Bucks' Pat Connaughton to renovate basketball courts in Milwaukee, surrounding suburbs and Kenosha.
JIM OWCZARSKI - MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Pat Connaughton continues to make an imprint on the City of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin as the Milwaukee Bucks forward announced that his eponymous foundation will work with six new local organizations to renovate basketball courts.
The foundation also will renovate courts in New Hampshire and Africa.
It is the largest series of projects in a single summer for the Pat Connaughton Foundation, which had previously created or refurbished six different “Connaughton Courts” from 2016-2023.
“The court is a symbol,” Connaughton told the Journal Sentinel in November. “The court utilized for other sports and activities or volunteer clubs or education, things that will take a holistic approach to these kids’ lives and help keep them out of trouble and things of that nature.”
The largest undertaking will be at Meaux Park at 1904 W. Villard Ave. in Milwaukee, where six outdoor courts will be rehabbed. The park has long been home to the city’s famous Warning League, which is organized by the Running Rebels Community Organization.
The Lighthouse Youth Center located at 2475 W. Roosevelt Dr. will have one outdoor half court renovated.
The foundation will also work on one outdoor court at Washington Park in Mukwonago, an indoor court at Concordia College in Mequon and an indoor court at St. Jude in Wauwatosa.
In Kenosha, three full courts will be renovated while one half court will be renovated to be ADA/wheelchair friendly.
Connaughton, an Arlington, Massachusetts native, also typically reconnects with his roots and this summer is no different as the foundation will work on a court at Franklin High School in New Hampshire.
And, for the first time, the foundation is refurbishing a court internationally in Rwanda, Africa, with an organization called Shooting Touch. The organization began in 2007 by helping girls of color in Boston and started the Rwanda project in 2012 to, in part, provide equal access to physical activity, wellness and health and educational services as well as promote social change.
The first half dozen “Connaughton Courts” are at Connaughton’s alma mater at St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts and the Neighborhood House, Augustin Prep, St. Marcus Lutheran, Silver Spring Neighborhood Center and the Milwaukee College Prep 38th St. Campus in Milwaukee.