By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Keaton Grant, a basketball star at Gateway High School from 2001-05 and then at Purdue University for four years after that, has a mantra that will well serve those who come after him: Do as I say, or better yet, do as I do, but not as I did.

That’s the message he hopes to hammer home to students with big dreams through his charity, the Keaton Grant Foundation.

The foundation, in conjunction with Baby Kanga Sports Entertainment, will put on a family-centered event called the Festival of Dreams June 17-19 at Gateway High School. The event will include 5-on-5 basketball and flag football tournaments, video game and other game contests, bike and car shows, food vendors and more.

The event’s focus is to raise money and awareness for the foundation, which began in August. Its mission is to provide resources, leadership, mentorship and tutoring that will prepare youth for college. Grant said he hopes the foundation will eventually be able to make college scholarships available.

“Kissimmee gave to me, so why not give back,” said Grant, 24, who was born in Winter Haven but attended Gateway High School and spent four years on the Panthers’ varsity squad, leading them to three 20-win seasons and two Orange Belt Conference championships. He scored more than 2,000 career points at Gateway by the time he graduated in 2005 and became a high-profile recruit, eventually signing with Purdue.

Grant said he received the same advice and signals his foundation repeats – that education is equally, if not more important, than what is accomplished in athletics – when he first started high school.

“I did, but being young, I didn’t listen,” he said. “Kids are using the same excuses today for not getting it done in the classroom that I did: ‘The teacher doesn’t like me. I’ll never use this stuff later in life.’ I’m just trying to help people not go in the same direction that I did.”

That direction, for him, was Maine. Despite signing with Purdue, he did not have qualifying SAT and ACT scores to pass the NCAA clearinghouse. He spent a year of prep school at Bridgton Academy, which is about two hours northwest of Portland, to finally get his academics in good enough shape to qualify for Division I basketball.

After one year, his grades and test scores were finally good enough to play at Big Ten power Purdue. Over four seasons he played in 138 games, a Boilermaker career record, and compiled more than 1,000 career points. Purdue made two trips to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen as part of the winningest senior class in school history.

Grant wrote a book, “Access Granted,” about his senior season with the Boilermakers.

“That’s separate from the foundation,” he said, “I use that as a testimony for what is possible.”

Grant, who played in the NBA Developmental League last year with Sioux Falls (S.D.) but will have to play in either France or Germany this summer because of the NBA’s labor unrest, said that education initiatives are now important to him and his foundation.

“Indiana and Texas are cutting high schools. That concerns me now, but it wouldn’t have fazed me when I was in school,” he said. “I would have loved the thought of crowded classrooms, I could sit in the back of the room and slack.”

James Grant, Keaton’s older brother, also a former Gateway athlete who graduated in 1999, works with Keaton in the foundation and said that the source of the message is as important as the message itself.

“Our message is coming from people closer to these kids’ age,” James Grant said. “They’re hearing it from a peer or a friend instead of a parent or teacher, who represent adults who they perceive as out of touch.”

I9 Sports, Five Star Pizza, Gyro to Go Market and J&L Grille have already signed on as event vendors for the Festival of Dreams. The Grants are actively seeking more vendors, donations and volunteers. Those interested in seeking information can go to the foundation’s website (www.keatongrantfoundation.org) or contact James Grant at 321-443-3594 or Alisson Jalil of Baby Kanga Sports at 321-746-1865.