"He was really cool:" Dwyane Wade makes a surprise visit to Marquette University

MILWAUKEE -- Cheers rang through Marquette University as a basketball icon gave 60 central city children the surprise of a lifetime.

"I think he was really cool," said 8-year-old Na'jaha Burris.

Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade visited the second and third graders participating in his inaugural "Live to Dream" summer reading program at Marquette. Wade donated to the university's Ralph C. Hartman Literacy and Learning Center through his Wade's World Foundation, which promotes education and health among low-income children.

"I think it's going to inspire them; it's going to push them forward to even some of them that want to be a teacher some day,"said Wade's sister and Executive Director of the Wade's World Foundation, Tragil Wade.

Dwayne Wade visits Marquette University

During his visit, Wade read to the kids and talked about how reading relates to basketball.

"You get a book and it's a lot of words in a book. You have to put these words together. You've got to make them make sense. So when you play basketball, you've got teammates, you have to put all of the teammates together. You've got to make them make sense, so you can win," said Dwyane Wade.

He and his big sister Tragil also added their handprints to a mural representing the hands that make up the "Live to Dream" program.

Dwayne Wade visits Marquette University

Although Wade's success began at Marquette and he moved on to become a basketball superstar, he started out in the same position as many of these children.

"We did struggle growing up and I found myself as a big sister having to do a lot of things with him and one of them is helping him read," said Tragil Wade.

Dwyane Wade gave a total of $195,000 to the program to improve Milwaukee's literacy gap and inspire kids to dream big.

Wade played for Marquette from 2001 - 2003. He was drafted by the Miami Heat in 2003.