eventually, Billy took young Michael to the YMCA to play with his older brother's friends. Billy told his friends to foul Michael and not go easy on the fourth-grader.

"It was intimidating and frustrating and it would get me mad at him," Michael said. "I would get mad at him and storm off the court. He would give me no mercy, and then we'd get in the car and he'd hug me and kiss me and tell me he loves me. On the court, he just wanted to push me to get better and fight through adversity – no matter how big and strong."

***

It was hard for Michael to fathom.

Not just the sudden and heartbreaking death of the brother he loved so much, but the amount of people who showed up to Billy's wake. The doors opened at Davenport Funeral Home in Crystal Lake at 3:30 p.m. that day.

Then the wave after wave of friends and family didn't stop.

"There was a nonstop flow of people until 10 at night," Michael said. "It didn't stop. From what I've heard, normally there's a break. The line – we never got a break. It never stopped. People just kept coming."

There was a strong bond between the two brothers that not even a first date could separate.

While a freshman at Kansas Sate, Michael joined his brother on a date to the movie theater. Billy's date sat between the brothers and, after continually checking over at his little brother during the previews, Billy asked his date if they could switch seats so he could sit next to Michael.

It was not just the sheer volume of people to show up to honor Billy at the wake that surprised him. Instead, it's what he heard from those visitors during the more than six hours of the wake.

Michael said he knew his older brother was proud of him – he just didn't realize the extent of it.

"There were so many stories (at the wake), literally story after story after story was people telling us how he would just not stop talking about me," Michael said. "All day at work, not stop talking about me. Showing people videos of me. Telling people he had to leave work early to get to the game. I always knew he was proud of me. It was just a whole another level than I thought.

"He didn't stop talking about me no matter where he was."

****

Michael isn't sure how birthdays will feel from now on.

The accident that took Billy's life in Hoffman Estates occurred Aug. 7 – a day before Michael's birthday. The family – including parents Bill and Lisa Orris, co-pastors of Hope Church in Crystal Lake – was heading out the door to see a concert when a police officer notified them about the accident.

Michael dropped to his knees in shock. Eventually, hearing his parents break down at the news was too difficult to handle.

"After hearing my parents and their reaction, I couldn't listen to it, so I just ran out of the house and just started walking," Michael said. "I walked down the streets and through my neighborhood. I just had to get out of there. It's hard to listen to your parents like that. At that point, I was in that shock mode."

Michael's girlfriend, Hamidah Ishan Ahmad, took over his phone for the next few days – responding to texts of condolences – while his sister, Lauren, took over their parents' phones. It was Hamidah who called NIU coach Mark Montgomery to tell him the news.

"His girlfriend called me and she was screaming on the phone and I thought something happened to Michael, so ..." Montgomery said, unable to finish his thought.

Michael said the temptation to fall into the darkness of the bottom of a bottle, "was never an option," in the months since the accident. There is sorrow and hurt – it can make it tough to get out of bed sometimes – but he takes solace in his faith. Everything happens for a reason.

"I know people always say that and people hate hearing that when bad things happen, but Billy loved God more than anything in this world and him being with his creator, it makes him the happiest guy in the world," Michael said. "Yeah, we're hurting down here, but how can I be that selfish to know he's at where he's always wanted to be?"

Billy is buried near Crystal Lake and Michael said he might visit his grave on his late brother's birthday, Feb. 21. As far as Michael's birthday – a painful reminder of the death of his brother – he said he thinks he'll know how he'll feel when it comes, but believes it will be a combination of celebration and reflection.

"Obviously, the day before, the day he died, that's going to be a day – every emotion under the sun," Michael said. "Moving on the next day, it will definitely be just as hard, but not only celebrating my life and my birth, but his life and his rebirth to where he is now."

****

Playing in games for the Huskies this year helps Michael.

When he's in the game, the weight is off his shoulders. He can just play. However, while he's on the bench, he still will look across the court to the spot Billy used to sit in – a few rows up, usually the aisle seat.

Michael was in junior high when he began to beat his brother and his friends on a regular basis on the basketball court. That didn't stop the bigger brother in Billy.

"He thought he was so good," Michael laughed. "Even when I [played] at Kansas State (freshman year), and I was at a major college, he still thought he was better than me at basketball."

The thought of walking away from the game never entered Michael's mind after Billy's death. Being a guard at NIU was his job, he said, that's what he signed up to do. Although his world stopped after the accident, the world around him continued. By continuing his basketball career, he could honor his brother.

That's why before the season, Michael came to Montgomery with a simple request – can he switch his jersey number from No. 55 to No. 24?

"That was Billy's favorite number," Michael said. "When he played sports, he loved that number. Every one of his email passwords, any password he needed for any account, there was always a 24 attached to it. I thought it would be a pretty cool tribute if I changed it."