Southeast men's basketball players help troubled children

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is reaching out to the community in a way besides its on-court play.

The Redhawks are helping troubled children learn to make right decisions in their lives.

A few players from the men's program came to coach Dickey Nutt with a project from one of their classes, and Nutt was more than happy to help.

"One of their projects was to do something like this and when they called and asked, absolutely," Nutt said. "I don't know if it did more for them, but it certainly did a lot for our players. Our players walk away with a good feeling. A lot of times our young people on scholarship and Division I athletes across the country fall into the trap of thinking I'm invisible, and this puts everything in perspective."

The men's team invited about 30 children from troubled backgrounds to join it on the court to run through drills, sign autographs and have the players talk to them about making good decisions and how they'll affect a person's life.

"Hopefully we can be role models and they follow in our footsteps," Redhawks forward Jajuan Maxwell said. "Maybe not basketball, but another sport or just go to college and try to make something of their lives. Anything we can do good will be good for them."

"These kids have been in high risk, not that perfect life," Nutt said. "It gives us a chance to put everything in perspective and to show those young people that maybe we come from the same kind of background. Everything we choose to do is going to lead to a circumstance or consequence and you never know when we might be able to pat a guy on the back and make him smile. Let him know we can make the right decision, and have the good attitude."

Nutt believes the experience for his players is a valuable one.

"That's something that I really wanted our players to see, to see what kind of role model you are," Nutt said. "Every decision you make off the floor can affect you, your family, and especially our program. It's good for our players to see that."