I remember the shot James Forrest hit in the NCAA tourney. Spring of 1992, I was in my last months of college bliss at Georgetown and Forrest helped me get at least one extra point in the NCAA pool.  Plus, it was just an amazing shot, especially for a freshman.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tks-SXUbKok]

It is great to learn that James had a solid pro career and now is making a difference in his hometown of the A.T.L. Maybe some of the rappers from the Dirty Dirty can help James out with his efforts.

You can find Dana O’Neil’s great piece at ESPN.com at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=4495630. An excerpt is provided below.

(Excerpt)

Forrest returns to his roots
After long career in Europe, Georgia Tech’s March Madness hero helps Atlanta youth

The city of Atlanta has closed 22 rec centers within the past year, another casualty of an economy that is leaving cities strapped for cash.

James Forrest doesn’t care much about the politics of the decision or even the finances. He cares about one thing: the kids who suddenly don’t have a place to play.

Forrest grew up in the city, grew up on the playgrounds where he could always find a pickup game that would simultaneously let him work on his game and keep him out of trouble.

“Where are these kids today supposed to go?” he asked. “What are they supposed to do when school is out?”

Forrest thinks he has an answer.

He’s counting on his friends who work with and play for the local pro teams, his former Georgia Tech teammates and his own place in the Atlanta sports pantheon to make things better.

Forrest, whose buzzer-beater stunned USC in the second round of the 1992 NCAA tournament, started the James Forrest Scholastic and Sports Academy. What started as a summer camp in nearby Lithonia has grown into a program for more than 300 kids, and Forrest has designs to do more. He’s begun an AAU program and hopes in the near future to build a facility that will give kids a place to play, do their homework or just meet with a mentor from the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program.

(The article continues at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=4495630)