Before the radiant spotlights of the Allen Fieldhouse arena, the thousands of Kansas Jayhawks fans cheering, the battles between practices, traveling and studying, before it all, Quentin Grimes could hardly find a basketball court to play on.
He lucked out by playing at Woodlands College Park High School but outside of that, it was a struggle to find a gym in Houston, a city where like many are trying to keep their kids off the streets. I met with Grimes in Chicago at the 2019 NBA Combine and he reminisced on those times.
“Struggling hard to find a gym sometimes, volleyball courts you couldn’t get in,” Grimes said, “couldn’t get in on no weekdays.”
Houston is troubling with violence and the homeless as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos donated $5 million to the Salvation Army of Greater Houston and another five to SEARCH Homeless Services. According to the Houston Chronicle, since March, 780 youth used homeless shelters in the past 12 months.
Several programs and organizations are trying to help Houston and Grimes are deeply involved with one called Playing With Purpose Sports.
“It’s a non-profit organization working with struggling countries and stuff like that. I donate money to them so they do a lot of good work for the community,” Grimes said.
PWP is a program that uses statistics based on the performance of athletes to raise funds for orphans, at-risk youths, and children with cancer. Sponsors will pledge for athletes who participate based on their stats in a game, tournament or competition. It’s also a program that teaches leadership, selflessness, sacrifice and all aspects of the game. I spoke with PWP founder Karen Boyd and she said it all began when she and her son went to Africa.
“I saw the incredible struggle and it settled into our hearts,” Boyd said, “Some in Africa never seen a basketball.”
Boyd has known Grimes since he was in the 7th grade and when PWP began, she was blown away by his generosity. “He’s an incredible leader who sets aside his time to help young athletes even beyond basketball.”
Grimes is passionate on giving back to his community as he spoke with student-athletes at Black Walnut Care during PWP’s Leadership event about guidance and motivation on and off the court and gave PWP a $1,000 grant as part of the Gatorade Pay It Forward program where he is able to select a national or local youth sports organization to receive Gatorade’s grant. In the fall, PWP brings 100 foster children from residential care homes to a Houston Rockets game.
“He talks to the youth, they’re inspired by him and he brings in recognition,” Boyd said about Grimes’ involvement. PWP is extending outside of Houston and working on helping Haiti as well. “So much fun to bring sports to another level.”
“I’m proud to have my name on it,” Grimes said about PWP, “Just giving back to the community for things I wish I could have had.”
With working with PWP and being an NBA prospect, he’s manufactured a plan of his own for his hometown.
“Definitely want to open up a gym in the future – that’s open 24 hours. Families could come in at all times and work on their game.”
Grimes has received good feedback from NBA teams and spoke with the Portland Trailblazers, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets. At Kansas, he averaged 8.4 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game and finished second on his team with 54 three-pointers. He is considered a second-rounder and if undrafted, he has until May 29 to decide on going back to school.
“He has work ethic that’s second to none,” Boyd said about Grimes’ NBA goals, “no question he’ll achieve great success.”
Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self knew Grimes had high chances to declare for the 2019 draft.
“Quentin started every game for us and was a key performer in the success we had this past year,” Self continues, “As a freshman, he went through some highs and low that no doubt, will be great preparation for him moving forward. He has represented himself, our school and his family in a manner in we all can be proud of and our entire basketball community should wish him the very best moving forward.”
Whichever team selects Grimes is obtaining a good midrange shooter with strength and great ballhandling, but also a great young man with a lot of character.