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Former Rutgers star Kent returns to hometown Fairmont to launch charity organization
Former Rutgers basketball great and NFL player Rashod Kent, right, launched his new charitable organization the Rashod Kent Foundation, in his hometown of Fairmont, W.Va. The mission of the organization is to provide children of all races and backgrounds the proper tools and resources to be successful. (Courtesy: Rashod Kent)

Former Rutgers star Kent returns to hometown Fairmont to launch charity organization

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (BVM) — Rashod Kent loves his hometown. That’s been clear for the Fairmont, W.Va. native and former Fairmont Senior basketball star, especially in recent years. 

“It made me who I call Rashod Kent today,” Kent said. “There’s no place on Earth where I’d rather be from. … There’s no better place for me than West Virginia.”

That’s why it made perfect sense for Kent to return to his city to launch his new non-profit organization, The Rashod Kent Foundation, with a coat and hat drive and turkey dinner giveaway.

“Given the social climate, I think now more than ever demands change,” Kent said. “In order to champion change, I felt you must first become the change you want to see in order to do anything about it. At this time, our community, our neighborhood, these kids, need something to believe in now more than ever. They need a positive influence. They need to see how paying it forward and giving back brightens the lives of those that they encounter.”

Using many of the long-established relationships he built in the Fairmont area, Kent went to work with numerous local athletic teams to conduct the charity giveaway including his alma mater Fairmont Senior girls and boys basketball programs, as well as athletes from Morgantown High School, University High School, nearby Fairmont State University and even some from West Virginia University. The athletes helped the foundation to deliver turkeys to the first 100 cars to show up to the drive-up event at Windmill Park in Fairmont while the first 100 kids to sign up for the giveaway were given a coat and a hat for the upcoming winter.

Players from the Fairmont Senior girls and boys basketball programs, as well as athletes from Morgantown High School, University High School, Fairmont State University and  West Virginia University helped Kent with the distribution of turkey dinners and hats and coats for local families in need. (Courtesy: Rashod Kent)

“He knew I was really involved with doing stuff in the community and I said any time you put something together I will definitely support,” Fairmont Senior High School girls basketball coach Corey Hines said. “When he came to me with the idea to do something like that I jumped on board. I was happy to do it. I knew that my kids are always trying to do something with community involvement so I knew that they’d jump on the opportunity.”

For Kent, seeing all the different programs and institutions come out and help was significant and proved he was on the right path.

“It meant that the cause, the reason that we came together, really touched the heart of the community,” Kent said. “I haven’t really seen an event that brought all different high schools and sports together for one common goal until last week when we had our first fundraiser. … To see them come out, it made it all worth it to me. … I would like to thank Coach Hines for his help in that as well as he played an intricate part in bringing all that together.”

The foundation looks to provide “the proper tools and resources to be successful, as well as an equal opportunity to achieve greatness through education” regardless of race, color or creed, according to the foundation’s website. Though this event was smaller in scale for the foundation, the hope is to have more similar events in the future not just in West Virginia, but across the country with plans to do book scholarship giveaways to students in Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas.

“Our mission is to fix one neighborhood, one community at a time,” Kent said. “So it’s not like we’re just focusing on West Virginia. That’s the starting point, be it that that’s where it all started. We want to take this as far as it can go, from our local neighborhoods throughout the country to each and every neighborhood that needs a helping hand.”

Kent was a standout during his time with the Fairmont Senior Polar Bears boys basketball team. Upon graduating in 1998, Kent received an offer to play basketball for Division I Rutgers University. While a member of the Scarlet Knights, Kent flourished.

In four years with the team, Kent would play in 116 games, score 1,104 points on 60.3% shooting, grab 910 rebounds, have 189 steals, 150 assists and 90 blocks. His numbers were prolific for the Rutgers program as he is one of less than 50 players to score over 1,000 points with the program. He also still holds the record for career field goal percentage and is in the program’s top five in career rebounds, career free throws attempted and career steals while also in the top 20 in career rebounding average and career blocks. Kent would also be named second team all-Big East during the 2001-02 season.

“To look back and see the record books was phenomenal for me,” Kent said. “I say this as humbly as I can, but when I look back I’m really proud of what I was able to accomplish for the community, for Rutgers, for our basketball program, for our teammates. … I’m just thankful for everything I was able to achieve in basketball.”

Although the center had an exceptional career on the hardwood with the Scarlet Knights, he was limited in post-college basketball opportunities due to his small size for his position–checking in at 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds. However, that didn’t stop him from being able to land on his feet in the professional sports world.

Kent would instead trade in his basketball shoes for football cleats as he signed on as an undrafted free agent to play for the then-expansion Houston Texans of the NFL in 2003. Although he hadn’t even played organized football in high school, only so much as attending freshman football camp, Kent put all of his effort in making the Texans roster at tight end.

Kent would not only make the Texans roster, but would also see game action, playing in seven games while starting four. Although he would not record any official statistics in his NFL career, the fact that he had made it to the league with the little football background he had was special.

“It was very demanding,” Kent said. “As far as athletically, it wasn’t a difficult transition because it’s easier to transition from a basketball player to a football player than it is to do vice versa. The physicality was the biggest thing. The aches, the pains, the headaches over time because of all the crashing you do at a high level.”

In all, Kent would play three NFL seasons, two with the Texans and one with the Oakland Raiders before his football career was over. Not bad for a former collegiate basketball player.

Now Kent is focused on using his worldly experiences to help the next generation of athletes. He wants his foundation to not only help those people in need, but also help teach athletes the importance of giving back to their communities and becoming the change they want to see in the world.

“To know that these young ladies had an opportunity to give back, to help make someone’s Thanksgiving or giving children some coats or hats and gloves, to be a part of that; the gift wasn’t us giving, it was being allowed to being a part of it,” Hines said. “The smiles on my kids’ faces to sit there and truly feel they were making a difference, you couldn’t beat that. We really appreciated Rashod giving us the opportunity or even to think about us.”

While his foundation may only be in its infancy, the coat and hat drive and turkey giveaway was considered a great success by both the foundation and community members. With a number of other opportunities coming down the line, Kent will be able to spread his message and aid to more people in need. That’s all thanks to his hometown and the community that helped him to grow, that’s why helping the community was not only the easy choice, but the perfect fit to launch the Rashod Kent Foundation.