"So much fun:" Bucks legend Sidney Moncrief hosts Special Olympics basketball clinic at Homestead H.S.
MEQUON -- Sidney Moncrief was a star on several very successful Milwaukee Bucks teams in the 1980s, but what he has been doing since his playing days is making him a star as well.
"It's so much fun," Moncrief said.
Moncrief recently returned to Wisconsin for an event he has been part of in the past, and he said he was more than happy to continue his involvement.
Sidney Moncrief
"The Bucks give me the opportunity to come back but certainly the excitement that you see with the participants brings me back and it's so well organized," Moncrief said.
Moncrief and the Milwaukee Bucks teamed up with Special Olympics of Wisconsin to host a basketball clinic at Homestead High School.
"I love to see the community support for special Olympics, the Milwaukee Bucks are big part of this Milwaukee community and for them to take an interest in our athletes and our organization it just means a ton for us and just to come out and see our athletes reactions or smiles their excitement their enthusiasm it's what really makes putting all these events together worth it," Jason Blank, regional athletic director for Special Olympics of Wisconsin said.
Sidney Moncrief
More than 100 athletes from 11 teams in SE Wisconsin got instruction on shooting, passing and playing defense. Moncrief said it's the athletes' drive and determination that intrigues him each year.
"The kids are not only highly skilled, but they want to get better, and that's what really blows me away. Sometimes you do clinics and camps and you feel the players feel like they made it and there's not really a desire to get better. That's not really the case. They are engaged the entire time. They listen to what you say and they try to get better on the basketball court," Moncrief said.
Sidney Moncrief
Since ending his playing career, the former Bucks guard said he welcomes opportunities like this -- something that wasn't always the case when he was playing.
"It's different when you are a player. You do personal appearances, and it's like 'aww, I'm doing a personal appearance.' You don't really appreciate the impact as much, nor do you appreciate the difference that you can make as much," Moncrief said.
And now, making a difference in someone's life is what Moncrief is committed to.
Sidney Moncrief
"I have a company. We do people development. We do team enhancement training, leadership training. I do fatherhood engagement with the Milwaukee Public Schools system, so I keep fairly busy and it all evolves around helping and developing people," Moncrief said.
There's one more thing that's recently been on Moncrief's mind, as he is a finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Sidney Moncrief
"I'm in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. I'm in the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame and if I don't make the Naismisth Hall of Fame, that's OK because the people that know me best have already voted me into the Hall of Fame, but it would be great to be a Hall of Famer," Moncrief said.
