50 Cent takes time out to hang with a boys basketball team in his home borough of Queens
In addition to da club, apparently you can also find 50 Cent at your local high school gym.
That is, if your local high school happens to be home to a Federation AA state championship winning boys basketball squad in 50 Cent's native borough of Queens, N.Y.
Of course, it helps when your assistant coach is a childhood friend of 50 Cent, too. That's the case for Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King assistant Mark McCarroll, according to a New York Daily News report of the rapper's visit.
“He came to some of my playoff games when I played at Christ the King,” McCarroll told the paper. “Since I’m an assistant coach at Christ the King I asked him to come down and see the kids and he said it was no problem, so he came down and met everybody.”
Back when he was Curtis Jackson, those previous visits to perennial prep basketball powerhouse back in the 1990s must have come some time between admittedly "bringing guns and drug money" to Queens (N.Y.) Andrew Jackson High and getting shot nine times on May 24, 2000, allegedly by Mike Tyson's former bodyguard Darryl "Hommo" Baum.
You know, just your average teenager's high school experience. While 50 Cent did not play basketball at the prep level, he reportedly boxed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur. He remains involved in boxing promotion to this day.
Meanwhile, McCarroll earned a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh after a brief stint at Milford (Conn.) Academy. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds in his Panthers career, earning Most Improved Player honors as a senior.
As a reward for this past season's Christ the King boys basketball squad, which defeated Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran to win the Federation AA state title on the back of 28 points from tournament MVP Jon Severe, the two childhood friends reunited on May 31.
“The school went into kind of like a frenzy, because he showed up just as the bell rang,” Royals head coach Joe Arbitello told the New York Daily News. “People were hearing that 50 Cent was coming by and people got really excited.”
The platinum rapper chilled and posed for pictures with each member of the team, according to the report. Thankfully, no bottles full of bub were involved.
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