Alabama Basketball Plays Friendly Pick-Up Game at Local Church

Being in the presence of some of college athletics' greatest players and coaches is one thing, but interacting with those who have made it out of a similar situation you are in just means more.

Growing up in foster care can be tough. But, not allowing it to define the rest of your life makes it all worth it.

Coach Bryan Hodgson, an assistant basketball coach at the University of Alabama, is a former foster kid himself. He was in the foster care system in New York at the age of 2 and later was adopted.

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He would go on to have future basketball success and has recently helped coach the University of Alabama to one of its best seasons ever. The Tide won the SEC Championship and made it all the way to the Sweet 16 in the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Just a friendly game with Alabama's Jahvon Quinerly, Noah Gurley, JD Davison, and Adam Cottrell was a pick-up game of basketball with the youth of Embrace Alabama Kids, A Ministry at First United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa. Despite Alabama’s basketball team having the obvious athletic advantage, they allowed the boys to showcase their skills.

Embrace Alabama Kids, A Ministry of United Methodist Children's Home, is a non-profit, faith-based organization dedicated to serving vulnerable children and families in crisis across the state of Alabama. The pick-up game was held at First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa.

One of the EAK Higher Education Program college students, JD, even got to compete in a 3-point shootout against Jahvon "JQ" Quinerly and Adam Cottrell.  He fared pretty well against some of college basketball’s top shooters.

After a beautiful speech by Hodgson and a dinner, the kids and the team then toured the University of Alabama’s football facilities alongside Alabama Football great Wesley Britt. The event was to show the kids and everyone who attended that "it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish."