The new season of SportsCenter’s storytelling brand “SC Featured” launches this weekend with “For PG from KD,” a behind-the-scenes look at NBA superstar Kevin Durant making a difference in his hometown area in Prince Georges County, Md.
Durant welcomes reporter Tom Rinaldi and “SC Featured” cameras for the opening of the Durant Center, a College Track program offering tutoring, counseling and a study space to students from low-income families, many of whom will become the first in their family to earn a college degree. The story debuts in the 8 a.m. ET SportsCenter on Saturday and will re-air on other editions.
Lauren Stowell, who produced the piece for ESPN Features, was on hand when the Durant Center opened on Jan. 23, the night before Durant’s Golden State Warriors visited the Washington Wizards. Stowell spoke with Front Row:
Besides talking with Kevin, what else went into shooting the feature?
We went into the community, the neighborhoods that surround the area of Prince Georges County right on the D.C. border where Kevin was raised and his family lived. We spoke with neighbors, we spoke with the barber who used to cut his hair. We went back to the Seat Pleasant (Md.) activities center, we went to his favorite soul food restaurant where he still visits when he comes back. Overwhelmingly everyone we spoke to there was so proud that he came from this community and that he was investing in education there.
We had the opportunity to get to know two of the 69 students who are part of the Durant Center’s inaugural class from Suitland High School. So just seeing him walk through the door and the excitement and joy on their faces as they led him around the center that they are invested in and are now going to be coming to after school every day was amazing.
On Wednesday, Kevin Durant attended the grand opening of "The Durant Center” in Suitland, MD.
Opened in partnership with College Track, The Durant Center is a state-of-the-art facility aimed at helping low-income and underserved students enroll and graduate from college. pic.twitter.com/YIRxzTNrGC
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) January 24, 2019
