Garvin to Receive Guardians of the Game Award for Education

KANSAS City, Mo. – Each year at the beginning of the school year, South Carolina State University head basketball coach Murray Garvin has what he describes as “one of the best days of my life”.
 
Through his foundation, Garvin’s Goals, with the motto of “Lifting As We Climb”, he works in the Orangeburg community to conduct an annual Back to School Bash. Last fall, Garvin’s group handed out some 300 backpacks, filled with items needed for school as well as personal hygiene products like toothbrushes.  He even arranged to provide free haircuts and teach students how to perform CPR.
 
“We want to make the children in our community enthusiastic about the school year ahead,” said Garvin. “We get a great deal of support from local sponsors and it takes the pressure off of parents who may not be able to supply the items needed.”
 
The Back to School Bash is just one of the reasons Garvin will receive the 2018 Guardians of the Game Award for Education presented by TallOrder.com from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The award will be presented at the annual NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Sunday, April 1, in San Antonio, Texas, at the Lila Cockrell Theater in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The event is held annually during the NABC Convention in conjunction with the NCAA® Final Four®.
 
Now in his fourth full season leading the Bulldogs, Garvin became involved with the NABC’s Stay In To Win program when he was the interim head coach in 2013.  Stay In To Win connects college coaches and student-athletes with middle school aged children to serve as positive role models and stress the importance of academic performance.
 
“As a result of his commitment to the program and the community, he has influenced the lives of hundreds of area youth by teaching them what it takes to achieve success in school and in life,” said Al Foderaro, who developed the Stay In To Win program and works with the college basketball programs to implement it in local schools.
 
Garvin and his players have mentored students enrolled at the Robert E. Howard Middle School, which is directly across the street from the SCSU campus, and the Felton Laboratory School, located on the campus.  They make several return visits to the schools throughout the year to reinforce the Stay In To Win message of the advantages of pursuing educational goals and staying in school.
 
“The work that Coach Garvin and the players are doing with our students is phenomenal. I am certain that their efforts will have a lifetime impact on some of our children,” said Racel R. Wilson, Student Services Interventionist at the Robert E. Howard Middle School.
 
Additional initiatives are conducted throughout the year to expose local youth to the SCSU campus with the goal of inspiring them to want to work hard in school, reach their full potential and be better prepared to attend college.  Each season, a Stay In To Win night is scheduled when students are invited to attend a basketball game on campus and are recognized at halftime in a special ceremony.
 
“I think sometimes the kids feel like they’re forgotten and we try to get them involved through athletics and our interaction with them,” Garvin said. “It makes quite an impact on our players, not only to see the kids excited but also to show how important it is to give back to your community.”