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Description
SportsVisions D.J. Jones sits down to talk about the 3rd Annual SaMarc Foundation High School Basketball Awards, happening March 16th, 2023.
A
A
Thank
you
welcome
to
Columbus
connections.
I!
Am
your
host
David
Britt
and
we're
here
to
talk
about
the
third
annual
San
Mark
Foundation,
basketball
Awards.
Yes,
we
know
that
Columbus
has
a
has
had
a
lot
of
great
professional
athletes
come
from
Columbus
and
football,
but
man
if
you've
watched
if
you've
been
following
recent
basketball.
I'm
talking
about
young
men
and
young
women,
I'm
talking
about
high
school
and
middle
school
basketball
is
really
heating.
A
It
up,
and
it's
really
time
to
give
these
young
athletes
the
rewards
that
they
deserve
and
who
else
better
to
do
it
than
Mr
professional
sports?
For
this
Tri-City
himself,
Mr
DJ
Jones,
how
you
doing
I'm
wonderful
man?
How
are
you
good
to
have
you
back
I'm,
good
now,
you're
you'll
hear
yourself
and
you're
an
icon
in
sports
yourself,
but
you're
here
to
represent
a
whole
team
of
people
who
are
putting
on
this
third
annual
award
show
tell
me
about.
B
It
absolutely
it's
the
sandmark
foundation,
which
is
just
a
tremendous
organization,
with
a
couple
of
local
homeboys
mark
up
Shaw
and
Sam
Mitchell.
They
formed
up
the
semmark
foundation
some
18
years
ago
and,
of
course,
I
had
the
pleasure
of
starting
their
first
basketball
camp,
the
Sam
Mitchell
dream
and
Achieve
youth
basketball
camp.
But,
ironically,
we
were
competitors
in
high
school.
We
grew
up
in
became
great
friends
and
now
we're
colleagues
and
and
partners
in
in
these
efforts
in
the
community
right.
A
B
He's,
of
course,
Chattahoochee
Valley
Sports
Hall
of
Famer
mother,
Mary,
Mission
Sports
Hall
of
Famer.
He
also
he
would
he
wouldn't
let
me
get
by
without
saying
I'm,
Mercer,
University
Sports
Hall
of
Famer
he
and
his
court.
Of
course,
his
best
friend
markup
Shaw
right,
a
very,
very
proud
businessman,
who's
done
quite
well
for
himself
after
an
illustrious
career
here
in
the
bi-city
area
and
in
college
playing
basketball
yeah.
B
But
those
two,
those
got
two
guys
decided
many
many
years
ago
that
they
wanted
to
work
together
to
give
back
to
this
community,
and
they
have
done
so
but
adding
this
award
ceremony.
This
is
the
third
annual
San
Marc
Foundation
basketball
camp.
Excuse
me
not
Camp
I
got
to
camp
on
my
mind,
but
Sam
Mark,
basketball,
Awards
luncheon,
presented
by
Sports
Vision.
B
So
again,
I
was
tasked
to
put
this
Awards
luncheon
together
for
those
guys
on
behalf
of
those
guys
and
I'm
doing
that
and
again
you
know
these
guys
are
doing
what
they
want
and,
of
course,
they're
doing
it,
for
you
know
the
people
that
obviously
helped
them
and,
of
course,
they're
recognizing
what
they
did.
Yeah.
A
Now
we've
talked
before
we
started
hearing
about
how
basketball
is
coming
along,
like
basketball
has
always
been
here,
there's
always
been
some
great
basketball
athletes
for
a
while,
but
recently
the
the
Middle
School
championships,
the
high
school
Spencer
winning
the
championship
not
too
long
ago.
It's
the
time
it's
time
and
and
for
young
women.
B
Too,
absolutely
and
again,
this
is
another
reason
for
these
guys
to
recognize
these
boys
and
girls
at
high
school
and
middle
school
levels,
and
it's
just
a
tremendous
opportunity
you
could
tell
by
as
many
teams
as
had
their
way
to
the
Alabama
high
school
state
championship
playoffs,
as
well
as
the
Georgia
high
school
state
playoffs.
So
it's
just
going
to
be
a
room
full
of
Champions,
a
room
full
of
outstanding
young
boys
and
girls,
of
course,
celebrating
and
honoring
them
for
their
basketball
efforts.
A
Right
and
it
gives
the
kids
something
to
look
forward
to
again
one.
It
shows
those
hard-working
kids
that
hard
work
really
pays
off
and
you
get
rewarded,
get
recognized
among
your
peers.
You
really
get
to
stand
out
and
for
the
kids,
even
if
they
don't
make
that
awards
banquet.
It
gives
them
something
to
shoot
for
for
the
next
year
and.
B
What
I
love
about
it
is
that
you
know
with
all
that's
going
on
in
the
community
in
particularly
with
our
young
people
this
this
is.
These
are
the
good
stories.
This
is
what
I,
I'm
so
excited
about
and
and
of
course,
being
able
to
partner
with
these
guys,
as
a
couple
of
guys
that
we
grew
up
in
this
community
and
we
know
what
it's
like
to
be
recognized
and,
of
course,
the
good
kids
that
not
only
in
athletics
but
in
academics
as
well.
But
you
know
having
an
opportunity
to
keep
that
going.
A
B
Well,
you
can
find
out
more
about
the
found,
the
sandmark
foundation,
but
they
have
a
website.
The
sandmarkfoundation.org,
sanmarkfoundation.org
and
that'll
give
you
all
of
the
ins
and
outs
of
that
particular
organization
as
well.
As
you
know,
the
camps
that
they
have
the
trips
that
they
take
the
kids
on
during
the
summer
we
had
a
cruise
that
we
went
on
in
October,
going
to
Washington
DC,
taking
a
bunch
of
kids
up
to
Washington
D.C
this
year,
but
yeah.
A
And
now
you
mentioned
again,
this
isn't
just
the
awards,
but
it
represents
an
entire
foundation
and
it
does
a
great
work
in
with
athletes
and
with
young
people,
keeping
them
off
the
streets,
keeping
them
occupied,
keeping
them
with
things
to
do
showing
them
things
outside
of
Columbus
that
they
may
not
have
otherwise.
Seen
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
that.
Well,.
B
You
know
by
going
on
trips
on
exotic
trips
to
the
to
the
islands
or
going
to
the
White
House
in
Washington
DC,
with
them
the
basketball
camp,
the
free
camp
that
they
do
every
summer,
which
is
working
on
number
18
I,
believe
it
is
18th
Annual
bringing
in
professional
athletes.
You
know,
Shaquille
O'neal
has
been
in
town
on
behalf
of
the
San
Marco
organization.
A
Yeah
and
like
it
builds
great
leadership
in
the
community,
a
lot
of
the
the
they've
gone
on
to
be
coaches,
Business,
Leaders,
great
fathers,
great
Professionals
in
our
community,
so
it's
paying
tenfold
from
going
to
the
camp,
whether
they
go
through
the
professional
level
or
whether
they
just
become
leaders
in
their
own
right.
Absolutely.
B
And
again,
you
know,
speaking
on
behalf
of
both
Mark
and
Sam.
They
are
really
really
proud
of
their
Hometown.
They
talk
about
it
in
their
travels
again
and
it's
nothing
like
you
know,
having
a
place
that
you,
you
love
and
you
like
to
come
home
and
you
now
you're
serving,
and
you
have
a
reason
and
you've
also
now
established
a
platform
in
order
to
do
so.
Yeah.
B
That'll
be
Thursday,
the
the
actual
Awards
luncheon,
the
High
School
boys,
basketball
and
girls.
Luncheon
will
be
on
that'll,
be
March,
16th,
Thursday,
March,
16th,
11
30
at
the
Saint
Luke
Ministry
Center
and
we'll
be
honoring,
the
top
local
high
school
by
city,
boys
and
girls,
basketball
players
and,
of
course,
we'll
have,
of
course,
the
middle
school
player
of
the
year
and
the
coaches
of
the
Year.
B
A
B
Well,
first
and
foremost,
you
have
to
you
have
to
bloom
where
you
plant
it
you
have
to.
You
know,
of
course,
take
advantage
of
the
opportunities
that
you
have
right
here
with
your
team
with
your
school
with
this
community.
You
have
to
first
and
foremost,
make
great.
You
know,
get
your
grades
and
and
take
care
of
your
responsibilities,
but
you
know
don't
worry
about
what
you
can't
control
and
the
only
thing
that
you
can
control
right
now
is
being
able
to
be
the
best
that
you
can
be
where
you
are
right
now.