Utah Jazz wing Royce O’Neale bowled strikes for a good cause and the team’s G-League affiliate is holding its annual open tryouts.
Perhaps no Utah Jazz player has kept as high a profile as Donovan Mitchell has this summer. That said, Mitchell’s running mate, Royce O’Neale, has been pretty busy himself. Last week, O’Neale was snapped putting work in with the likes of James Harden and Chris Paul (along with Mitchell). Earlier this offseason, he toured the intermountain region on behalf of the Junior Jazz program.
More recently, he was rolling strikes for charity.
O’Neale was on-hand with a Jazz contingent at FatCats in Salt Lake City on Thursday to host The Strikes For Kids Utah Back 2 School Bowling Bash. The event was in service of the local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, an organization that holds a special place in the Jazzman’s heart.
“Me going to the Boys & Girls Club when I was little, it was a great opportunity,” O’Neale told UtahJazz.com’s Aaron Falk. “It meant a lot. I went after to school to play basketball and hang out with my friends. It was a great opportunity.”
In February, it was Mitchell who played host at a Strikes For Kids event. That fundraiser ultimately rewarded 45 children with a trip to see Black Panther in theaters, as well as backpacks and school supplies.
Proceeds from Thursday’s event will go toward providing a minimum of an additional 100 backpacks to kids involved with various organizations in the Greater Salt Lake area.
Meanwhile, fans in attendance were treated to two hours of bowling, an event swag bag, a group photo with O’Neale, pizza, arcade games, a round of glow golf and a silent auction and raffle.
Launched in 2012, Strikes For Kids is national nonprofit organization whose missions is to organize events from coast to coast that enrich the lives of students and youth organizations in the community.
Stars tryouts coming
If you’re in or around Salt Lake City and you have dreams of joining the likes of O’Neale and Mitchell on the hardwood, the path to becoming basketball’s next rags to riches story will soon be open for you.
On Saturday, September 22, Utah’s G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, will be holding open tryouts.
Last year, former BYU guard L.J. Rose emerged from tryouts and went on to play in 17 games for the Stars.
Full tryout details can be found HERE.