The DLee23 Foundation, named after Harlem native Darius Lee, will hold a free basketball clinic this Saturday at the William McCray Playground (138th Street between Fifth Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard). The clinic will be in two sessions, the first for boys and girls ages 8–10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the second for boys and girls ages 11–13 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The hands-on sessions will provide instruction on ball handling, shooting form, footwork, passing basketball IQ, and other skills. Experienced coaches, trainers, and players will lead the clinic.
Lee was a beloved son of Harlem and graduate of St. Raymond’s High School in the Bronx, thriving on the court and academically at Houston Baptist University. He was shot and killed last June at the age of 21 while on summer break during Father’s Day weekend, when he stopped by a cookout near the intersection of 139 Street and Fifth Avenue held by Harlem rapper Rich Rhymer. Ironically, the rapper had commented on his Instagram account that he was looking forward to attendees once again socializing peacefully as when the event was held in previous years.
Lee was not the intended target but was caught in a gun battle in which the NYPD subsequently said 53 shots had been fired from 13 guns. Despite being administered to by his friends at the scene, Lee was later pronounced dead at Lincoln Memorial Hospital in the Bronx.
Lee had been named the 2021–22 Houston Baptist University Male Student-Athlete of the Year, led his team in scoring, and was named to the All-Southland Conference second team. He was scheduled to earn a bachelor’s degree this past December.
“Darius was a young man every parent would want their son to be,” said Roosevelt Byers, head varsity basketball coach at Eagle Academy for Young Men in the Bronx, to this writer last week. “He was a phenomenal person who truly aspired to make this world a better place. There are many people committed to keeping his memory and legacy alive, and the basketball clinic is just one way of doing that.”
Byers is also director of athletics at the Children’s Aid Society’s Dunlevy-Milbank Center in Harlem, where he first began to coach and mentor the young Lee.