CINCINNATI — The Withrow University High School girls basketball team will rock some new kicks this season.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.'s alumni chapter in Cincinnati wanted to give back this Thanksgiving.
“We actually decided for this upcoming basketball season to purchase everyone on the team, team shoes,” said Chapter President Rayshawn Walton.
Both the junior varsity and varsity team members got new shoes, and the girls could not have been more excited.
"These fire, they fire," the girls said. "I like the color on them."
The team said this was an unexpected surprise.
"It makes us feel real happy (that people) support us, and you know (watch) us, want us to become better and better ... make a name for ourselves," said freshman point guard Lailah Crossty. "Yeah, people who want us to do good."
They said the new shoes will help them look more uniform on the court this season.
"We are very thankful. It’s nice to have alumni, you know, still care about where they came from and their roots," one player said.
Walton is a Withrow University High School alum, so giving back to his team was a no-brainer.
"We’re always promoting team unity, we’re always promoting bonding, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving we wanted to give back to these ladies here at Withrow High School," he said.
He said Alpha Phi Alpha does several programs and initiatives to give back to the community and focus on youth education.
"[We] try to bridge that gap in order to get those people where they need to go," he said.
Walton said he's happy his fraternity can support the Lady Tigers this season.
