That's Amare!!

Now this is fantastic. I wish this guy didn't leave me hanging with a full handshake/chestbump in SIX in Scottsdale back in August. Oh and by the way... He's not the only one that's met the current Governor Janet Napolitano... My dad is so baller we were even invited to her inaugaration (spelling). Unfortunately 9/11 kept me out!


MENTORING HIGH ON STOUDEMIRE'S LIST

Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire, who will play Monday night in Denver, has sent a letter to Nuggets fans about his passion for mentoring.

On Jan. 20, I was invited to speak to mentors and mentees at an event in Phoenix called Mentors at the Movies that was put on by the governors office. I met with Gov. Napolitano of Arizona back in my rookie year. We both had strong feelings about dedicating ourselves to helping the youth.

My foundation is called Each One, Teach One, so Im definitely down with the mentor thing. As we were getting ready for the mentor event, I saw some statistics on the youth. I found out that in my community, 30 percent of K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. Also, 17.6 million youth nationwide can benefit from having a mentor, but only 2.5 million actually have them! It opened my eyes, and I wanted to tell everyone my story in hopes of encouraging more people to be become mentors to youth.

A mentor I had back in high school was a coach by the name of Bernie Hayes. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy. He taught us to remove our hats when stepping into a building and to pull up our pants. If you didnt, you had to do 50 push-ups, no matter where you were. You could be in a mall with 200 people, and if he catches you, you had to do push-ups then and there.

Back then, I wasnt thinking, and I wanted to keep my hat on, cuz I thought, hey, my hat looks cool. Being twenty-four now, I definitely understand the reasons behind it. Straightening up the small details can teach you how to be a man and help you get to where you want to go.

I came out of high school in the 2002 draft. I was a player that went to six different high schools to stay out of trouble. That's how bad it was. It is easier for kids to get into trouble than to stay out of trouble. When I was in high school, a lot of people didnt think I would be successful. There were rumors around that I was not educated. So I said, Im going to prove them wrong. I sat down with my mentor, and I told him that I want to improve myself and get better grades. I ended up leaving high school with a 3.0 GPA.

When I came out of high school, I was the ninth pick in the 2002 draft. I came out the same year as Yao Ming, whos a foot taller, one hundred pounds bigger than me, and a great ball player. I was battling with him for Rookie of the Year, and I ended up getting it over him. I became the first player to receive the rookie of the year honor coming straight out of high school. If I didnt have Coach Hayes pushing me every step of the way, guiding me with both the big and little things, I wouldnt be where I am today.

I just wanted to call out to the people of Denver before I head over to play the Nuggets on Monday ... and encourage everyone to become mentors to young people, even if its for a couple hours a month.

Basketball is only my profession but doing it has given me a chance to be a role model for youth. Hopefully we can all become role models to children in our own way. Then we all can have a chance to be better kids, students, friends, parents and people.

- Amare Stoudemire