by Seth 'Soul Man' Ferranti

There's nothing more fierce than a prison basketball rivalry. You can talk about Larry and Magic or Shaq/Kobe, but in the heart of America's gulags it gets hectic. These dudes play ball like its life or death. And at FCI Gilmer, in the mountains of West V, there’s a rivalry for the ages. DJ vs Monkee.

"It's a great rivalry," says Antonio "Monkee" Rogers, all 5-7 and 160lbs of him. Monkee reps Charlotte, North Carolina and he's been winning prison league chips for over a decade. His game is straight Rucker Park, forged in the chaos of penitentiary battles with the wicked handle, the jitterbug moves and the rainbow threes.

Darryl "DJ" Hairston, on the other hand, is the basketball prodigy. The B-More native, who played AAU ball at Cecil Kirk with Juan Dixon, is like that. "I'm the best player by far." DJ says and with his superman cuts, lightning quick first step, 5-10 165lb athletic frame and graceful moves that appear effortless, DJ looks like he should be in the NBA. But he's not, he's in prison and just like in the league, championships define greatness.

"It's a known fact that my team and I refuse to let anyone have out title as long as we are in the league." Monkee says. But DJ has been gunning for his adversary and their battles are ruthless, crazy hype and bring out the whole compound.

"The biggest and best thing to happen here." DJ says of the rivalry and describes the atmosphere on game day. "Guys betting. Getting ready to fight. Half like DJ. Half like Monkee. The whole jail be in the gym." And when it's showtime these cats can ball.

"Points are the easy part," says DJ. The hard part is the drama with the whole pound watching. "We get physical at times," Monkee understates because for real these two AI clones go hard. Talking trash, pushing, shoving- a real dog fight.

"Without a doubt we act like we hate each other," say DJ. "But dude can ball." Monkee follows suit with props of his own. "I love to play my nemesis," he says. "DJ's a good player." And with the respect level high you know these two dudes will keep battling on the court, gladiator style.

For those of you new to ElevationMag, or for that matter prison basketball, Seth Ferranti is a regular contributor to ElevationMag and other major publications. Seth is serving a 25 to life sentence in the feds. He's expected out in around 2015. You can order Seth "Soul Man" Ferranti's books by clicking here or going www.gorillaconvict.com.

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