HOW WE GOT HERE

The initial seed began in the 1960’s in Harlem, New York City. The most hallowed play ground area was found in
Rucker Park. Here many young boys would be exposed to the highest level of basketball competition. If you played in the
tournaments of Rucker Park a certain aura would gain the respect of other peers. Playing there provided me, and others, the
opportunity to get recruited by college scouts who recognized the plethora of talent laden in the streets of New York. I
received a scholarship offer to play basketball at Maryland Eastern Shore University in Princess Anne, Maryland.
However, I also received another letter of recruitment from the Military which I had to honor first. I served in Vietnam as a U.S.
Marine. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete my tour there due to a severe gunshot wound to the head that paralyzed me
and made me unfit to finish my tour of duty.
After years of rehabilitation, I still had the love for the game but most of all the motivation to provide other young
men to have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams. I began to assist other young men who desired to play collegiate sports
and had been overlooked for a myriad of reasons; stemming from not playing high school sports, poor grades or being
tempted by the lure and glitter of the street life. Therefore, I established a sports program that also provided academic
support and mentoring that enable many lives to be transformed as well as having the opportunity to a college education and
a bright future.
Initially, the only support I had was my wife, Jo Ann and a few people from my church in N.Y. It grew into a model
program that had a transformative impact on young men who did not have much direction or discipline to successfully finish
school or stay out of the streets. It started out as a church outreach but over the years more and more young men and young
women who participated in the program went on to college. Most of them were the first to attend a college or university in
their family. Because of the program 100% of all students were provided the opportunity to experience post-high school
education and several young men had the privilege to play in the National Basketball Association: (Kenny ‘the Jet’ Smith;
Rod Strickland; Bruce Dalrymple; Gary Voce; Kenny Anderson; Gene Banks).
In 2001, with the support of family and some close colleagues I decided it was time to create a 501c3 foundation so
that the program could grow into something more impactful for the community, abroad and vicinity. I also found that using
sports and personal talent was a good “hook” to draw the attention of our youth into something constructive and demonstrative
to build character and increase exposure as well as their education. We adopted the theme: “Enriching young lives through
academics and athletics.