By Ken Lay
Farragut High School athletic director Donald Dodgen had to answer an early Saturday wake-up call recently.
But Dodgen didn’t mind because he knew what the day had in store. He’s shown up to open up the Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium on a late summer Saturday morning for the last two decades as the school has hosted Hoops for Hope since 2007.
The event gives children and young adults with Down Syndrome the opportunity to play basketball with members of the University of Tennessee men’s and women’s basketball teams.
“This thing gets bigger every year,” Dodgen said. “We had 59 kids this year and that’s the most we’ve ever had.
“I look forward to this every year and it’s an honor for us to host this. You can come in here and be in a bad mood and then you leave here feeling good. This is a feel-good day.”
Hoops for Hope began as an Eagle Scout service project for Farragut graduate Trey Sexton, who brought his own kids to the event for the first time. Hoops for Hope began as a one-time event.
But Sexton noted that both Tennessee and the Down Syndrome Awareness Group approached him about bringing Hoops for a second year in 2008.
The event has been a late-summer staple in West Knox County ever since. And it’s a hit for UT players and coaches.
Lady Vol Rylie Theuerkauf’s first Hoops for Hope experience was memorable and special.
“Meeting all the kids and coloring with them, making them laugh, things like that, it’s not even about basketball; it’s just about talking to them and being with them,” said Theuerkauf, who is an education major with aspirations of a teaching career. “This is special and I love this.”
Theuerkauf, who enters the Lady Vols’ program after transferring from Georgia, hails from New Jersey, where her father is a special education teacher. She’s hoping to start a similar event when she returns to her home state.
“My dad is a special education teacher back home in (New) Jersey, and I would like to do something like this back home.”
Tennessee assistant men’s basketball coach Bryan Lentz said that the event means more for the Vols than it does to the special needs athletes.
“This is a great event,” said Lentz, who is in his ninth season at Tennessee on head coach Rick Barnes’ staff. “This is special for the kids, but I think our guys get more of this than they do.
“For me personally, we’re very blessed to do this and help players and we have a good group of guys.”
