Photo courtesy DeMar’s Slam Dunk Book Club

Former Compton DeMar DeRozan has spent much of his rookie year flying high—he’s an emerging star already, and had a great showing in the Dunk Contest.  Now he’s turning his attention to young students in Toronto, and making sure they know how to read.  Here’s the mission statement of DeMar’s Slam Dunk Book Club:

This program targets boys in grade 1-6 who are taught various basketball skills while incorporating the important life skill of reading at the same time. These young boys are being coached and mentored by high school basketball athletes who facilitate various drills, games and skill competitions revolved around basketball, while playing the role of a positive role model at the same time.

Each participant is to fully participate in both the reading and basketball portions of the program where all participants are to read and complete multiple book reports appropriate for their grade level. The philosophy of this program is to build a awareness to young boys in regards to the importance of reading and with doing so, it will guide you to a higher level success for the future.

You hear plenty of miserable, awful stuff about pro athletes, so we wanted to tell you about something positive—especially coming from the local boy!