Memphis basketball team surprises elementary school students to promote literacy

Hundreds of Bruce Elementary students filed into the school’s cafeteria early Friday afternoon.

They sang. They danced. They shook their school-issued pompoms. And that was before the Memphis basketball team made a surprise appearance. The newest crop of Tigers took the stage, where Caleb Mills led the adoring throng of youngsters in a series of cheers before leading an impromptu “Teach Me How to Dougie” dance break.

The Tigers were there to have some fun ahead of the team’s first official practice, which is set for Tuesday. But they were also on hand to promote a bigger cause: literacy. The event, dubbed “Lead & Read” and organized by Coaching For Literacy (in partnership with SFR University and Bluff City NIL), was a two-pronged effort to foster reading and writing in young students around Memphis while also getting the players involved in the community.

Jordan Brown, a Louisiana transfer center, is one of many first-year Tigers. After the pep rally, he and the rest of his teammates split up into six groups and went into individual second- and third-grade classrooms where they read from “Lincoln Explores Memphis,” a children’s book written by Hayley Perkins about a puppy learning to overcome his fear of change by getting to know the Bluff City.

“I remember when I had people come speak to us back in elementary school and stuff like that,” said Brown, who partnered with Alabama transfer Jahvon Quinerly and Northwest Mississippi Community College transfer Joe Cooper. “I remember that to this day, so I know this is going to have a big impact.”

Wichita State transfer Jaykwon Walton teamed up with freshman JJ Taylor to read to a group of second-graders. Mills, freshman Ashton Hardaway and St. John’s transfer David Jones sat in with a third-grade class, engaging in a strong round of Q&A.

Malcolm Dandridge high-fived students in the hallway, while handing out pencils. Nick Jourdain, a Temple transfer, kept things light-hearted, hoping to convince the youngsters he is a better player than LeBron James.

It was all a manifestation of coach Penny Hardaway’s vision to produce a positive impact in Memphis while also helping the newest Tigers get acclimated to the city.

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Jason Baker, the executive director for Coaching For Literacy, said it was Hardaway’s idea to put together an event like Friday’s. Baker said he needed no convincing.

“As you can see, when athletes care about something, other people rally,” he said. “I watched Nick Jourdain holding court and answering questions. He had full control of the class. The kids had their books out. To us, that’s really the core DNA moment for our organization. This is why we bring athletes.

“It’s not going to be a fix-all for the cause of literacy. But if we can bring a different outlook for the students, it’s a big help.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball surprises elementary students to promote literacy